1. Immune Attack is an educational video game about the human immune system created by the Federation of American Scientists to teach high school and college biology students. 2. Version 2.0 of Immune Attack includes changes to the blood vessel network, connective tissue, trophy room, scoring, saving, and advisors based on lessons learned from the original version. 3. Preliminary evaluations found that students who played Immune Attack had gains in immunology knowledge and interest in biology compared to a control group.

1. Immune Attack Evolving over Time: The Story of Immune Attack Version 2.0 Michelle Roper & Adam Burrowbridge Federation of American Scientists www.fas.org/immuneattack

2. FAS and the Learning Technologies Project FAS: 62 year-old, non-profit research group that works to apply practical solutions drawn from science and technology to some of the world’s most pressing issues. Learning Technologies: a project within FAS that aims to create a major national R&D program for using information technology to improve how we teach and learn

3. Immune Attack is a graphically stunning, fast-paced video game based on the human immune system. Targeted Audience: high school and entry-level college biology students. Designed as a supplemental learning tool, Immune Attack aims to excite students about the subject, while also illuminating general principles and detailed concepts of immunology. Created by FAS in collaboration with teams of game developers, instructional designers, immunologists, teachers, and learning scientists. What is Immune Attack ?

4. Collaborators Federation of American Scientists: learning content; project mgmt for game design and development; implementation and evaluation of the game Brown University: Andries van Dam (PI) graphics R&D, such as how to handle deformable objects; visualize cell signaling University of Southern California: Michael Zyda, Chris Swain, Victor LaCour game development Escape Hatch Entertainment: Garry Gaber game development

5. How do you turn this:

6. And this:

7. And this…

8. Into a Game?

9. Facts The 3D environments were created based on medical illustrations and scientific literature. Game actions reinforce learning objectives and fundamental immunological concepts. Immune Attack was vetted by subject matter experts in immunology, visualization, instructional design & game design.

10. … and Fiction The storyline sets up the fiction that we are on a grave mission to save a patient with an immune system that is present, but not yet functional. Our objective is to retrain the immune cells of the innate system to fend off invading pathogens.

11. Immune Attack: The Vision Characters Powers of the Character level Macrophage Battleship : big, lethal, slow, not terribly smart. 1 Neutrophil Swift boat: moves quickly and in large numbers 2 Dendritic Intelligence agents: detect intruders and bring evidence (typically body parts of the intruder) to processing centers (lymph nodes 3 T (CD-8) Specialized Hit men: lethal to cells harboring attacking agents (e.g. kills cells infected with a virus) 3 T (CD-4 T H 2) Intelligence Operations Manager: Interrogates intelligence agents and if satisfied that they bring valid news of an attack, provide a key that can unlock chemical agents. 4 B Chemical Warfare Operations: very high tech weapon system. Each specialized to produce highly specialized chemicals targeting specific invaders 4 T (CD-4 T H 1) Emergency Support Team: pressed into action when macrophages are too dumb to do their job 5 Natural Killer (NK) Night Watch men 6 Mast Cells Mines: explode releasing histamine when hostile action is detected 7

12. Version 2.0 Changes from v1.0 to v2.0 Lessons Learned Blood Vessel Network Visualizations of environment must reinforce key concepts Connective Tissue Remodel The importance of realism Trophy Room Method of tracking game progress & in-game assessment Scoring Gameplay vs. Learning Objective Scoring Options Making the game accessible for all levels of gameplayers Save/Load Instructor Menu Advisors Adding personality to immunology Q&A My Learning Assistant evolution Game Progress Teachers: “What do I have to show for it” Gameplay Scale, visualizations, conceptualization, knowledge transfer Briefing Interstitials Importance of supporting multiple concepts

13. Blood Vessel Network Changes from v1.0 to v2.0 Blood Vessel Network Connective Tissue Remodel Trophy Room Scoring Options Save/Load Advisors Q&A Implementation Hurdles Game Progress Gameplay Briefing Interstitials

14. Connective Tissue Remodel ? Changes from v1.0 to v2.0 Blood Vessel Network Connective Tissue Remodel Trophy Room Scoring Options Save/Load Advisors Q&A Implementation Hurdles Game Progress Gameplay Briefing Interstitials

15. Connective Tissue Remodel Changes from v1.0 to v2.0 Blood Vessel Network Connective Tissue Remodel Trophy Room Scoring Options Save/Load Advisors Q&A Implementation Hurdles Game Progress Gameplay Briefing Interstitials

16. Connective Tissue Remodel Changes from v1.0 to v2.0 Blood Vessel Network Connective Tissue Remodel Trophy Room Scoring Options Save/Load Advisors Q&A Implementation Hurdles Game Progress Gameplay Briefing Interstitials

17. Trophy Room Instructional Design In-game assessment Changes from v1.0 to v2.0 Blood Vessel Network Connective Tissue Remodel Trophy Room Scoring Options Save/Load Advisors Q&A Implementation Hurdles Game Progress Gameplay Briefing Interstitials

18. Scoring Gameplay vs. Learning Objectives Exploration Learning Experience Efficiency Percent Changes from v1.0 to v2.0 Blood Vessel Network Connective Tissue Remodel Trophy Room Scoring Options Save/Load Advisors Q&A Implementation Hurdles Game Progress Gameplay Briefing Interstitials

19. Options Allows you alter gameplay difficulty and sound settings to individualize the experience to the user’s preferences. Re-playability Changes from v1.0 to v2.0 Blood Vessel Network Connective Tissue Remodel Trophy Room Scoring Options Save/Load Advisors Q&A Implementation Hurdles Game Progress Gameplay Briefing Interstitials

20. Instructor Menu Allows you skip between different levels in the game to teach specific concepts – this feature also allows the user to restart the game on the level where they last left off. Changes from v1.0 to v2.0 Blood Vessel Network Connective Tissue Remodel Trophy Room Scoring Options Save/Load Advisors Q&A Implementation Hurdles Game Progress Gameplay Briefing Interstitials

21. Advisors Adding personality to immunology Scaffolding Motivation Reduces text Immediate feedback Changes from v1.0 to v2.0 Blood Vessel Network Connective Tissue Remodel Trophy Room Scoring Options Save/Load Advisors & HUD Q&A Implementation Hurdles Game Progress Gameplay Briefing Interstitials

22. Question & Answering Alphabetized Glossary Answers Changes from v1.0 to v2.0 Blood Vessel Network Connective Tissue Remodel Trophy Room Scoring Options Save/Load Advisors Q&A Implementation Hurdles Game Progress Gameplay Briefing Interstitials

23. Game Progress The data is used to better understand the gameplay actions of each individual user and appreciate the typical game experience. The data is used to improve the game and assess the users’ success with gameplay and knowledge questions. In-Game Metrics User Data Game Progress 6.20 Repeats 3.00 Start Year 2007.00 Start Month 6.00 Start Day 4.00 Start Hour 12.00 Start Minute 45.00 Start Second 18.00 End Year 2007.00 End Month 6.00 End Day 4.00 End Hour 13.00 End Minute 47.00 End Second 15.00 Tutorial Opt-Out? 0.00 MYLA Usage 6.00 Scanned Cells 13.00 Advanced? 0.00 With the consent and cooperation of both teachers and students FAS collects individualized gameplay data. The data is saved as a text file on the user’s local hard drive. If the user wants their data to be included in our research they name the text file with a unique id and email us the file. Changes from v1.0 to v2.0 Blood Vessel Network Connective Tissue Remodel Trophy Room Scoring Options Save/Load Advisors Q&A Implementation Hurdles Game Progress Gameplay Briefing Interstitials

24. Gameplay

27. Briefing Interstitials Changes from v1.0 to v2.0 Blood Vessel Network Connective Tissue Remodel Trophy Room Scoring Options Save/Load Advisors Q&A Implementation Hurdles Game Progress Gameplay Briefing Interstitials

29. Preliminary Evaluation Results 15 Schools, 200+ students played plus control group Knowledge - There was a gain in knowledge scores from pre-test to post-test. Interest - Students who played the game had a higher interest in biology than those who did not play the game. Difficulty - There was a significant overall decrease in perceived difficulty of the immunology subject matter.

30. “ Game Lab” Experimentation with: Age Gender Story Quality Graphics Multi Player Change in attitudes over time Knowledge retention over time Experimental design for intervention

31. Immune Attack Release Party You’re Invited! When: 6:00-8:00pm, Thursday the 22nd of May Where: AAAS Auditorium and 2nd floor atrium 1200 New York Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20005

32. Michelle Roper Director, The Learning Technologies Program Federation of American Scientists [email_address] Adam Burrowbridge Research Associate Federation of American Scientists [email_address] www.fas.org/immuneattack