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

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.

[1]  S. Walsh,et al.  Collaborative Learning and Global Education: Human–Environment Interactions in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador , 2013 .

[2]  M. Macy,et al.  FROM FACTORS TO ACTORS: Computational Sociology and Agent-Based Modeling , 2002 .

[3]  Jonathan P. Pinder.  An Active Learning Exercise for Introducing Agent-Based Modeling , 2013 .

[4]  D. Dill,et al.  Academic quality, league tables, and public policy: A cross-national analysis of university ranking systems , 2005 .

[5]  R. Axelrod.  Reviews book & software , 2022 .

[6]  Andrew M. Colman,et al.  The complexity of cooperation: Agent-based models of competition and collaboration , 1998, Complex..

[7]  Ulrich Teichler,et al.  Higher education, research and innovation, changing dynamics: report on the UNESCO forum on higher education research and knowledge, 2001 - 2009. , 2009 .

[8]  Angela Carbone,et al.  Systematic review methodology in higher education , 2012 .

[9]  Eric Bonabeau,et al.  Agent-based modeling: Methods and techniques for simulating human systems , 2002, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[10]  Bruce Edmonds,et al.  Errors and Artefacts in Agent-Based Modelling , 2009, J. Artif. Soc. Soc. Simul..

[11]  Andreas Pyka,et al.  A new model for university-industry links in knowledge-based economies , 2011 .

[12]  P. Bourdieu.  Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste* , 2018, Food and Culture.

[13]  Ulrich Teichler,et al.  Higher Education, Research and Innovation: Changing Dynamics , 2009 .

[14]  Peter B. Sloep,et al.  Introducing the SAPS System and a Corresponding Allocation Mechanism for Synchronous Online Reciprocal Peer Support Activities , 2011, J. Artif. Soc. Soc. Simul..

[15]  Michèle Sebag,et al.  Pride and Prejudice on a Centralized Academic Labor Market , 2009 .

[16]  Bruce Edmonds,et al.  The Use of Models - Making MABS More Informative , 2000, MABS.

[17]  J. Gareth Polhill,et al.  Agent-based land-use models: a review of applications , 2007, Landscape Ecology.

[18]  Claudio Gandelli,et al.  Peer review under the microscope. An agent-based model of scientific collaboration , 2012, Proceedings Title: Proceedings of the 2012 Winter Simulation Conference (WSC).

[19]  Andrew Crooks,et al.  Agent-based Models of Geographical Systems , 2012 .

[20]  Angela B. Shiflet,et al.  Undergraduate Module on Computational Modeling: Introducing Modeling the Cane Toad Invasion , 2013, ICCS.

[21]  Paulo Blikstein.  From inert to generative modeling: two case studies of Multi-Agent-Based Simulation in Undergraduate Engineering education , 2006 .

[22]  Patricia M. McDonough.  College Choice as Capital Conversion and Investment: A New Model. ASHE Annual Meeting Paper. , 1997 .

[23]  Setsuya Kurahashi,et al.  Optimising of support plans for new graduate employment market using reinforcement learning , 2011, Int. J. Comput. Appl. Technol..

[24]  M. P. Bach,et al.  Agent Based Model of Young Researchers in Higher Education Institutions , 2013 .

[25]  Giorgio Triulzi,et al.  R&D and knowledge dynamics in university-industry relationships in biotech and pharmaceuticals : an agent-based model , 2014 .

[26]  Nicolas Malleson,et al.  Using Agent-Based Models to Simulate Crime , 2012 .

[27]  Yuzhuo Cai.  Graduate employability: a conceptual framework for understanding employers’ perceptions , 2012, Higher Education.

[28]  R. Baumeister,et al.  Writing Narrative Literature Reviews , 1997, Review of General Psychology.

[29]  Theodore T. Allen,et al.  A simple agent-based social impact theory model of student STEM selection , 2010, Proceedings of the 2010 Winter Simulation Conference.

[30]  N. Gilbert.  A Simulation of the Structure of Academic Science , 1997 .

[31]  Paulo Blikstein,et al.  A Case Study Of Multi Agent Based Simulation In Undergraduate Materials Science Education , 2006 .

[32]  R. G. Ingalls,et al.  Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation , 2017, Encyclopedia of Machine Learning and Data Mining.

[33]  Uta Berger,et al.  Pattern-Oriented Modeling of Agent-Based Complex Systems: Lessons from Ecology , 2005, Science.

[34]  Johannes Weyer,et al.  Modeling Scientists as Agents. How Scientists Cope with the Challenges of the New Public Management of Science , 2011, J. Artif. Soc. Soc. Simul..

[35]  Giorgio Triulzi,et al.  LEARNING-BY-MODELING: INSIGHTS FROM AN AGENT-BASED MODEL OF UNIVERSITY–INDUSTRY RELATIONSHIPS , 2011, Cybern. Syst..

[36]  Flaminio Squazzoni,et al.  When Competition Is Pushed Too Hard. An Agent-Based Model Of Strategic Behaviour Of Referees In Peer Review , 2013, ECMS.

[37]  P. Altbach,et al.  The Internationalization of Higher Education: Motivations and Realities , 2007 .

[38]  Leslie Henrickson,et al.  Old Wine in a New Wineskin , 2002 .

[39]  Tony Gorschek,et al.  Empirical evidence in global software engineering: a systematic review , 2010, Empirical Software Engineering.

[40]  Qin Zheng,et al.  An agent-based experimental model for innovative talent management in universities , 2010, 2010 International Conference on Electronics and Information Engineering.

[41]  François Bousquet,et al.  Multi-agent simulations and ecosystem management: a review , 2004 .

[42]  Steven E Phelan,et al.  Using agent-based simulation to examine the robustness of up-or-out promotion systems in universities. , 2004, Nonlinear dynamics, psychology, and life sciences.

[43]  Jun Tanimoto,et al.  A Study on Research Performance in Japanese Universities: which is More Efficient - a Professor Who is Leading his Research Group or One Who is Working Alone? The Multi-Agent Simulation knows , 2003, Adv. Complex Syst..

[44]  Johannes Kottonau,et al.  An Interactive Computer Model for Improved Student Understanding of Random Particle Motion and Osmosis , 2011 .

[45]  Sean F. Reardon,et al.  Agent-Based Simulation Models of the College Sorting Process , 2016, J. Artif. Soc. Soc. Simul..

[46]  Andrew Crooks,et al.  Introduction to Agent-Based Modelling , 2012 .

[47]  Mario Piattini,et al.  Measurement in business processes: a systematic review , 2010, Bus. Process. Manag. J..

[48]  Nadine Hoser,et al.  Public funding in the academic field of nanotechnology: a multi-agent based model , 2013, Comput. Math. Organ. Theory.

[49]  Ralph Kenna,et al.  Managing research quality: critical mass and optimal academic research group size , 2012 .

[50]  Mike Wright,et al.  University Spin-Out Companies and Venture Capital , 2006 .

[51]  A. Crooks.  The Use of Agent-Based Modelling for Studying the Social and Physical Environment of Cities1 , 2008 .

[52]  Anatoly Kurkovsky.  Interdisciplinary systems and simulation studies for an innovative undergraduate program , 2013, SpringSim.

[53]  Michael J. North,et al.  Tutorial on agent-based modelling and simulation , 2005, Proceedings of the Winter Simulation Conference, 2005..

[54]  Raymond R. Hill,et al.  A Survey of Agent-Based Modeling Practices (January 1998 to July 2008) , 2009, J. Artif. Soc. Soc. Simul..

[55]  Paul Roebber,et al.  Simulating Alternative Approaches to Addressing Fiscal Resource Tensions and Quality in U.S. Public Higher Education , 2012 .

[56]  Shanjiang Zhu,et al.  Enhancing Transportation Education Through On-Line Simulation Using an Agent-Based Demand and Assignment Model , 2007 .

[57]  V. M. Moskovkin.  Simulation expert system for making students’ college decisions , 2009, Automatic Documentation and Mathematical Linguistics.

[58]  Mike Stieff,et al.  Connected Chemistry—Incorporating Interactive Simulations into the Chemistry Classroom , 2003 .