MAPS2 Conference

Teaching of/with Agent-Based Models in the Social Sciences

April 8th-9^th, 2010

ENS ULM, Paris, France

 Aims and topics of the Conference

A two-day conference dedicated to communication and pedagogy of or with agent-based models in the Social Sciences.

• Methods concerning the teaching of agent-based modelling and simulation.
• Methods concerning the use of modelling and or models in a more general teaching purpose (e.g. modelling resource-users interactions to teach renewable resource management,…).
• Methods for the communication of agent-based models (e.g. methods to describe and communicate around models towards the scientific community, media or the society).
• The use of agent-based models in a communication purpose (e.g. serious games to sensitize a population to environmental issues).

Conference  location:  the  conference  will  take  place  at  Ecole  Normale  Supérieure  (Salle Dussane), 45 rue d’Ulm, 75005 – Paris

Organization

The MAPS group (Multi-Agent modelling applied to Spatial Phenomena) is concerned by the teaching of ABM in social sciences to junior scientists and PhD students. Since 2008 an innovative training format is tested which alternates between intensive collective workshops (conferences on theory and practice of ABM and teamwork) and long period of distance teamwork (using various web technologies). Each trainees group develops its own project model. MAPS2 conference aims at sharing this pedagogic experience and confronts it to other teaching practices as well as to applications of ABM for communication purpose.

Partners

Conference   location:  The   conference   will   take   place   at  Ecole   Normale   Supérieure   (Salle
Dussane), 45 rue d’Ulm, 75005 – Paris

Free entrance : no fee is needed to enter the conference. Please only send an email to the organizers to inform about your presence.

Agenda 

8th April

10:00-12:00 : The MAPS experience
–   Trainees’ groups present their project model – 3 presentations
–   Trainers present the pedagogic format used and its outputs

12:00-14:00 : Lunch break

14:00-15:00 : Keynote speaker : Uri Wilensky (Centre for Connected Learning, USA): NetLogo: a Multi-Agent platform for education and research

15:00-17:00 : Conference speakers – Part 1
– Christophe Le Page. Teaching agent-based simulation for renewable resource management with Cormas
– Rebaudo F, Crespo Pérez V, Dangles O. Teaching pest management through agent-based models in tropical socio-ecological systems: insights from the potato tuber moth in Ecuador
– Nicolas Brax, Frédéric Amblard, Nicolas Becu, Laure Santoni, Samuel Thiriot. When predictive modelling meet participatory simulation: a feedback on potential and issues of a combined approach
– Aristotelis Gkiolmas, Anthimos Chalkidis, Anastasia Papaconstantinou, Dimitrios Stavrou, Kostas Karamanos & Constantine Skordoulis. Teaching concepts of Complex Systems to prospective Greek Primary School teachers, with the use of NetLogo models

9th April

9:00-10:00 : Keynote speaker : Volker Grimm (Centre for Environmental Research, Germany) : Protocols and methods to communicate with and about models

10:00-12:00 : Conference speakers – Part 2
– Françoise Gourmelon, Mathias Rouan, Anne Rognant. Role-playing game and learning for young people about sustainable development stakes: an experiment in transferring and adapting  interdisciplinary scientific knowledge
– Matthieu Delage, Florent Le Néchet, Thomas Louail, Hélène Mathian, Sébastien Rey Coyrehourcq. Simulation of accessibility in urban setting and an experiment in teaching applications: the AccesSim model
– Christophe Sibertin-blanc. The Validity of Simulation Results in Social Sciences
– Alex Smajgl. Agent-based learning process for decision makers in Indonesia

12:00-14:00 : Lunch break

14:00-15:00 : Michel Etienne : Co-learning and mediation through models: a companion modelling approach

15:00-17:00 : Round table : Modelling and pedagogy in social sciences, Animated by Dawn Parker (University of Waterloo, Canada)

Please send before 15th  February 2010 (extended from 31st  January)  a short paper (4 to 5 pages, times 12) in English to arnaud.banos@parisgeo.cnrs.fr.

Eight conferences will be selected.

Final papers will be evaluated by the scientific committee for a collective publication in Journal of Artificial Society and Social Simulation (http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/JASSS.html)

 Scientific Committee

Luis Antunes, Department of Informatics, University of Lisboa (Portugal)
Olivier Barreteau, UMR G-EAU, Cemagref (France)
Edmund Chattoe, Department of Sociology, University of Leicester (UK)
Eric Daudé, UMR IDEES, CNRS (France)
Nigel Gilbert, Department of Sociology, University of Surrey (UK)
Tim Kohler, Department of Anthropology, Washington State University (USA)
Matthias Meyer, Institute of Management Control and Accounting, Hamburg University (Germany)
Gary Polhill, Macaulay Land Use Research Institute (UK)
Alex Smajgl, CSIRO (Australia)
Flaminio Squazzoni, University of Brescia (Italy)

Organizers

– Marion Amalric, UMR CITERES, Tours University.- Frédéric Amblard, IRIT, UMR 5055 CNRS/ Toulouse University.
– Arnaud Banos, UMR Géographie-Cités, CNRS/ Paris1 University.
– Elise Beck, UMR PACTE, CNRS/ Grenoble University.
– Nicolas Becu, PRODIG, UMR 8586 CNRS/ Paris1 University, nicolas.becu@univ-paris1.fr
– Sébastien Caillault, UMR LETG, CNRS/ Caen University.
– Eric Daudé, UMR IDEES, CNRS/
– Pierre Gautreau, PRODIG, UMR 8586, CNRS/ Paris1 University, pierre.gautreau@univ-paris1.fr
– Nicolas Marillaud, IRD.
– Olivier Ninot, UMR PRODIG, CNRS.
– David Sheeren, UMR DYNAFOR.- Ion Tillier, UMR LETG, CNRS/ Nantes University.