Chemical Reaction Metaphor in Distributed Learning Environments

Abstract

Abstract. This paper presents an application of Chemical Reaction Metaphor (CRM) in agent-based distributed learning systems. The suitability of using CRM to model multi-agent systems is justified by CRM's capacity in catching dynamic features of multi-agent systems in an e-learning environment. A case study in course material updating demonstrates how the CRM based language, Gamma language, can be used to specify the architecture of the learning environment. Finally, a discussion on the implementation of Gamma language in a distributed system is given.

Specifying distributed multi-agent systems in chemical reaction metaphor

“…One example of the multi-agent systems for course maintenance and recommendation in this paradigm was presented in [21]. In that system, online course materials, including all textbooks or e-books and study guides, plus the project handouts, can be downloaded and installed on the students' hard drive.…”

“…In the sequel, node-specific software design in a distributed system still relies on conventional software engineering methods. In a distributed multi-agent system, the separation of architectural design and concrete design on proprietary platforms is deemed even more necessary for dealing with the complexity of the system [21]. Therefore, we will restrict the following discussion to implementing the Gamma specification of the multi-agent systems in the architectural level with a minimum assumption about the computation model supported by the underlying system.…”