Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
9
result(s) for
"Description logics Textbooks."
Sort by:
An introduction to description logic
Description logics (DLs) have a long tradition in computer science and knowledge representation, being designed so that domain knowledge can be described and so that computers can reason about this knowledge. DLs have recently gained increased importance since they form the logical basis of widely used ontology languages, in particular the web ontology language OWL. Written by four renowned experts, this is the first textbook on description logics. It is suitable for self-study by graduates and as the basis for a university course. Starting from a basic DL, the book introduces the reader to their syntax, semantics, reasoning problems and model theory and discusses the computational complexity of these reasoning problems and algorithms to solve them. It then explores a variety of reasoning techniques, knowledge-based applications and tools and it describes the relationship between DLs and OWL.-- Source other than Library of Congress.
Book
RUSSELLIAN DEFINITE DESCRIPTION THEORY—A PROOF THEORETIC APPROACH
The paper provides a proof theoretic characterization of the Russellian theory of definite descriptions (RDD) as characterized by Kalish, Montague and Mar (KMM). To this effect three sequent calculi are introduced: LKID0, LKID1 and LKID2. LKID0 is an auxiliary system which is easily shown to be equivalent to KMM. The main research is devoted to LKID1 and LKID2. The former is simpler in the sense of having smaller number of rules and, after small change, satisfies cut elimination but fails to satisfy the subformula property. In LKID2 an additional analysis of different kinds of identities leads to proliferation of rules but yields the subformula property. This refined proof theoretic analysis leading to fully analytic calculus with constructive proof of cut elimination is the main contribution of the paper.
Journal Article
Re-sourcing curriculum materials: in search of appropriate frameworks for researching the enacted mathematics curriculum
This article provides a commentary to the eight papers of this issue of
ZDM
entitled “Researching the enacted mathematics curriculum.” It is structured around three main questions concerning (1) the layers of the curriculum addressed in the eight papers; (2) an identification of the main theoretical framework used, and an appreciation of this as compared to another European framework; and (3) challenges for future research on the enacted mathematics curriculum. The author outlines her views derived from a particular European perspective.
Journal Article
Missing Systems and the Face Value Practice
Call a bit of scientific discourse a description of a missing system when (i) it has the surface appearance of an accurate description of an actual, concrete system (or kind of system) from the domain of inquiry, but (ii) there are no actual, concrete systems in the world around us fitting the description it contains, and (iii) that fact is recognised from the outset by competent practitioners of the scientific discipline in question. Scientific textbooks, classroom lectures, and journal articles abound with such passages; and there is a widespread practice of talking and thinking as though there are systems which fit the descriptions they contain perfectly, despite the recognition that no actual, concrete systems do so—call this the face value practice. There are, furthermore, many instances in which philosophers engage in the face value practice whilst offering answers to epistemological and methodological questions about the sciences. Three questions, then: (1) How should we interpret descriptions of missing systems? (2) How should we make sense of the face value practice? (3) Is there a set of plausible answers to (1) and (2) which legitimates reliance on the face value practice in our philosophical work, and can support the weight of the accounts which are entangled with that practice? In this paper I address these questions by considering three answers to the first: that descriptions of missing systems are straightforward descriptions of abstract objects, that they are indirect descriptions of \"property-containing\" abstracta, and that they are (in a different way) indirect descriptions of mathematical structures. All three proposals are present in the literature, but I find them wanting. The result is to highlight the importance of developing a satisfactory understanding of descriptions of missing systems and the face value practice, to put pressure on philosophical accounts which rely on the practice, and to help us assess the viability of certain approaches to thinking about models, theory structure, and scientific representation.
Journal Article
Technology as the language of schooling: utopian visions of technology in Swedish general education in the 1960s
In the state-of-the-art Glass Project run by the Swedish National Agency for Education during the second half of the 1960s, a new type of comprehensive technology education was developed. The project had little impact on school practice and was soon forgotten about. However, the project is interesting from several points of view. First, it elaborated an interesting curricular idea where school activities were to centre around technology, thus creating a meaningful whole for the pupils, a sort of “language of schooling”. Second, the Glass Project illustrates a utopian logic of educational reform. The school had become an important area of reform in the mid-twentieth century, and in this the pedagogy of the “old school” was heavily criticised. Technology education clearly became a tool for progressive ideas in Sweden in the 1960s.
Journal Article
A contemporary analysis of the content of mathematics for liberal education at the college level
The purpose of this study is to determine whether educators believe mathematics should be taught to liberal arts students, what topics are taught in liberal arts mathematics courses, and what the motivation is for teaching such topics. The study consists of two parts, a review of the opinions of educators regarding liberal arts mathematics, and a survey to determine the present content of such courses. The review contains an analysis of the purpose of liberal arts education. Educators and other thinkers, past and present, are quoted to reveal their views on mathematics education and liberal education in general. The consensus is that mathematics should be included in a liberal education because it provides practice in logical reasoning, because it is important knowledge both as an end in itself and as a foundation of the sciences, because it is an important tool in allowing citizens to deal with current issues, and because it has an aesthetic value of which students should be made aware. Several different approaches to the liberal arts mathematics course are identified. The course has been influenced by other mathematics courses, including discrete mathematics, finite mathematics, and elementary teacher-training. Other trends include humanistic mathematics, mathematics and Western Civilization, multicultural mathematics, history of mathematics, quantitative literacy, applications of mathematics, and modeling. The survey examined all colleges and universities in three states, California, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, to determine the enrollment, topics taught, and textbooks used in liberal arts mathematics courses. 173 institutions out of 211 in California offer such a course, 120 out of 135 in Pennsylvania, and 74 out of 103 in Ohio. The most popular topics were found to be probability, statistics, geometry, combinatorics, finance, functions, graph theory, and logic. Popular textbooks include those by Angel, Bennett and Briggs, Blitzer, Burger and Starbird, COMAP, Johnson and Mowry, Miller, and Tannenbaum. It is concluded that the objectives of a liberal education have influenced the approaches to the liberal arts mathematics courses as well as the choice of topics.
Dissertation
The Teaching of Biochemistry: An Innovative Course Sequence Based on the Logic of Chemistry
An innovative course sequence for the teaching of biochemistry is offered, which more truly reflects the common philosophy found in biochemistry texts: that the foundation of biological phenomena can best be understood through the logic of chemistry. Topic order is chosen to develop an emerging understanding that is based on chemical principles. Preeminent biological questions serve as a framework for the course. Lipid and lipid-aggregate structures are introduced first, since it is more logical to discuss the intermolecular association of simple amphiphiles to form micelle and bilayer formations than to discuss the complexities of protein structure/folding. Protein, nucleic acid, and carbohydrate structures are studied next. Binding, a noncovalent process and the simplest expression of macromolecular function, follows. The physical (noncovalent) transport of solute molecules across a biological membrane is studied next, followed by the chemical transformation of substrates by enzymes. These are logical extensions of the expression of molecular function, first involving a simpler (physical transport) and second, a more complex (covalent transformation) process. The final sequence involves energy and signal transduction. This unique course sequence emerges naturally when chemical logic is used as an organizing paradigm for structuring a biochemistry course. Traditional order, which seems to reflect historic trends in research, or even an order derived from the central dogma of biology can not provide this logical framework.
Journal Article
Grant-Writing Courses in the United States: A Descriptive Review of Syllabi and Factors That Influence Instructor Choice of Course Texts
Little information exists about the structure and content of grant writing courses offered in the United States. To fill this gap, we used multiple data sources, including a content analysis of syllabi from 93 graduate-level grant writing courses in the United States, and an online survey that sought insight into (a) the ways in which textbooks for graduate-level grant writing courses are selected and, (b) the specific features that instructors value in grant writing textbooks. Syllabi data included course department, structure, description, requirements, and objectives, as well as required and recommended readings. The themes derived from the data attested to an applied focus on proposal writing, budgeting, and the identification of funding sources. The survey data suggested that instructors valued the inclusion of example proposals and would like to see logic models as they apply to writing grant proposals in course textbooks.
Journal Article