Knowledge Acquisition for Content Selection

An important part of building a natural-language generation (NLG) system is knowledge acquisition, that is deciding on the specific schemas, plans, grammar rules, and so forth that should be used in the NLG system. We discuss some experiments we have performed with KA for content-selection rules, in the context of building an NLG system which generates health-related material. These experiments suggest that it is useful to supplement corpus analysis with KA techniques developed for building expert systems, such as structured group discussions and think-aloud protocols. They also raise the point that KA issues may influence architectural design issues, in particular the decision on whether a planning approach is used for content selection. We suspect that in some cases, KA may be easier if other constructive expert-system techniques (such as production rules, or case-based reasoning) are used to determine the content of a generated text.Comment: To appear in the 1997 European NLG workshop. 10 pages, postscrip

Units of Evidence for Analyzing Subdisciplinary Difference in Data Practice Studies

Digital libraries (DLs) are adapting to accommodate research data and related services. The complexities of this new content spans the elements of DL development, and there are questions concerning data selection, service development, and how best to align these with local, institutional initiatives for cyberinfrastructure, data-intensive research, and data stewardship. Small science disciplines are of particular relevance due to the prevalence of this mode of research in the academy, and the anticipated magnitude of data production. To support data acquisition into DLs – and subsequent data reuse – there is a need for new knowledge on the range and complexities inherent in practice-data-curation arrangements for small science research. We present a flexible methodological approach crafted to generate data units to analyze these relationships and facilitate crossdisciplinary comparisons.Library Services (LG-06-07-0032-07) and National Science Foundation (OCI-0830976).is peer reviewe

Reusable rocket engine turbopump health monitoring system, part 3

Degradation mechanisms and sensor identification/selection resulted in a list of degradation modes and a list of sensors that are utilized in the diagnosis of these degradation modes. The sensor list is divided into primary and secondary indicators of the corresponding degradation modes. The signal conditioning requirements are discussed, describing the methods of producing the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) post-hot-fire test data to be utilized by the Health Monitoring System. Development of the diagnostic logic and algorithms is also presented. The knowledge engineering approach, as utilized, includes the knowledge acquisition effort, characterization of the expert's problem solving strategy, conceptually defining the form of the applicable knowledge base, and rule base, and identifying an appropriate inferencing mechanism for the problem domain. The resulting logic flow graphs detail the diagnosis/prognosis procedure as followed by the experts. The nature and content of required support data and databases is also presented. The distinction between deep and shallow types of knowledge is identified. Computer coding of the Health Monitoring System is shown to follow the logical inferencing of the logic flow graphs/algorithms

TRUE AND HOLOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE

The article deals with the direction of philosophy - epistemology, it is a study of knowledge and cognition. The main aspects of epistemology are the dimensions of knowledge, the sources of knowledge and the reliability of knowledge. The education system deals with the acquisition of knowledge, the use of various sources of knowledge and the reflection of the reliability of knowledge in curricula. Learning content includes knowledge that helps to find, create and use new knowledge. Modern curriculum requires a review of all school knowledge, conceptual and factual apparatus of school education. Mankind has accumulated a tremendous amount of knowledge. Essential preconditions for the selection of educational content: that the acquired knowledge covers the basics of various sciences; so that the curriculum covers different types of knowledge; that the student acquires knowledge from different sources of knowledge and uses different dimensions of knowledge; so that in order to explain the processes taking place in the universe, the student uses the true knowledge, which is formed on the laws of eternal harmony, is structured and maintains the whole of the world. The topicality of the article is related to the modern study content, which is based on true structured knowledge. The aim of the article is to review the content of the curriculum so that students have access to quality knowledge that is organized in a system and considered as a whole, and explains the processes taking place in the world

Acquisition from Storybooks

For young children, storybooks may serve as especially valuable sources of new knowledge. While most research focuses on how extratextual comments influence knowledge acquisition, we propose that children's learning may also be supported by the specific features of storybooks. More specifically, we propose that texts that invoke children's knowledge of familiar taxonomic categories may support learning by providing a conceptual framework through which prior knowledge and new knowledge can be readily integrated. In this study, 60 5-year olds were read a storybook that either invoked their knowledge of a familiar taxonomic category (taxonomic storybook) or focused on a common thematic grouping (traditional storybook). Following the book-reading, children's vocabulary acquisition, literal comprehension, and inferential comprehension were assessed. Children who were read the taxonomic storybook demonstrated greater acquisition of target vocabulary and comprehension of factual content than children who were read the traditional storybook. Inferential comprehension, however, did not differ across the two conditions. We argue for the importance of careful consideration of book features and storybook selection in order to provide children with every opportunity to gain the knowledge foundational for successful literacy development

Effects of combining narrative and expository text on young children's conceptual knowledge and expository text comprehension

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston UniversityFar too many children begin school with large knowledge gaps that, when left unaddressed, widen and contribute to long-term reading comprehension failure (Hart & Risley, 1995). Early knowledge gaps are often rooted in opportunity gaps (i.e., accumulated inequities in access to key educational resources), with text being a key resource for knowledge acquisition (Stanovich & Cunningham, 1993). Text is particularly important for building knowledge that enables expository text comprehension because much ofthis knowledge is abstract and far removed from everyday experiences. However, there are differing views regarding which text genre or combination thereof best develops the knowledge that enables expository text comprehension. Without clear guidance, text anthology publishers and teachers likely will continue employing uneven text selection methods and knowledge gaps will persist. Thus, identifying optimal text selection is essential if we are to reduce the opportunity gaps underlying poor reading comprehension achievement. Towards this end, I examined effects oftext genre on first-graders' conceptual knowledge and comprehension growth using a cluster-randomized design. Children (N = 57) were randomly assigned to informational narrative and expository text (C, n = 26) or expository text only (E, n = 31) groups. Both C and E children received the same five- week read-aloud intervention. Instruction was organized around a central science conceptandusedtopically-relatedtext. Keyfeaturesincludedexplicitvocabulary instruction, semantic word sorts, scaffolded discussions, and application to new contexts. Results suggest that use of both texts facilitated: (1) greater gains in knowledge breadth and depth (but not statistically significant); (2) greater gains in comprehension depth (gains for narrative text were statistically significant); (3) a significantly larger increase in conceptual knowledge and narrative text recall accuracy and a larger increase in expository text recall accuracy; (4) sustained effects as C children demonstrated continued knowledge and comprehension growth six weeks after the intervention concluded. Findings suggest that effective use ofa combination ofnarrative and expository text may contribute to a reduction in early opportunity and knowledge gaps, and that both types of text should be considered in content area curricular and instructional decision making

Outsourcing and acquisition models comparison related to IT supplier selection decision analysis

This paper presents a comparison of acquisition models related to decision analysis of IT supplier selection. The main standards are: Capability Maturity Model Integration for Acquisition (CMMI-ACQ), ISO / IEC 12207 Information Technology / Software Life Cycle Processes, IEEE 1062 Recommended Practice for Software Acquisition, the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) guide. The objective of this paper is to compare the previous models to find the advantages and disadvantages of them for the future development of a decision model for IT supplier selection

Distributed Learning System Design: A New Approach and an Agenda for Future Research

This article presents a theoretical framework designed to guide distributed learning design, with the goal of enhancing the effectiveness of distributed learning systems. The authors begin with a review of the extant research on distributed learning design, and themes embedded in this literature are extracted and discussed to identify critical gaps that should be addressed by future work in this area. A conceptual framework that integrates instructional objectives, targeted competencies, instructional design considerations, and technological features is then developed to address the most pressing gaps in current research and practice. The rationale and logic underlying this framework is explicated. The framework is designed to help guide trainers and instructional designers through critical stages of the distributed learning system design process. In addition, it is intended to help researchers identify critical issues that should serve as the focus of future research efforts. Recommendations and future research directions are presented and discussed

Exploiting Synergy Between Ontologies and Recommender Systems

Recommender systems learn about user preferences over time, automatically finding things of similar interest. This reduces the burden of creating explicit queries. Recommender systems do, however, suffer from cold-start problems where no initial information is available early on upon which to base recommendations. Semantic knowledge structures, such as ontologies, can provide valuable domain knowledge and user information. However, acquiring such knowledge and keeping it up to date is not a trivial task and user interests are particularly difficult to acquire and maintain. This paper investigates the synergy between a web-based research paper recommender system and an ontology containing information automatically extracted from departmental databases available on the web. The ontology is used to address the recommender systems cold-start problem. The recommender system addresses the ontology's interest-acquisition problem. An empirical evaluation of this approach is conducted and the performance of the integrated systems measured

Knowledge acquisition for the internationalization of the smaller firm: content and sources

Internationalization process research emphasizes accumulated experience and networks as sources of knowledge for internationalization. Our understanding, however, as to what this knowledge is in practice for smaller firms, the challenges they face in acquiring it, and how they address those challenges is limited. Integrating organizational learning concepts with our theoretical understanding of the small firm internationalization process, we develop a new framework for understanding knowledge acquisition processes, which are examined with a case study of 10 Scottish internationalizing firms. We find smaller firms may not have relevant experience or useful networks, and rely on sources rarely recognised before. Firms used recruitment, government advisors and consultants to acquire indirect experience. Recruitment is a source of market and technological knowledge and government advisors and consultants a source of internationalization knowledge. Accessing internal information is important for firms that have internationalized. Our integrated theoretical framework identifies knowledge content and sources that are critical for internationalization, but that may be absent