Domain Knowledge Organization Research Articles

Lights and shadows in creating a glossary about ontology engineering

This paper addresses the lack of an explicitly agreed and defined terminology in the ontology engineering field, and particularly, the need for a glossary, which consists of terms and definitions for actions when developing ontologies. The novelty of this paper lies in the precise description of a methodology for building a glossary with the processes and activities involved in ontology development as well as the relations between them (such as subtype, composition and synonym). The methodology proposed in this paper takes its inspiration from ideas taken from earlier research on methodological processes for creating multilingual terminological products and for defining a glossary in a particular domain as well as on domain knowledge organization. The description of our methodology includes the approach followed and the steps carried out, as well as the key issues that arise when the glossary was being created. So far as we are aware, this is the first attempt to normalize the terminology (denominations and definitions) of process and activities in ontology building.

Features and the principle of locality in process planning

Abstract This paper first maps the concepts of classical, general-purpose planning to the realm of manufacturing process planning. Manufacturing features and processes are considered as mediators between design and manufacturing on a level of abstraction that supports the adequacy of representation of various kinds of process planning knowledge. It is shown how profound problems of planning theory manifest themselves in process planning and how the organization of domain knowledge around features helps to overcome these problems. Such a locality-based representation, however, requires that both part models and planning strategies have some new qualities, such as the possibility of causal reasoning from the geometric model and the ability to follow global objectives. The paper emphasizes the importance of having a planning strategy that explores the space of potential solutions. Finally, such a strategy, which uses a genetic metaphor, will be outlined

Cognitive Task Analysis of Expertise in Air Traffic Control

A cognitive task analysis was performed to analyze knowledge structures, mental models, skills, and strategies of en route controllers to provide an understanding of the key cognitive components of the air traffic controller's job. This article presents the results of three procedures as they contributed to an understanding of controller expertise: paper problem solving, performance modeling, and structured problem solving. The procedures resulted in the identification of (a) 13 primary tasks, (b) a mental model representing expert controller's organization of domain knowledge, (c) three categories of controller strategies, and (d) a hierarchy of goals. These results are being used to specify the instructional content and sequencing for the new Federal Aviation Administration en route air traffic control curriculum.

The Analysis of Expert Performance in the Redesign of the En Route Air Traffic Control Curriculum

This paper describes a cognitive task analysis performed within an integrated framework to analyze knowledge structures, mental models, skills, and strategies of the en route controllers to provide an understanding of the key cognitive components of the controller's job. Seven different procedures were used to collect cognitive data, and this presentation concentrates on the results of three of those procedures as they contributed to an understanding of controller expertise. The procedures under discussion include performance modeling, structured problem solving, and paper problem solving. The performance modeling resulted in the identification of twelve primary tasks and a mental model made up of eight panels that underlie expert controller's organization of domain knowledge. The structured problem solving involved protocol analysis that resulted in the identification of three categories of controller strategies, and the paper problem solving resulted in a hierarchy of goals and a set of methods used by experts to achieve those goals. These results were integrated into a model of the expert controller that will be used to specify the instructional content and sequencing for the new curriculum.