Ontological Foundation

 

 

DEPTHS is based on the Learning Object Context Ontology (LOCO) ontological framework. LOCO allows one to formally represent the notion of learning context which is defined as a specific learning situation, determined by the learning activity, the learning content, and the student(s) involved. To support DEPTHS, we use ontologies of the LOCO framework to interrelate information about learning objects, learning activities and learners collected from various tools relevant for learning software patterns, as specified in the introduction. 
The core part of the LOCO framework is the LOCO-Cite ontology, which comprises a number of classes and properties aimed at formally representing learning context. In addition, this framework integrates a number of learning-related ontologies, such as:

  • User Model ontology – enables one to model the participants in a learning process. 
  • Learning Design ontology – formally represents the basic building blocks of an instructional design; inspired by the IMS Learning Design specification.
  • Learning Object Content Structure ontology – allows for explicitly defining the structure of a learning object with the goal of making each of its components directly accessible, and thus reusable. 
  • Domain ontology – formally represents the subject matter of the learning content.

To address the requirements of the DEPTHS framework, we fully adopted the LOCO-Cite ontology, and connected it with the ontology of software patterns domain.