An Introduction to Agent-Based Modeling for Undergraduates

Agent-based modeling (ABM) has become an increasingly important tool in computational science. Thus, in the final week of the 2013 fall semester, Wofford College's undergraduate Modeling and Simulation for the Sciences course (COSC/MATH 201) considered ABM using the NetLogo tool. The students explored existing ABMs and completed two tutorials that developed models on unconstrained growth and the average distance covered by a random walker. The models demonstrated some of the utility of ABM and helped illustrate the similarities and differences between agent-based modeling and previously discussed techniques-system dynamics modeling, empirical modeling, and cellular automaton simulations. Improved test scores and questionnaire results support the success of the goals for the week.