An Integrated Approach for Automatic\ud Aggregation of Learning Knowledge Objects

This paper presents the Knowledge Puzzle, an ontology-based platform designed to facilitate domain\ud knowledge acquisition from textual documents for knowledge-based systems. First, the\ud Knowledge Puzzle Platform performs an automatic generation of a domain ontology from documents’\ud content through natural language processing and machine learning technologies. Second,\ud it employs a new content model, the Knowledge Puzzle Content Model, which aims to model\ud learning material from annotated content. Annotations are performed semi-automatically based\ud on IBM’s Unstructured Information Management Architecture and are stored in an Organizational\ud memory (OM) as knowledge fragments. The organizational memory is used as a knowledge\ud base for a training environment (an Intelligent Tutoring System or an e-Learning environment).\ud The main objective of these annotations is to enable the automatic aggregation of Learning\ud Knowledge Objects (LKOs) guided by instructional strategies, which are provided through\ud SWRL rules. Finally, a methodology is proposed to generate SCORM-compliant learning objects\ud from these LKOs

A User-Centered Approach to the Development of a History Domain Ontology: Helping Teachers Use Digital Primary Sources

The use of primary source materials is recognized as key to supporting inquiry-based history and social studies education. The extensive digitization of library, museum, and other cultural heritage collections represents an important resource for teachers as they strive to develop their students. critical thinking skills. Yet, searching and selecting digital primary sources appropriate for classroom use can be difficult and time-consuming. This study investigates the design requirements and the potential usefulness of a domain-specific ontology to facilitate access to, and use of, a collection of digital primary source materials developed by the University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). During a three-phase study an ontology model was designed and evaluated with the involvement of social studies teachers identified as the primary community of end users. The findings revealed that the design of the ontology was appropriate to support the information needs of the teachers and was perceived as a potentially useful tool to enhance access and facilitate inquiry-based instruction. The primary contribution of this dissertation is the introduction of an approach to ontology development that is user-centered and designed to facilitate access to digital cultural heritage materials. This study also contributes to the growing body of literature on teachers. use of digital libraries and primary source materials, especially in the area of social studies education

Une approche d'ingénierie ontologique pour l'acquisition et l'exploitation des connaissances à partir de documents textuels : vers des objets de connaissances et d'apprentissage

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal