In this paper we consider utilization of ontologies in an agent-based virtual organization. Speci... more In this paper we consider utilization of ontologies in an agent-based virtual organization. Specifically, in the system flexible delivery of information is to be based on matching of ontologically demarcated resource profiles, work context(s), and domain specific knowledge. In this paper we introduce basic ontologies and their applications.
In the field of e-learning and tutoring systems two categories of software agents are of the spec... more In the field of e-learning and tutoring systems two categories of software agents are of the special interest: harvester and pedagogical agents. This paper proposes a novel e-learning system that successfully combines both of these agent categories and introduces two distinct sub-types of pedagogical agents helpful and misleading. Whereas helpful agents provide the correct guidance for the given problem, misleading agents try to guide the learning process in the wrong direction by offering false hints and inadequate solutions. The rationale behind this approach is to motivate students not to trust the agent’s instructions blindly, but to employ critical thinking. Consequently, students will be put in a "softly stressed" environment in order to prepare them for real working environments in their future work in companies. Nevertheless students themselves will decide on the correct solution to the problem in question.
We present the design and implementation of a generic framework for cooperative multi-issue one-t... more We present the design and implementation of a generic framework for cooperative multi-issue one-to-many negotiations for optimal service provisioning in collaborative disaster management information systems. The framework allows us to define negotiation protocols, negotiation subjects, properties of negotiation subject issues, deal spaces, and utility functions of participant agents. This framework was integrated into a service oriented architecture for complex collaborative
In this paper we present our approach and initial results for solving the Traveling Salesman Prob... more In this paper we present our approach and initial results for solving the Traveling Salesman Problem using Ant Colony Optimization on distributed multi-agent architectures. We introduce the framework including underlying architecture design, algorithms and experimental setup. Then we present initial scalability results that we obtained with the implementation of the framework using JADE multi-agent platform on a high-speed cluster network.
Recently we have setup the goal of investigating new truly distributed forms of Ant Colony Optimi... more Recently we have setup the goal of investigating new truly distributed forms of Ant Colony Optimization. We proposed a new distributed approach for Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithms called Ant Colony Optimization on a Distributed Architecture (ACODA). ACODA was designed to allow efficient implementation of ACO algorithms on state-of-the art distributed multi-agent middleware. In this paper we present experimental results that support the feasibility of ACODA by considering a distributed version of the Ant Colony System (ACS). In particular we show the effectiveness of this approach for solving Traveling Salesperson Problem by comparing experimental results of ACODA versions of distributed ACS with distributed random searches on a high-speed cluster network.
This note presents our initial proposal for capturing knowledge required for learner modeling and... more This note presents our initial proposal for capturing knowledge required for learner modeling and adaptation provisioning in an educational hypermedia system using a rule-based approach. Rules have been categorized as i) modeling rules -necessary for the identification of the learner style based on observed learning preferences and ii) adaptation rules -necessary for content adaptation based on learning style and/or learning preferences.
AbstractThis paper deals with adaptation provisioning with respect to learning styles in a Web-b... more AbstractThis paper deals with adaptation provisioning with respect to learning styles in a Web-based educational system called WELSA. The novelty of the approach comes from using an integrative set of characteristics extracted from the main learning style models as ...
Accommodating learning styles in adaptive educational systems represents an important step toward... more Accommodating learning styles in adaptive educational systems represents an important step towards providing individualized instruction. The paper summarizes the main results reported in the literature, as well as the main criticisms of the current approaches. Thus, most of the adaptive educational systems to date are based on a single learning style model and the diagnosis is done explicitly, by means of a psychological questionnaire. The lack of an integrative, comprehensive learning style model and the questionable validity and reliability of the measuring instruments are two important problems of this approach. In this context, we advocate the use of a unified learning style model, which exhibits the following properties: i) it integrates the most relevant characteristics from several models in the literature; ii) it includes e-learning specific aspects (technology related preferences); iii) it is stored as a set of learning characteristics, not as a stereotyping model. Moreover, the student diagnosis is to be done implicitly, based on analyzing her/his interactions with the system.
AbstractLearning style represents an important concept in educational psychology, having a signi... more AbstractLearning style represents an important concept in educational psychology, having a significant effect on the learning process. However, most of today's adaptive educational systems don't take into account this dimension of the student profile. Those that do, only rely on a ...
This paper discusses a methodology for applying general-purpose first-order inductive learning to... more This paper discusses a methodology for applying general-purpose first-order inductive learning to extract information from Web documents structured as unranked ordered trees. The methodology is applied to information extraction from real-world HTML page sets that represent product information sheets, an important task in product data integration. The methodology addresses the problems of defining information extraction rules in the form of logic wrappers and mapping the task of learning these rules to general purpose first-order inductive learning.
Global agent-based e-business environments have been proposed to enable dynamic trading between b... more Global agent-based e-business environments have been proposed to enable dynamic trading between business partners. In particular, negotiation is a necessary and important activity to allow engagement of business parties in non-trivial business relationships. In this note we present our proposal for introducing a high-level declarative representation of negotiation mechanisms to facilitate creation, instantiation and use of negotiation services in such a global environment.
For software agents to become part of e-commerce they have to be flexible—to engage in negotiatio... more For software agents to become part of e-commerce they have to be flexible—to engage in negotiations of forms which are not known in advance, and mobile—to migrate to remote locations. This note aims at combining flexibility with mobility by joining rule-based mechanism representation with modular mobile agents. Furthermore, we focus on a more complete e-commerce scenario and address questions like: what happens before negotiations start and after they are finished, where from the purchase is actually made etc. Description of agent interactions in such a complete e-commerce scenario is presented.
AbstractAdaptive Web-based educational systems are a continuously growing area of research. Howe... more AbstractAdaptive Web-based educational systems are a continuously growing area of research. However, despite the relatively numerous approaches, adaptivity from the point of view of student learning styles is not properly addressed. We therefore plan to create a ...
In this note we present some considerations on the architecture, design and implementation of an ... more In this note we present some considerations on the architecture, design and implementation of an agent-based service for automating auctions. We discuss conceptual architecture, types of agents, agent communication and design and implementation issues. Some initial experimental results obtained using our proof-of-concept implementation are also included.
In this note we consider design of an information provisioning subsystem for an agent-based virtu... more In this note we consider design of an information provisioning subsystem for an agent-based virtual organization. Flexible delivery of information is based on matching of ontologically demarcated resource profiles, work contexts, and domain specific knowledge. * This work was partially sponsored by the KIST-SRI PAS "Agent Technology for Adaptive Information Provisioning" grant. <<extend>> Registration (1!) Create/edit profile Contact One−to−one communication Group communication Direct support of master (HR) needs
In this note we present an intelligent way of organizing learning material in an adaptive educati... more In this note we present an intelligent way of organizing learning material in an adaptive educational hypermedia system. We describe the use of instructional metadata which facilitates both the detection of student learning style and the application of various adaptation techniques. The advantage of our approach is that it is independent of a particular learning style model. Furthermore, the author has to supply only the annotated learning content (the static description) while the adaptation logic (the dynamic description) is provided by the system.
This paper discusses subsystem responsible for providing human resource adaptation through softwa... more This paper discusses subsystem responsible for providing human resource adaptation through software-supported training in an agent-based virtual organization. Attention is focused on the requirements, functionalities and components of this subsystem and its interactions with other parts of the system.
Recently, we have proposed a comprehensive agent-based e-commerce system. While UML formalized, i... more Recently, we have proposed a comprehensive agent-based e-commerce system. While UML formalized, it lacked details how basic functions -e.g. user request to purchase a given product -are to be implemented. Furthermore, the "airline ticket reservation model" used in the system involves time management issues that have not been addressed. The aim of the paper is to discuss the way in which the information flow and data transformations involved in it are to be implemented; assuming that information about products is to be ontologically represented. Furthermore, a simple way in which time information can be successfully managed to support the proposed product reservation approach will be discussed.
In this paper we consider utilization of ontologies in an agent-based virtual organization. Speci... more In this paper we consider utilization of ontologies in an agent-based virtual organization. Specifically, in the system flexible delivery of information is to be based on matching of ontologically demarcated resource profiles, work context(s), and domain specific knowledge. In this paper we introduce basic ontologies and their applications.
In the field of e-learning and tutoring systems two categories of software agents are of the spec... more In the field of e-learning and tutoring systems two categories of software agents are of the special interest: harvester and pedagogical agents. This paper proposes a novel e-learning system that successfully combines both of these agent categories and introduces two distinct sub-types of pedagogical agents helpful and misleading. Whereas helpful agents provide the correct guidance for the given problem, misleading agents try to guide the learning process in the wrong direction by offering false hints and inadequate solutions. The rationale behind this approach is to motivate students not to trust the agent’s instructions blindly, but to employ critical thinking. Consequently, students will be put in a "softly stressed" environment in order to prepare them for real working environments in their future work in companies. Nevertheless students themselves will decide on the correct solution to the problem in question.
We present the design and implementation of a generic framework for cooperative multi-issue one-t... more We present the design and implementation of a generic framework for cooperative multi-issue one-to-many negotiations for optimal service provisioning in collaborative disaster management information systems. The framework allows us to define negotiation protocols, negotiation subjects, properties of negotiation subject issues, deal spaces, and utility functions of participant agents. This framework was integrated into a service oriented architecture for complex collaborative
In this paper we present our approach and initial results for solving the Traveling Salesman Prob... more In this paper we present our approach and initial results for solving the Traveling Salesman Problem using Ant Colony Optimization on distributed multi-agent architectures. We introduce the framework including underlying architecture design, algorithms and experimental setup. Then we present initial scalability results that we obtained with the implementation of the framework using JADE multi-agent platform on a high-speed cluster network.
Recently we have setup the goal of investigating new truly distributed forms of Ant Colony Optimi... more Recently we have setup the goal of investigating new truly distributed forms of Ant Colony Optimization. We proposed a new distributed approach for Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithms called Ant Colony Optimization on a Distributed Architecture (ACODA). ACODA was designed to allow efficient implementation of ACO algorithms on state-of-the art distributed multi-agent middleware. In this paper we present experimental results that support the feasibility of ACODA by considering a distributed version of the Ant Colony System (ACS). In particular we show the effectiveness of this approach for solving Traveling Salesperson Problem by comparing experimental results of ACODA versions of distributed ACS with distributed random searches on a high-speed cluster network.
This note presents our initial proposal for capturing knowledge required for learner modeling and... more This note presents our initial proposal for capturing knowledge required for learner modeling and adaptation provisioning in an educational hypermedia system using a rule-based approach. Rules have been categorized as i) modeling rules -necessary for the identification of the learner style based on observed learning preferences and ii) adaptation rules -necessary for content adaptation based on learning style and/or learning preferences.
AbstractThis paper deals with adaptation provisioning with respect to learning styles in a Web-b... more AbstractThis paper deals with adaptation provisioning with respect to learning styles in a Web-based educational system called WELSA. The novelty of the approach comes from using an integrative set of characteristics extracted from the main learning style models as ...
Accommodating learning styles in adaptive educational systems represents an important step toward... more Accommodating learning styles in adaptive educational systems represents an important step towards providing individualized instruction. The paper summarizes the main results reported in the literature, as well as the main criticisms of the current approaches. Thus, most of the adaptive educational systems to date are based on a single learning style model and the diagnosis is done explicitly, by means of a psychological questionnaire. The lack of an integrative, comprehensive learning style model and the questionable validity and reliability of the measuring instruments are two important problems of this approach. In this context, we advocate the use of a unified learning style model, which exhibits the following properties: i) it integrates the most relevant characteristics from several models in the literature; ii) it includes e-learning specific aspects (technology related preferences); iii) it is stored as a set of learning characteristics, not as a stereotyping model. Moreover, the student diagnosis is to be done implicitly, based on analyzing her/his interactions with the system.
AbstractLearning style represents an important concept in educational psychology, having a signi... more AbstractLearning style represents an important concept in educational psychology, having a significant effect on the learning process. However, most of today&#x27;s adaptive educational systems don&#x27;t take into account this dimension of the student profile. Those that do, only rely on a ...
This paper discusses a methodology for applying general-purpose first-order inductive learning to... more This paper discusses a methodology for applying general-purpose first-order inductive learning to extract information from Web documents structured as unranked ordered trees. The methodology is applied to information extraction from real-world HTML page sets that represent product information sheets, an important task in product data integration. The methodology addresses the problems of defining information extraction rules in the form of logic wrappers and mapping the task of learning these rules to general purpose first-order inductive learning.
Global agent-based e-business environments have been proposed to enable dynamic trading between b... more Global agent-based e-business environments have been proposed to enable dynamic trading between business partners. In particular, negotiation is a necessary and important activity to allow engagement of business parties in non-trivial business relationships. In this note we present our proposal for introducing a high-level declarative representation of negotiation mechanisms to facilitate creation, instantiation and use of negotiation services in such a global environment.
For software agents to become part of e-commerce they have to be flexible—to engage in negotiatio... more For software agents to become part of e-commerce they have to be flexible—to engage in negotiations of forms which are not known in advance, and mobile—to migrate to remote locations. This note aims at combining flexibility with mobility by joining rule-based mechanism representation with modular mobile agents. Furthermore, we focus on a more complete e-commerce scenario and address questions like: what happens before negotiations start and after they are finished, where from the purchase is actually made etc. Description of agent interactions in such a complete e-commerce scenario is presented.
AbstractAdaptive Web-based educational systems are a continuously growing area of research. Howe... more AbstractAdaptive Web-based educational systems are a continuously growing area of research. However, despite the relatively numerous approaches, adaptivity from the point of view of student learning styles is not properly addressed. We therefore plan to create a ...
In this note we present some considerations on the architecture, design and implementation of an ... more In this note we present some considerations on the architecture, design and implementation of an agent-based service for automating auctions. We discuss conceptual architecture, types of agents, agent communication and design and implementation issues. Some initial experimental results obtained using our proof-of-concept implementation are also included.
In this note we consider design of an information provisioning subsystem for an agent-based virtu... more In this note we consider design of an information provisioning subsystem for an agent-based virtual organization. Flexible delivery of information is based on matching of ontologically demarcated resource profiles, work contexts, and domain specific knowledge. * This work was partially sponsored by the KIST-SRI PAS "Agent Technology for Adaptive Information Provisioning" grant. <<extend>> Registration (1!) Create/edit profile Contact One−to−one communication Group communication Direct support of master (HR) needs
In this note we present an intelligent way of organizing learning material in an adaptive educati... more In this note we present an intelligent way of organizing learning material in an adaptive educational hypermedia system. We describe the use of instructional metadata which facilitates both the detection of student learning style and the application of various adaptation techniques. The advantage of our approach is that it is independent of a particular learning style model. Furthermore, the author has to supply only the annotated learning content (the static description) while the adaptation logic (the dynamic description) is provided by the system.
This paper discusses subsystem responsible for providing human resource adaptation through softwa... more This paper discusses subsystem responsible for providing human resource adaptation through software-supported training in an agent-based virtual organization. Attention is focused on the requirements, functionalities and components of this subsystem and its interactions with other parts of the system.
Recently, we have proposed a comprehensive agent-based e-commerce system. While UML formalized, i... more Recently, we have proposed a comprehensive agent-based e-commerce system. While UML formalized, it lacked details how basic functions -e.g. user request to purchase a given product -are to be implemented. Furthermore, the "airline ticket reservation model" used in the system involves time management issues that have not been addressed. The aim of the paper is to discuss the way in which the information flow and data transformations involved in it are to be implemented; assuming that information about products is to be ontologically represented. Furthermore, a simple way in which time information can be successfully managed to support the proposed product reservation approach will be discussed.
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Papers by Costin Badica
HAPA: Harvester and Pedagogical Agents in E-learning Environments. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273487809_HAPA_Harvester_and_Pedagogical_Agents_in_E-learning_Environments [accessed Mar 21, 2015].
HAPA: Harvester and Pedagogical Agents in E-learning Environments. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273487809_HAPA_Harvester_and_Pedagogical_Agents_in_E-learning_Environments [accessed Mar 21, 2015].