# ABS-SOCI: An Agent-Based Simulator of Student Sociograms
## 3 Abs-Soci
### User Interface of the Tool  
Figure 1 shows the main frame of the user interface (UI) of ABS-SOCI. In this frame, users can introduce the input parameters of simulations. Each simulation can start either from (a) a neutral sociogram (i.e., with only neutral relationships) or from (b) an existing sociogram with specific selection,  
neutral and rejection relations. In the former case, users introduce the number of students of each role. In the latter case, users determine this sociogram with a text file (see an example in Figure 2).  
The number of iterations represents the number of teaching hours. Users can also select the animation speed (i.e., number of iterations per second), which does not have any repercussion in the actual simulation. Users can either observe all the steps and analyze these with a slow simulation, or go through the whole simulation quickly to obtain the final results. Users can repeat simulations with the same input parameters, by indicating the corresponding number of simulations.  
Figure 1: Frame for showing the graphical evolution of sociograms.  
Figure 2: Main frame of the user interface (UI) of the Agent-Based Simulator of Student Sociograms (ABS-SOCI).  
Once a user has initiated the simulations, a new frame pops up as the one in Figure 3. For each simulation, this frame sequentially presents the evolution of the sociogram showing the results of all the iterations from the first one to the last one. The sociogram is presented by situating all the individuals in a circle, and connecting these with arrows when there is either a relationship of selection or rejection. This representation is common in the works about sociograms. The relationships have directions, and these directions are indicated with the corresponding arrowheads. The relationships have grades of intensity, and these are graphically represented with the thicknesses of the corresponding arrows.  
In the right side, there is a legend for presenting some color notations. Each individual is represented as a small filled circle with the color that represents its student agent types. The selection and rejection relationships are respectively specified with black and red. The bottom right side of the frame indicates the number of the iteration and the measurement values of certain sociometrics.  
The sociometric results of all the simulations are presented on the right side of the main frame with their averages and standard deviations (SD). The results can be saved into a text file by pressing the corresponding button.  
The results of ABS-SOCI are measured with some of the sociometrics introduced by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [PERSON] and [PERSON] (1998) that are related to features of the group. The Index of Association of a group (IAg) measures the cohesion of the group. The Index of Dissociation of a group (IDg) measures the dislike between members of the group. The Index of Coherence of a group (ICg) measures the number of selections that are reciprocally divided by all the actual selections (either reciprocal or not). The Index of Intensity of a group (IIg) measures the grade of the emission of selections and rejections by the members of the group.