Defense of the dissertation of Nazyrova Aizhan Esbolovna for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the specialty «8D06102 - Computer science»
L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, a dissertation defense for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) by Nazyrova Aizhan Esbolovna on the topic ««Technology of intelligent assessment learning outcomes»» to the educational program «8D06102 - Computer science».
The dissertation was carried out at the «Artificial Intelligence Technologies» of L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University.
The language of defense is kazakh
Official reviewers:
Daurenbekov Kuanysh Koyshigulovich - Candidate of Technical Sciences, Director of the Department for Student Affairs, Candidate of Technical Sciences, S. Seifullin Kazakh Agro Technical Research University (Astana);
Kumargazhanova Saule Kumargazhanovna - Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor of the School of Digital Technologies and Artificial Intelligence, D. Serikbayev East Kazakhstan Technical University (Ust-Kamenogorsk).
Temporary members of the Dissertation Council:
Mansurova Madina Yesimkhanovna - Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of "Artificial Intelligence and Big Data," Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (Almaty);
Uskenbayeva Raisa Kabievna - Doctor of Technical Sciences, Member of the Board - Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Satbayev University (Almaty);
Gilmullin Rinat Abrekovich - Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Director of the Institute of Applied Semiotics of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan (Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia).
Scientific advisors:
Bekmanova Gulmira Tyleuberdievna - Candidate of Technical Sciences, PhD, Acting Professor of the Department of "Artificial Intelligence Technologies" at the Faculty of Information Technologies, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (Astana);
Shadi A. Aljawarneh - Doctor of Philosophy, Professor of the Department of Information Security and Software Engineering, Jordan University of Science and Technology (Jordan).
The defense will take place on November 29, 2024, at 03:00 PM in the Dissertation Council for the training direction «8D061 - Information and communication technologies» in the specialty «8D06102 - Computer science» of L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University. Conducting a meeting of the dissertation council in a mixed (offline and online) format.
Link: https://clck.ru/3EEj2v
Address: Astana, K. Satpayev str. 2, Main building, room No. 302.
Abstract (English): Relevance of the research topic. Existing methods of representing educational programs have significant limitations that do not allow sufficient control over learning outcomes. These methods do not provide a semantic connection between competencies, disciplines, and learning outcomes. As a result, tools for developing educational programs generally do not rely on a comprehensive, substantive model of the educational process and do not offer opportunities for analyzing educational programs. To address this problem of managing educational content at a substantive level, it is advisable to use appropriate technologies and methodologies, among which the ontological approach holds a special place. The ontological approach implements a knowledge-based model of information representation, where the foundation is the construction of a semantic network, where nodes represent concepts, and connections represent relationships between them. Semantic technologies represent the next step in the development of machine - readable methods of information representation. They allow modeling and processing data using logic similar to human thinking, thus enabling the application of intelligent reasoning procedures in the analysis and management of educational programs. The ontological approach describes the subject area in the form of a semantic graph with arbitrary structure - an ontology. At the formal level, ontology is a system consisting of a set of concepts and roles that can model object classes and relationships between them. Informally, ontology is a representation of a domain of knowledge that applies to a specific field, including a description of terms and the rules for their use, which constrain the meanings of terms in that field. The application of the ontological approach makes such studies particularly relevant, as the development of educational programs within the framework of the Bologna Process should begin with the identification of learning outcomes, program objectives, and expected results. In practice, however, educational programs are often reduced to a list of courses, without the ability to verify the achievement of the stated goals and outcomes. The developed technology improves the quality of educational program design by integrating competencies and learning outcomes, and it also provides the ability to verify the correctness and consistency of educational programs during the design stage. The aim of the dissertation research: - Development of a of learning outcomes intellectual assessment . Research objectives: - Development of an ontological model of the educational program; - Development of a hierarchical competency model; - Construction of a mathematical model for assessing the level of competency mastery within the educational program; - Creation and software implementation of the educational program constructor. Research methods: - Ontological modeling; - Logical methods of knowledge representation; - Mathematical apparatus of description logic; - Programming methods. Scientific novelty: - Development of a new ontological model for the educational program constructor. - Development of a new hierarchical competency model. - Development of a mathematical model for assessing the level of competency mastery within the educational program. Main provisions (proven scientific hypotheses and other conclusions that constitute new knowledge) presented for defense: - The ontological model of the educational program constructor; - The hierarchical competency model; - The mathematical model for assessing the level of competency mastery within the educational program; - Creation and software implementation of the educational program constructor. - Description of the main research results Result 1.An ontological model of the educational program has been developed, which represents the studied courses in terms of the skills they form and the prerequisites required for the student's qualification. The model incorporates the interconnections of learning periods over time, allowing for the management of course sequences. SPARQL queries have been developed to analyze the educational program regarding the alignment between course prerequisites and the skills students have acquired during previous learning periods. The output of these queries is a subset of skills that are part of the prerequisites for a specific learning period but were not formed during the preceding periods of study. Result 2. An ontology of competencies has been developed, with a structure represented as a directed acyclic graph with an arbitrary number of nested levels. At the top level of the hierarchy, the nodes correspond to types of competencies. Typically, each node in the graph has several child competencies that provide detailed specifications of its content. The proposed model is implemented as an ontology and integrated with the ontology of the educational program. Python code has been developed using the Owlready2 library for populating the competency ontology with data and retrieving data using a recursive algorithm. An algorithm for verifying the consistency of the educational program has been implemented using SPARQL queries and Python code. This algorithm determines the difference between the set of required competencies for studying courses in a semester and the set of competencies already mastered by students. Result 3. The result of this work is the development of a mathematical model for assessing the level of students' professional competencies based on the use of KL-divergence. This model enables the evaluation of the alignment between the expected outcomes of the educational program and the actual outcomes demonstrated by students in various assignment formats, such as tests, written assignments, and exams. The application of this model allows for the determination of students' competency mastery levels based on quantitative indicators, enhancing the objectivity and accuracy of assessing students' knowledge and skills. Additionally, it facilitates the creation of assignments that align with all necessary competencies of the course and program, as well as the adaptation of educational programs to improve their alignment with the requirements of professional practice. Justification of the novelty and importance of the results Result 1. Ontological model of the educational program constructor. Novelty: The novelty of this work lies in the development of an ontological model of an educational program that, for the first time, considers both the skills formed by courses and the prerequisites required for students' qualifications. A key element is the inclusion of temporal interconnections between learning periods, allowing for the tracking of course sequences and their relationships with skills. The developed SPARQL queries provide automated analysis of educational programs to verify the alignment of students' skills with the requirements of subsequent courses. This is the first approach that identifies discrepancies between the skills acquired by students and the entry requirements of the next learning stage, enabling more precise adaptation of learning trajectories to achieve educational goals. Importance: The importance of this work lies in addressing one of the key problems of modern education - the mismatch between the skills acquired by students and the requirements of subsequent courses. The developed ontological model of the educational program offers a deeper and more structured approach to designing learning trajectories by integrating skills and prerequisites into a unified framework. This contributes to improving the quality of the educational process by helping to avoid gaps in student preparation and ensuring continuous development of competencies throughout all stages of learning. Result 2. Hierarchical competency model. Novelty: The novelty of this work lies in the development of an ontological competency model in the form of a directed acyclic graph with an arbitrary number of nested levels, providing flexibility and the ability to detail competencies across multiple levels. For the first time, the integration of the competency ontology with the educational program ontology is proposed, enabling a semantic connection between competencies and academic disciplines. This allows for more accurate modeling of learning trajectories and the verification of educational programs' alignment with competency requirements. Importance: The importance of this work lies in the creation of an effective tool for managing educational programs and competencies, which is critically important for modern education systems oriented toward the competency-based approach. The integration of the competency ontology with the educational program ontology ensures more precise planning of learning trajectories, helping to eliminate gaps in learning and improve the quality of student training. Result 3. Mathematical model for assessing the level of competency mastery in the educational program. Novelty: The novelty of this research lies in the development of a mathematical model for assessing the level of students' professional competencies using KL-divergence (Kullback-Leibler divergence). This model allows for a more accurate evaluation not only of the degree to which students have acquired knowledge, but also of their ability to apply the acquired competencies in various contexts. Unlike traditional methods, the proposed approach provides a quantitative assessment of the discrepancy between the expected outcomes of the educational program and the actual outcomes demonstrated by students. Importance: The importance of this research is that it introduces a new method for assessing the level of students' professional competencies, which is especially relevant given modern educational requirements. The use of KL-divergence to assess the discrepancies between expected and actual learning outcomes makes the competency assessment process more objective and detailed. This is crucial because traditional methods often fail to capture all aspects of the competency-based approach and do not adequately measure how effectively students acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for their future professional activities. Alignment with scientific development directions or government programs 4. Information, Communication, and Space Technologies. 4.1 Artificial Intelligence and Information Technologies. Description of the applicant's contribution to the preparation of each publication As part of the dissertation work on the topic " Technology of learning outcomes intellectual assessment," three articles were presented: 1. «Analysis of the Consistency of Prerequisites and Learning Outcomes of Educational Programme Courses by Using the Ontological Approach»: The application of the ontological approach to the development and analysis of educational programs is described using the Protégé 5.5.0 editor to model the structure and content of courses. This approach enables the evaluation of curriculum alignment with requirements and the formation of student competencies. Additionally, it facilitates integration and collaboration within educational systems, making it easier to manage and adjust educational programs according to evolving competency needs. 2. «Ontological approach for competency-based curriculum analysis»: The development of an ontological competency method for educational programs is considered, utilizing semantic technologies for the hierarchical organization of competencies and modeling of prerequisites. This approach improves the consistency of curricula and supports academic mobility by ensuring that educational programs are aligned with competency requirements and facilitating the transfer of knowledge across institutions. 3. «Application for Creating and Analyzing Competency-Based Curricula Using an Ontological Approach»: The development of advanced software for creating and analyzing curricula based on the competency-based approach is described, using ontological modeling to structure and assess competencies. This enhances the flexibility and coherence of educational programs, aligning them with modern requirements and improving the design and evaluation of learning outcomes. The author of the dissertation is either the first or corresponding author in all of the mentioned articles, confirming their direct and full participation in the conducted research. These publications fully reveal the essence of the research, are logically interconnected, and cover various aspects of the development and analysis of educational programs using the ontological approach, demonstrating the author's contribution to advancing this field. Publications. Publications in journals included in the list of the Committee for Control in the Sphere of Education and Science of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan: 1. Omarbekova, A., Nazyrova, А., Tasbolatuly, N., & Bekmanova, G. (2023). Ontological model of an intelligent e-learning system and learning outcomes. Izvestiya NAN RK. Series of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, (2), 108-127. 2. Nazyrova, A., Bekmanova, G., Mukanova, A., Kaldarova, M., & Tasbolatuly, N. (2023). Creation of an ontological model of the educational program. Vestnik "Physical and Mathematical Sciences", 83(3), 158-167. 3. Kintonova, A. Zh., Umbetali, E., Nazyrova, A. E., & Konyrkhanova, A. A. (2021). Technologies for designing and developing a web application for online education. Vestnik of the National Engineering Academy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, (1)79. Publications in journals indexed in scientometric databases Web of Science and Scopus: 1. Nazyrova, A., Milosz, M., Bekmanova, G., Omarbekova, A., Mukanova, A., & Aimicheva, G. (2023). Analysis of the Consistency of Prerequisites and Learning Outcomes of Educational Programme Courses by Using the Ontological Approach. Applied Sciences, 13(4), 2661. (Article) 2. Milosz, M., Nazyrova, A., Mukanova, A., Bekmanova, G., Kuzin, D., & Aimicheva, G. (2024). Ontological approach for competency-based curriculum analysis. Heliyon, 10(7). (Article) 3. Nazyrova, A., Milosz, M., Mukanova, A., Bekmanova, G., Kuzin, D., & Aljawarneh, S. (2024). Application for creating and analyzing competency-based curricula using an ontological approach. IEEE Access, 12, 102416-102424. (Article) 4. Nazyrova, A., Bekmanova, G., Omarbekova, A., Zulkhazhav, A., & Yelibayeva, G. (2023, September). The Use of a Morphological Analyzer in Assessing the Achievements of Learning Outcomes. In 2023 8th International Conference on Computer Science and Engineering (UBMK) (pp. 294-299). IEEE. (Conference Paper) 5. Bekmanova, G., Nazyrova, A., Sharipbay, A., Suvorovsky, O., & Somzhurek, B. (2021, October). Two approaches of improving e-learning models qualities. In The 7th International Conference on Engineering & MIS 2021 (pp. 1-3). (Conference Paper) 6. Bekmanova, G., Nazyrova, A., Omarbekova, A., & Sharipbay, A. (2021). The Model of Curriculum Constructor. In Computational Science and Its Applications-ICCSA 2021: 21st International Conference, Cagliari, Italy, September 13-16, 2021, Proceedings, Part II 21 (pp. 459-470). Springer International Publishing. (Conference Paper) Publications in international scientific journals: 1. Kuzin, D. A., Turmangambetova, S. K., Nazyrova, A. E., & Mukanova, A. S. (2023). Modification of the OWL-Time ontology and its application in the semantic model of the curriculum. Modern Science: Actual Problems of Theory and Practice. Series: Natural and Technical Sciences, (06/2), 105-111. Authorship certificates and patents: 1. Ontological model of the "Educational Program Constructor." Patent No. 29937, issued on September 14, 2023. Authors: Nazyrova Aizhan Esbolovna, Mukanova Asel Serikovna, Bekmanova Gulmira Tyleuberdiyevna. 2. Model of the Educational Program Constructor. Patent No. 49547, issued on September 10, 2024. Authors: Bekmanova Gulmira Tyleuberdiyevna, Zulkhazhav Altanbek. 3. Competency-based Educational Program Analyzer. Patent No. 49546, issued on September 10, 2024. Authors: Bekmanova Gulmira Tyleuberdiyevna, Mukanova Asel Serikovna. 4. Application for creating and analyzing competency-based educational programs using the ontological approach. Patent No. 49535, issued on September 10, 2024. Authors: Bekmanova Gulmira Tyleuberdiyevna, Mukanova Asel Serikovna.
«This research has been/was/is funded by the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Grant №. BR21882302 Kazakhstan's society in the context of digital transformation: prospects and risks).
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