Programming with NetLogo & Python

Why NetLogo?

NetLogo is a programming language designed specifically for education and research. Novices will find it an easy-to-learn language with a very intuitive graphical interface. NetLogo is simple enough that students and teachers can easily design and run simulations, and advanced enough to serve as a powerful tool for researchers in many disciplines. NetLogo can be used to teach programming, computational thinking, simulation, model building, and understanding of complex phenomena through models in many different domains.
It serves as a good entry point to more general-purpose programming languages like C and Python

Features of NetLogo:

1. Open-source and free.
2. Easy to learn.
3. Interactive code.
4. Visual and intuitive output.
5. A rich library of interactive simulations.
6. Science/Math-based tutorials and examples.
7. Well-researched for its educational value.

Integration with Syllabus

Incorporating geometry with NetLogo Programming enables students to create and explore geometric shapes interactively, making geometry more engaging and accessible, especially for those who find traditional approaches challenging. Since the programming language was also designed with science and engineering researchers in mind, it can be easily integrated with science and math concepts that students learn in school. For example, students can learn to simulate population growth, the effect of tree density in the spread of a forest fire, or the motion of a projectile in the presence of wind. So not only do the students learn how to code, but the examples they learn will also give them a better understanding of various math and science concepts.

Who is it for?

Students who are looking for a career in science, engineering, computer science, biology, social science, and economics.

Research:

When NetLogo is used as modeling tool by students, it “promotes several processes of reasoning that are central to science: developing original hypotheses, formalizing ideas, researching existing solutions, and critical analysis of results.” (Wilensky & Reisman 2006:205)

Moreover, we also can find a “learning through building” approach that is popular in engineering sciences: “If you can’t build it, then you don’t under-stand it. Our approach of modeling underlying mechanisms takes the engineer’s dictum seriously. To model a system, it is not sufficient to understand only a handful of isolated facts about it. Rather, one must understand many facts and concepts about the system and, most important, how these relate to each other.The process of modeling is inherently about developing such conceptual relations and seeking out new facts and concepts when a gap in one’s knowledge is discovered.” (Wilensky & Reisman 2006:202)

“Using the NetLogo language, students and researchers have constructed large numbers of models of complex phenomena in the natural and social worlds. The Models Library that comes with NetLogo covers phenomena in biology, chemistry, physics, earth science economics, history, sociology, business, medicine and a variety of other domains. These models can be explored and revised as part of model-based inquiry in middle, secondary and undergraduate classrooms as well as serving as the basis for research in more advanced settings.” (Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling (CCL), retrieved March 2019).

NetLogo is an nice environment to teach computational thinking. Since digital literacy and thinking has become hot topic again, e.g. mandatory in many curricula, interest for NetLogo should rise the following years. It is more than a programming environment and as such suitable for integrated pedagogic approaches that marry informatics, method, mathematics, domains-specific knowledge,etc. – Daniel K. Schneider (talk) 17:18, 15 March 2019 (CET)