Agent-Based Modelling of Social Integration Between International and Local Students

Agents

The model includes two types of agent:

1. International Students 

2. Local Students

For visualization purposes, students with confidence < 0.3 are highlighted in red to make isolated agents easier to observe.

Each agent has attributes:

confidence (0–1)

motivation to interact (0–1)

interactions: accumulated count of successful interactions

 These variables change over time based on interaction outcomes. My model includes additional variables (language comfort for international students; openness for local students). I included these for structural completeness and future extensibility, but they are not activated in the current interaction rule, to keep the model easy to understand and match the experiment scope.

Behaviours

Each tick:

1. Move randomly and move one step each tick

2. Check whether any other agents are within the defined interaction-radius

3. Decide whether to interact

4. If interaction occurs → update confidence, interaction and motivation

5. If an event has recently occurred, event-boost temporarily increases the likelihood of interactions.

Interaction rule: The possibility of each interaction depends on five factors:  personal confidence, peer influence, mentor support, event boost, and the day's motivation for interaction.

Global Variables

event-boost

initial-confidence

mentor-support

peer influence

interaction-radius

Outputs

• number of interactions

• percentage of isolated students (confidence < 0.3)

• average confidence level