Ontology-based Interactive Learning Approach for Transdisciplinary Teaching in Learning Factory

Interactive learning provides a pedagogical approach to acquire skills and develop knowledge regarding transdisciplinary areas, especially in the burgeoning engineering sciences domain. In fact, learning factories have been shown to provide the appropriate environment for transdisciplinary teaching. Exposure to different knowledge domains is desired, but students face difficulties understanding complex foreign concepts over limited periods of time. As an example, the AllFactory at the University of Alberta is a unique facility that encompasses agricultural and biological sciences along with Industry 4.0 technologies. Aquaponics 4.0 mediates the growth of various plant and fish species while using engineering concepts to control the environment and ensure maximum quality control and high throughput. This paper proposes a digital interactive approach to present and teach complex foreign knowledge to students in time-constrained environments. A graphical user interface is designed to provide a step-by-step guide on developing the hydroponic and aquaculture component to investigate Aquaponics 4.0 systems, where all the required knowledge is extracted from a predefined ontology model.