KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING AND KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION IN A MIXED-INITIATIVE ONTOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Jurika Shakya BSc. (Comp. Sc.), University of Saskatchewan, 1996 A THESISSUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF in the School of lnteractive Arts and Technology @ Jurika Shakya 2005 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2005 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Jurika Shakya Degree: Master of Science Title of Thesis: Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Dissemination in a1 Mixed-Initiative Orit~ologicalFkamework Examining Committee: Dr. Rob \I'oodburx Chair Dr. Vive Kumar, Senior Supervisor Dr. Marek Hatala, Supervisor Dr. Allyson Hadwin, Ext,ernal Examiner: Department of Education: Cniversity of Vict'oria Date Approved: SIMON FRASER UNlwR~dibrary DECLARATION OF PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. 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The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada Abstract This research postulates that a theory-centric mixed-initiative approach to systems design is critical for the success of technology-enhanced learning environments. It explores a formal ontological mechanism to represent the underlying educational theory. It presents a design for a mixed-initiative system, named MI-EDNA, which recognizes and utilizes explanation- aware opportunities for the dissemination of self-regulatory knowledge. MI-EDNA formally captures the theory of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) in an ontological framework. It uses Description Logic and Production Rules as reasoning mechanisms to enable learners to reflect and regulate on their learning process. Using a model-tracing methodology, this research successfully maps learner interactions onto tactics, strategies, and phases/states that have be.en identified within the realms of SRL. Based on this mapping, MI-EDNA engages learners in a mixed-initiative interaction, formalizes recognition of system initiation opportunities, and provides a scaffolded learning environment to sustain sharing of learning experiences across domains and across learners. Keywords: knowledge representation, knowledge engineering, ontology, Web Ontology Language (OWL), Description Logic (DL), production rules, knowledge dissemination, mixed-initiative interac- tions, model of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL), educational theories, system-initiated inter- actions, system-oriented initiatives, shareable learner experiences, user modeling, tutoring systems iii This thesis is dedicated to my parents for all their love, support and encouragement. Acknowledgments This thesis represents part of my journey in this life and reflects the continual support, encouragement and guidance that I received from everyone around me. My sincere and foremost gratitude goes to my senior supervisor - Dr. Vive Kumar. Without his continual encouragement, optimistic perspective in new research ideas, and pa- tience, this thesis would not have been possible. I really appreciate the countless discussions that provided me with intellectual insights and motivation. My thesis committee was the ideal committee. Thanks to Dr. Marek Hatala for providing technical feedback from different perspective and guidance in my research. I appreciate Dr. Allyson Hadwin for accepting to be my external examiner and further demystify certain aspects of educational psychology such as the scaffolding/fading in SRL. Your valuable feedback has provided many improvements to this thesis and my research. I owe a great deal to Mayo Jordanov and Liam Doherty for their tremendous help this summer. Without their help, MI-EDNA would not have existed on-time. MI3, Mixed- Initiative Interaction group was a great inspiration for my research. Cheers to everyone in the MI3 group, Mayo Jordanov, Liam Doherty, David Brokenshire, Pat Lougheed, Sam Menon, and Shilpi Rao. Aside from the discussions and paper writing craze, all your sar- castic analytical approaches to research provided me with humour and insight. In this interdisciplinary research, I appreciate all the people involved in Learning Kit that provided me with much understanding of the world of educational psychology. I would especially like to thank Dr. Phil Winne, Dr. Dianne Jamieson-Noel, and Carmen Gress. Also, would like to extend my thanks to everyone involved in Laboratory of Ontological Research, which provided me opportunities to explore and discuss further in my knowledge of ontology. I really appreciated the discussions with Dr. Dragan Gasevic on ontology. I would like to thank Andrew Hendriks for enlightening me LaTex, and all the hidden information on being a graduate student; Stephanie Dayes for reviewing the thesis; and Info-Media Lab friends for the fun atmosphere. I admire and appreciate the encouragement from some of my previous work supervisors. I am grateful to Ron Koenderick, Andrew Pratt and Ken Mayhew for their support. Especially, my deepest thanks to Jeff Allen for his patience, understanding and laughter. Akoma, Sameer, Shristi, Binendra and Tannis for more laughter. Mom and dad for being the best parents and for bringing more laughter. Bahini, Hasina, Kalyani and Zaria for keeping me grounded and bringing fun attitude. Chris, Stephanie, Mike, Cindy, Geoff, Baljeet, Kreeti, Ashok, Davis, Frank, and Regina for being wonderful friends and tempting me with occasional distractions. Raz, Sabita, Rajen, Nina, Ang doh, Shree, Gyanu, Sadhana and Sameer for adventures that always refreshed me. Lastly but not least, Edna Mode from the cartoon, The Incredibles, that gave me inspi- ration to view my research with an attitude. Contents Approval ii Abstract iii 1 Dedication ( Acknowledgments I Contents vii List of Tables x I List of Figures List of Programs xii 1 Purpose 1.1 Objectives ............... 1.1.I Knowledge Engineering ... 1.1.2 Knowledge Dissemination . 1.1.3 Mixed-Initiative Interactions 1.1.4 Domain ............ 1.2 Scope ................. 1.3 Thesis Organization ......... 2 Literature Review 8 2.1 Knowledge Representation ............................. 8 vii 2.1.1 Description Logics ............................. 9 2.1.2 Ontology and Semantic Web ....................... 11 2.1.3 Production Rules .............................. 13 2.2 Mixed-Initiative Interactions ........................... 14 2.3 Educational Models ................................ 16 2.3.1 Conceptual Curriculum Models ...................... 16 2.3.2 Self-Regulated Learning .......................... 17 2.4 Summary ......................................20 3 MI-EDNA: Design and Implementation 2 2 3.1 Overview ......................................22 3.2 System Architecture ................................ 23 3.2.1 Technical Architecture ...........................23 3.2.2 Functional Architecture .......................... 25 3.2.3 Implementation Domain .......................... 27 3.3 System Components ................................ 29 3.3.1 Ontological Underpinnings ........................ 29 3.3.2 Ontology Instantiation ........................... 40 3.3.3 Reasoning and Inference .......................... 40 3.3.4 Interfaces .................................. 47 3.3.5 Mixed-Initiative Recognition and Dissemination ............. 49 3.4 Synthesis ......................................52 4 Analysis 5 3 4.1 Ontological Representation of Domain Knowledge ................ 53 4.1.1 Knowledge Engineering .......................... 53 4.1.2 Ontology Management ........................... 55 4.2 Recognition of Opportunities for Mixed-Initiative ................ 59 4.2.1 Rules for Initiatives ............................ 59 4.3 Theory-centric Dissemination Based on Scaffold Principles ........... 63 4.3.1 Dissemination ................................ 63 4.4 Application ..................................... 65 5 Conclusion 6 6 5.1 Summary . , . , . , . , . 66 5.2 Scope and Limitations . , . 67 5.3 Future work . 68 A Ontology Files 7 1 B Sample Log file 7 7 C Instantiated OWL File 8 1 D MI-EDNA Program Details