StarLogo: an environment for decentralized modeling and decentralized thinking

Abstract

StarLogo is programmable modeling environment designed to help nonexpert users (in particular, precollege students) model and explore decentralized systems, such as ant colonies and market economies. People often have difficulty understanding the workings of such systems. By using StarLogo, people can move beyond the “centralized mindset’’—that is, they begin to understand how patterns can arise through decentralized interactions, not from the dictates of a centralized authority.