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BLOSSOMS Rushes
to Release High School Learning Videos on Flu
September
17, 2009
MIT LINC’s BLOSSOMS
Initiative is hurrying to release two video lessons
for high school classes on influenza, hoping to provide
valuable insight and information in the face of the
emerging global outbreak. The two learning videos, Flu
Math Games and The Biology of Flu,
have been created by faculty, researchers and students
at MIT in Cambridge, MA. These educational videos –
using the unique BLOSSOMS ‘interactive’
pedagogy - are designed to afford students a better
understanding of the causation and spread of this very
important human disorder.
Professor Richard Larson,
the Mitsui Professor of Engineering Systems and Director
of the Center for Engineering Systems Fundamentals at
MIT, - along with students, Dr. Sahar Hashmi and Mai
Perches – has created Flu Math Games
video. The goals of this video are: to show students
that math can play a role in understanding how an infectious
disease spreads and can be controlled; to have the students
see and use both deterministic and probabilistic models;
to learn by doing via role-playing. Dr. Larson's specialty
is Operations Research, an interdisciplinary field that
uses mathematics and the scientific method to improve
decision-making in industry and government. His current
major research project is pandemic influenza, in particular
focusing on steps that individuals can take to reduce
to chances of becoming infected with the flu virus.
The second video, The
Biology of Flu, has been created by Stan N. Finkelstein,
MD, Senior Research Scientist, MIT Engineering Systems
Division and Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard
Medical School. Dr. Finkelstein has been assisted by
MIT student, Dr. Sahar Hashmi. The goals of this video
include the following: to provide fundamental scientific
content on the biology of viruses, including their structure,
other properties, and the manner in which they infect
human cells; to illustrate, in the context of influenza,
the role a virus plays in the causation of human disease;
and to use the behavior of the flu virus as a stimulus
for discussion of how students and their families can
reduce the risks of contracting the flu during a seasonal
outbreak or pandemic. Dr. Finkelstein is a specialist
in health care policy and works actively on preparedness
for public health emergencies. Dr. Hashmi is currently
a graduate student at MIT doing research on pandemic
flu spread and its relation to behavioral changes using
non-pharmaceutical interventions.
To access these videos when
available, go to: http://blossoms.mit.edu/
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