A controlled experiment of teaching ontology formalisms

Abstract

Effective knowledge management of highly sensitive information requires a meticulous design of access-control policies. These determine which organizational actors have access to what knowledge and under which circumstances. An effective design of such access-control policies requires not only a command of an apt representation formalism, but an in-depth understanding of the dynamic privacy needs of the organization. Acquiring these competencies is the central goal of any education or knowledge management process. We present a controlled experiment designed to examine the differences in novices’ competencies in using two ontology formalisms – Frames and OWL – while constructing access-control ontology-based policies. The two differ in the level of structuration, and the abstract thinking they require. The findings offer partial support for Bloom’s predictions. The results show that students performed relatively well in both formalisms with respect to the tasks of comprehending and implementing access-control policies. However, when it came to synthesizing new access-control policies, the students found the Frames formalism significantly simpler than the OWL where they failed miserably.