Ontology Design for Creating Adaptive Learning Path in e-Learning Environment

Lots of previous researches use ontology to give semantics to e-learning system. These researches are classified into curriculum or syllabus ontology creation, ontology-based learning object organization, and ontology-based learning contents retrieval. Our e-learning project aims to make of creation, integration and interfacing of multiple ontologies on different layers, i.e. Curriculum ontology, Syllabus ontology, and Subject ontology. The primary objective of our project is to develop ontology-based e-learning support system which allows learners to build adaptive learning paths through understanding curriculum, syllabuses, and subjects of courses deeply. In this paper, we introduce our ontology model and propose an effective method for enhancing learning effect of students through construction of subject ontology. The subject ontology of a certain course is composed of an ontology made by a teacher and many ontologies made by students. It is used in discussion, visual presentation, and knowledge sharing between instructor and students. We used the subject ontology in two lectures in practice and found that the subject ontology enhances learning effect of students in according to the analysis of feedbacks of students.