Semantic Web-based Group Formation for E-learning
Asma Ounnas, Hugh Davis, David E. Millard · ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) · 2008
Collaboration has long been considered an effective approach to learning. However, forming optimal groups can be a time consuming and complex task. Teachers often need to set some constraints for the grouping based on the aim of the collaborative task. To achieve optimal grouping, the formation needs to satisfy these constraints, even when the list of students is unknown. In this research, we investigate the use of Semantic Web technologies to assist teachers in overcoming this problem. In particular we investigate the following problems with forming groups: • Describing the students: how do we describe the students in a way that is meaningful to the group formation. • Specifying and satisfying the constraints: how do we model the constraints for the different collaboration goals, and how can we form optimal groups by satisfying the given constraints. • Avoiding “Orphan Students”: when assigning students to groups, some students remain unassigned to any groups, often because some constraint has been violated. This problem is known as the orphan students.