Education: Fostering computational literacy in science classrooms: An agent-based approach to integrating computing in secondary-school science courses

Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a powerful way to introduce computation across the secondary science curriculum. The Center for Connected Learning and Computer support Based Modeling (CCL) at Northwestern University has developed ABM tools for education and scientific practice. The NetLogo ABM environment is a product of this effort, and currently has hundreds of thousands of users, ranging from students in middle schools to researchers in scientific laboratories. The CCL continues to develop software and materials to support the integration of NetLogo in science classrooms. Because the individual-level behavior of agents is relatively simple, ABMs feature relatively simple computer programs that control the behaviors of their computational agents. On the other hand, swarms or aggregates of interacting agents can produce complex, emergent patterns that require computational power beyond the human capacity to simulate.