Integration of social values in a multi-agent platform running in a supercomputer

Agent-based modelling is one of the most suitable ways to simulate and analyse complex problems and scenarios, especially those involving social interactions. Multi-agent systems, consisting of multiple agents in a simulation environment, are widely used to understand emergent behaviour in various fields such as sociology, economics and policy. However, existing multi-agent platforms often face challenges in terms of scalability and reasoning capacity. Some platforms can scale well in terms of computation, but lack sophisticated reasoning mechanisms. On the other hand, some platforms employ complex reasoning systems, but this can compromise their scalability. In this work, we have extended an existing platform developed at UPC that enables scalable, parallel HTN planning for complex agents. Our main goal has been to improve the analysis of social relationships between agents by incorporating moral values. Building on previous work done by David Marín on the implementation of the platform, we have made extensions and modifications both formally and in the implementation. We have formalised the additions to the system model and provided an updated implementation. Finally, we have presented a complex example scenario that demonstrates all the additions we have made. This scenario allows us to show how agents' preferences and moral values influence their decisions and actions in a simulated environment. Through this work, we have sought to improve the existing platform and fulfil the spirit and purpose of the platform

Learning to Eat Appreciatively and Thoughtfully (EAT): Connecting with Food through School Gardens

Many young people today do not learn to cook, or eat nutritious, regular meals together with their families, or go shopping for produce. Because of this, they do not have the opportunity to develop any real appreciation for food. To make matters worse, many public schools fail to teach students anything at all about the complex environmental and cultural history of food – how it is produced, preserved, prepared, and distributed. At the same time, schools serve lunches that often lack nutritional value. In this thesis, I argue the importance of giving students the opportunity to connect to food through school gardens and food education programs in schools. First, I trace the history and philosophical origins of school gardens, focusing particularly on the growth of school gardens and relevant literature at the turn of the 20th century and during the two world wars. I then examine the decline and subsequent rise of school gardens during the latter half of the 20th century and analyze two examples of current school gardening and food education programs in the United States: the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, California, and the Burlington School Food Project in Burlington, Vermont. Finally, I consider the feasibility of incorporating school gardens and food education into classrooms in Oberlin’s schools, and suggest that educating students to be “food literate” is one critical step towards addressing complex problems that we face today, including climate change and obesity

Technoligical Life Cycles Regional Clusters Facing Disruption

The phenomenon of technological life cycles is argued to be of great importance in the development of regional clusters. New 'disruptive' technologies may initiate the emergence of new regional industrial clusters and/or create new opportunities for further development of existing ones. However, they may also result in stagnation and decline of the latter. The term disruptive refers to such significant changes in the basic technologies that may change the industrial landscape, even in the shorter run. The paper examines the key features of a regional cluster, where the economic development patterns are quite closely related to the emergence of new key technologies.Technological life cycles, regional clusters, communication technology

Implementing the Australian Curriculum in Music: an initial study assessing its praxial potential in secondary schools in Canberra

This thesis explores the design, development, and implementation of the Australian Curriculum in Music in secondary schools in Canberra. Music has long been an area of contention within curricula, but it remains present in the Australian Curriculum. There is a lacuna of detailed analysis of secondary music teachers and courses in relation to the Australian Curriculum, so addressing this gap may allow for a better understanding of how teachers implement the Curriculum in their classrooms. Using an original analytical framework derived from literature surrounding music education, I have assessed the Curriculum for any issues in design, development, or implementation. This analysis ranges from inception to publication, and serves as the context against which a small sample of interviews with secondary music teachers will be explored. The final section of this thesis analyses and compares coursework documents that capture a detailed snapshot of the potentially vast range of individual interpretations of the Curriculum. Combined, the three sections of this thesis reveal the benefits and shortcomings of the Australian Curriculum in Music, examine some of the systemic issues in music education and teacher training, and highlight the importance of teacher expertise in delivering secondary music education