More and More, Schools Got Game

The Federation of American Scientists is promoting educational gaming as a way to inspire a new generation of scientists. It has developed two games, including Immune Attack, in which players fly through blood vessels attacking fierce bacterial invaders. The free game, which has been tried out at McKinley Technology High School in the District, has been downloaded from the federation's Web site 6,000 times since April.

To make further inroads into the educational market, video game producers must win over teachers who are loaded down with curriculum demands and pressured to improve student test performance.

Some research has shown that games such as Quest Atlantis and Tabula Digita can boost the time that students spend on problems, depth of responses, even test scores. Larger-scale studies are still under way. A revision to the Higher Education Act approved last summer authorizes the creation of a research center for assessing and developing educational technologies such as simulations and video games.

Timothy J. Magner, director of educational technology for the Education Department, said games could themselves become powerful assessment tools. Computers can capture data about every player move, he said, and teachers can see "at the mouse-click level" how students make decisions and when they struggle.

Business classes have been among the first to use complex educational simulations. Knowledge Matters, based in Florence, Mass., sells business simulations that allow students to manage sports teams or stores. The games, as well as some history games, are used in 4,000 schools nationwide, including some in Prince William, Howard, Frederick, Arlington and Alexandria.

Accounting firm Deloitte developed the game Spill! and offered it free to schools to teach basic business lessons and encourage students to pursue jobs in the field.

Marshall High teacher Kimberly Fields, 27, who grew up with Super Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog, said she adopted Deloitte's game in her class to help students practice skills and get a more realistic sense of the business world.

Russell said he was impressed by the unpredictability of the game's plot. He also liked the competition. In the end, his team scored 12th out of more than 1,000 teams participating across the country. "I got really into it," he said.