Diego Dermeval

Applications of ontologies in requirements engineering: a systematic review of the literature

There is an increase use of ontology-driven approaches to support requirements engineering (RE) activities, such as elicitation, analysis, specification, validation and management of requirements. However, the RE community still lacks a comprehensive understanding of how ontologies are used in RE process. Thus, the main objective of this work is to investigate and better understand how ontologies support RE as well as identify to what extent they have been applied to this field. In order to meet our goal, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify the primary studies on the use of ontologies in RE, following a predefined review protocol. We then identified the main RE phases addressed, the requirements modelling styles that have been used in conjunction with ontologies, the types of requirements that have been supported by the use of ontologies and the ontology languages that have been adopted. We also examined the types of contributions reported and looked for evidences of the benefits of ontology-driven RE. In summary, the main findings of this work are: (1) there are empirical evidences of the benefits of using ontologies in RE activities both in industry and academy, specially for reducing ambiguity, inconsistency and incompleteness of requirements; (2) the majority of studies only partially address the RE process; (3) there is a great diversity of RE modelling styles supported by ontologies; (4) most studies addressed only functional requirements; (5) several studies describe the use/development of tools to support different types of ontology-driven RE approaches; (6) about half of the studies followed W3C recommendations on ontology-related languages; and (7) a great variety of RE ontologies were identified; nevertheless, none of them has been broadly adopted by the community. Finally, we conclude this work by showing several promising research opportunities that are quite important and interesting but underexplored in current research and practice.

Modeling JADE Agents from GAIA Methodology under the Perspective of Semantic Web

Building multi-agent software systems is pointed out as a high complex task and researchers have raised different issues for building several applications. Therefore several AOSE methodologies and MAS frameworks have been proposed to facilitate the hard task of modeling and building high complex systems. However, those methodologies in an attempt to model complex systems end up being hard to use and to ensure the consistency between each part. On the other hand, ontologies have been considered useful for representing the knowledge of software engineering techniques and methodologies in order to provide an unambiguous terminology that can be shared, reusable, and ensure the consistence between the concepts involved. This paper proposes ontologies for specifying agents through the use of GAIA methodology, JADE Framework and SWRL rules to map the instances from GAIA ontology to JADE ontology. Finally, it is presented a case study and a discussion to demonstrate their use.

Ontology-based feature modeling

We compare two ontology-based feature modeling styles by conducting an experiment.The results show that ontology factor has statistical significance in all metrics.The results show that the ontology based on instances is more flexible.The results show that the ontology based on instances demands less time to change. A software product line (SPL) is a set of software systems that have a particular set of common features and that satisfy the needs of a particular market segment or mission. Feature modeling is one of the key activities involved in the design of SPLs. The feature diagram produced in this activity captures the commonalities and variabilities of SPLs. In some complex domains (e.g., ubiquitous computing, autonomic systems and context-aware computing), it is difficult to foresee all functionalities and variabilities a specific SPL may require. Thus, Dynamic Software Product Lines (DSPLs) bind variation points at runtime to adapt to fluctuations in user needs as well as to adapt to changes in the environment. In this context, relying on formal representations of feature models is important to allow them to be automatically analyzed during system execution. Among the mechanisms used for representing and analyzing feature models, description logic (DL) based approaches demand to be better investigated in DSPLs since it provides capabilities, such as automated inconsistency detection, reasoning efficiency, scalability and expressivity. Ontology is the most common way to represent feature models knowledge based on DL reasoners. Previous works conceived ontologies for feature modeling either based on OWL classes and properties or based on OWL individuals. However, considering change or evolution scenarios of feature models, we need to compare whether a class-based or an individual-based feature modeling style is recommended to describe feature models to support SPLs, and especially its capabilities to deal with changes in feature models, as required by DSPLs. In this paper, we conduct a controlled experiment to empirically compare two approaches based on each one of these modeling styles in several changing scenarios (e.g., add/remove mandatory feature, add/remove optional feature and so on). We measure time to perform changes, structural impact of changes (flexibility) and correctness for performing changes in our experiment. Our results indicate that using OWL individuals requires less time to change and is more flexible than using OWL classes and properties. These results provide insightful assumptions towards the definition of an approach relying on reasoning capabilities of ontologies that can effectively support products reconfiguration in the context of DSPL.

A systematic review on multi-device inclusive environments

The challenge of designing universal access to knowledge demands considerations on multi-device interaction. A systematic review of inclusive environments built from multiple devices was conducted based on studies published during the period of 2002–2013. The search strategy combined manual and automatic searches from which 8889 studies were identified; 34 studies were found proposing software tools for building multi-device inclusive environments (0.38xa0% of the original sample). Thus, this study analyzes the ways academic and industrial communities have developed tools for building inclusive environments. The main findings of this review are: (1) an urgent need for the recognition of accessibility as an important non-functional requirement; (2) a need for taking into account the social conditions of users, such as illiteracy and people living in underserved communities; and (3) the identification of new research questions in the context of multi-device inclusive environments.

Authoring Tools for Designing Intelligent Tutoring Systems: a Systematic Review of the Literature

Authoring tools have been broadly used to design Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS). However, ITS community still lacks a current understanding of how authoring tools are used by non-programmer authors to design ITS. Hence, the objective of this work is to review how authoring tools have been supporting ITS design for non-programmer authors. In order to meet our goal, we conduct a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to identify the primary studies on the use of ITS authoring tools, following a pre-defined review protocol. Among the 4622 papers retrieved from seven digital libraries published from 2009 to June 2016, 33 papers are finally included after applying our exclusion and inclusion criteria. We then identify the main ITS components authored, the ITS types designed, the features used to facilitate the authoring process, the technologies used to develop authoring tools and the time at which authoring occurs. We also look for evidence of the benefits of ITS authoring tools. In summary, the main findings of this work are: (1) there is empirical evidence of the benefits (i.e., mainly in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, quality of authored artifacts, and usability) of using ITS authoring tools for non-programmer authors, specially to aid authoring of learning content and to support authoring of model-tracing/cognitive and example-tracing tutors; 2) domain and pedagogical models have been much more targeted by authoring tools; (3) several ITS types have been authored, with an emphasis on model-tracing/cognitive and example-tracing tutors; (4) besides providing features for authoring all four ITS components, current authoring tools are also presenting general features (e.g., view learners’ statistics and reuse tutor design) to create broader authoring tools; (5) a great diversity of technologies, which include AI techniques, software solutions and distributed technologies, are used to develop ITS authoring tools; and (6) authoring tools have been mainly targeting ITS design before students’ instruction, but works are also addressing authoring during and/or post-instruction relying both on human and artificial intelligence. We conclude this work by showing several promising research opportunities that are quite important and interesting but underexplored in current research and practice.

Designing for Different Users and Multiple Devices: A Roadmap towards Inclusive Environments

The Web can be understood as an ecosystem of interconnected technological resources organized by rules, strategies, organizational structures, and mainly people. Such ecosystem is improving the potential to access knowledge everywhere and at any time. However, for different reasons, this technological extension is not reaching everybody yet. Those without access to knowledge are mainly people with disabilities or living in underserved communities. Nevertheless, the extension of Web technologies to different types of devices (such as mobile phones, tablets, TV) and their connections have the potential to increase the solutions to reach people with different needs through different devices. For this reason, several research and industrial studies have been proposed to design interfaces for multiple devices considering differences among users. In this paper, we present results of a systematic review on literature to build a roadmap towards inclusive environments. Additionally, the study also suggests existing tools to support the design of accessible applications for multiple devices. A significant result of this review is the lack of studies addressing underserved communities.

An ontology-based software framework to provide educational data mining

This paper presents an ontology-based software framework for providing educational data mining applications, mainly offering flexibility of encapsulate mining techniques with semantic web services. It consists of an architecture based on three layers. A case study and illustrative scenario have been implemented to evaluate the framework feasibility. Currently, the evaluation shows the pontential benefits for both the developer and the teacher.

Visualizing Learning Analytics and Educational Data Mining Outputs

The increase in supply and demand of on-line courses evidences a new educational paradigm mediated by information and communication technologies. However, an issue in this new paradigm is the high number of students who drop out (85% on average). Some of them blame the lack of instructor support. This support needs the analysis of students’ data to guide teachers’ decision-making. Learning Analytics (LA), Educational Data Mining (EDM) and Data Visualization (DataViz) are some tools for this analysis, but teachers do not receive appropriate technological support to use them. So, we used DataViz to help teachers understand the output from the application of LA and EDM algorithms on the students’ data. We evaluated if instructors understood the information in the visualizations, and asked their opinion about the visualizations’ (1) utility; (2) ease of use; (3) attitude towards use; (4) intention to use; (5) aesthetics; (6) the color scheme used; and (7) the vocabulary used. The results indicate that instructors understood the information in the visualizations and the majority of them had favorable opinions, but we noticed the vocabulary used needs improvement.

Um Framework para Mineração de Dados Educacionais Basedo em Serviçõs Semânticos

In the presence of the actual world context, the importance of knowing the technological resources and making use of them to improve the performance of human activities is realized. Educat ion cannot be laid aside of this reality, on the contrary, it has to be allied and seek for resources to improve even more the process of teaching and learn ing through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Thus, the dof Araucaria/PR, through the Educational Technology Project, has pro vided access to these resources establishing informatics laboratories, ev aluating and reorganizing the used method, as an example, the accomplishment of the Leader-Teacher function related to the laboratory monitor one. Resumo. Diante do contexto do mundo atual, percebe-se a imp ortância de conhecer os recursos tecnologicos e fazer uso deste s para melhorar o desempenho das atividades humanas. A educacao nao pficar a margem desta realidade, ao contrario, deve buscar meios de aprimorar o processo de ensino e aprendizagem por meio das Tecnologias da I nformacao e Comunicacao (TICs). Assim, o municipio de Araucari a/PR, atraves do Projeto de Tecnologia Educacional, tem viabilizado o acesso a estes recursos com a implantacao de laboratorios de informatica, ae reorganizando os metodos empregados, como por exemplo, a implemen tacao da funcao de Professor-orientador em detrimento a funcao do moni tor de laboratorio.

Amplifying Teachers Intelligence in the Design of Gamified Intelligent Tutoring Systems

Researchers are increasingly interested in using gamification along with Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) to motivate action, promote learning, facilitate problem-solving, and to drive desired learning behaviors. In fact, although the desire of teachers to be active users of gamified ITS, these systems are not personalized according to teachers’ preferences. Several research problems might arise when trying to empower teachers in the design of gamified ITS, for instance, the high complexity and variability of features to manage, the need to consider theories and design practices, and the need of providing simple and usable solutions for them. In this work, we propose a gamified ITS authoring tool that supports authoring (fully or partially) of the domain, gamification and pedagogical models of gamified ITS by teachers. We investigate how different versions of the tool are perceived by users assuming the role of teachers. Our results indicate a positive attitude towards the use of the authoring tool, in which participants agreed that they are easy to use, usable, simple, aesthetically appealing, have a well-perceived system support and high credibility.