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A systematic review of agent-based modelling and simulation applications in the higher education domain

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posted on 2025-05-10, 12:01 authored by X. Gu, Karen BlackmoreKaren Blackmore
This paper presents the results of a systematic review of agent-based modelling and simulation (ABMS) applications in the higher education (HE) domain. Agent-based modelling is a 'bottom-up' modelling paradigm in which system-level behaviour (macro) is modelled through the behaviour of individual local-level agent interactions (micro). This approach of considering the behaviour of systems of interacting 'agents' has been applied to a wide variety of domains. Of particular interest, are the ways that ABMS applications have been used to further understand the dynamics of the HE domain. We conduct a systematic review of literature to analyse publications by year, role of the simulator, development stage of the models, and any associated validation. We also identify areas for future work, which includes an emphasis on validating existing and future models, detailed description of simulations to allow replication and further development, and the use of agent-based models in other contexts within the increasingly complex HE domain.

History

Journal title

Higher Education Research and Development

Volume

34

Issue

5

Pagination

883-898

Publisher

Routledge

Language

  • en, English

College/Research Centre

Faculty of Science and Information Technology

School

School of Design, Communication and Information Technology