Today Alex Hill taught NetLogo. He explained how it was a program that visually displays a model of a scenario. He then explained each character that was created in NetLogo is called a turtle, and how the students had to learn how to command them using NetLogo code if they wanted to manipulate them. After teaching the students basic commands such as move, random, and set, Alex explained how the class would create a sick-infected-recovered model. The model they were going to create was based on the swine flu.
Alex coded and explained each segment of the code. He explained the use of procedures, and if statements. Since procedures were required to be in closed brackets, at first many of the students had trouble with the concept. Alex and other staff/interns went through the room to clear any questions. In the end, the class let the students become more familiar with coding languages using a fun modeling program.