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Multiagent systems is a branch of artificial intelligence
(AI) that examines the behavior within communities of
rational actors, where the actions of one actor may have
consequences for another. Multiagent systems takes the idea
of individual incentives from economic game theory and
applies it to distributed computation and decentralized
mechanisms. It examines not only how certain overall
economic or computational goals can be accomplished, but
also why individual participants will choose to cooperate
in accomplishing that goal.
Pedagogy within multiagent system is rich in mathematical
rigor and theory. However, there is a gap in pedagogical
practices that ties that theoretical training with the
application of that theory to actual human agents. This is
especially important as AI is deployed in increasingly
sociotechnical domains.
This paper presents the first exploration of using large
participation activities to facilitate experiential
learning to bridge this gap. We conduct an in-person
game-like activity (a megagame'') where up to 43
participants engage in a day-long resource allocation
scenario, where learners can apply their theoretical
frameworks to analyze and solve emerging problems, while
motivated by and under the pressure of meaningful stakes.
We present these megagames as a potential pedagogical tool
for both multiagent systems and other domains.
