ITR: Collaborative Research - (ASE) - (sim + int): Building Biologically Based Immune System Simulations for Education and Training

本项目探索利用计算机模拟来帮助各级生物学学生掌握日益复杂的信息。这种模拟忠实地代表了生物知识的状态，以视觉形式显示信息，并且对新手用户具有完全的交互性和吸引力。模拟的是人体免疫系统。这些模拟在理解免疫系统本身的功能方面起着关键作用。该模型最有价值的首次应用将是使免疫系统中的困难概念更容易理解。模拟是一个高度互动的基础，引人注目的教育游戏，教学免疫学在高中和大学新生的水平。学习目标和教学策略的制定将与高中和大学新生的生物教师以及学习研究科学家协商。该项目涉及一个多学科团队，他们在以下方面具有专业知识：(a)潜在生物学的复杂性和微妙性；(b)建立复杂模拟和可视化所需的信息技术；(c)最适合目标读者的教学目标和策略；(d)应用软件工具来制作目标年龄段的人会觉得有吸引力和激励的游戏；(e)评估基于游戏/探索的教学的影响。该项目将以美国国立卫生研究院支持的免疫学教学游戏开发工作和若干公共和私人资源支持的学习技术研究为基础。

This project explores the use of computer simulation for helping students of biology at all levels master an increasingly complex body of information. This simulation faithfully represents the state of biological knowledge, displays information in visual form, and is fully interactive and engaging to novice users. The simulation is of the human immune system. These simulations play a critical role in understanding the functioning of the immune system itself. The most valuable first use of the model will be to make difficult concepts in the immune system easier to understand. The simulation is the basis for a highly interactive, compelling educational game for teaching immunology at the high school and freshman college levels. The learning objectives and instructional strategies will be developed in consultation with biology teachers, at both the high school and college freshmen levels, and with learning research scientists. The project involves a multidisciplinary team with expertise in: (a) the complexities and subtleties of the underlying biology; (b) the information technology needed to build complex simulations and visualizations; (c) the instructional objectives and strategies best suited for the target audience; (d) application of the software tools to build games that people in the targeted age groups will find engaging and motivating; and (e) evaluating the impact of game/exploration-based instruction. This project will build on work on development of an instructional game for immunology supported by the National Institutes of Health and research on learning technologies supported by several public and private resources.