Ontology-based E-learning Content Recommender System for Addressing the Pure Cold-start Problem

E-learning recommender systems are gaining significance nowadays due to its ability to enhance the learning experience by providing tailor-made services based on learner preferences. A Personalized Learning Environment (PLE) that automatically adapts to learner characteristics such as learning styles and knowledge level can recommend appropriate learning resources that would favor the learning process and improve learning outcomes. The pure cold-start problem is a relevant issue in PLEs, which arises due to the lack of prior information about the new learner in the PLE to create appropriate recommendations. This article introduces a semantic framework based on ontology to address the pure cold-start problem in content recommenders. The ontology encapsulates the domain knowledge about the learners as well as Learning Objects (LOs). The semantic model that we built has been experimented with different combinations of the key learner parameters such as learning style, knowledge level, and background knowledge. The proposed framework utilizes these parameters to build natural learner groups from the learner ontology using SPARQL queries. The ontology holds 480 learners’ data, 468 annotated learning objects with 5,600 learner ratings. A multivariate k-means clustering algorithm, an unsupervised machine learning technique for grouping similar data, is used to evaluate the learner similarity computation accuracy. The learner satisfaction achieved with the proposed model is measured based on the ratings given by the 40 participants of the experiments. From the evaluation perspective, it is evident that 79% of the learners are satisfied with the recommendations generated by the proposed model in pure cold-start condition.