Method and apparatus for automated learning and performance evaluation

ES 2 154 339 T3

DESCRIPTION

A method and apparatus for automated learning and performance evaluation. Technical field of the invention

This invention generally relates to an instructional and educational learning tool and, more specifically, to a method and apparatus for automated learning and performance evaluation.

Background of the invention

There are many factors that contribute to the way people learn. These factors include the way the information or material is presented (eg. (e.g., the teacher), the way in which the individual processes and searches for information, the genetic predispositions towards information processing, the multiple forms of intelligence, the repetition rate at which the information is presented, the duration of individual attention, the information base already known to the individual, and, perhaps most important of all, the individual's learning style and receptivity to learning and learned material, this includes the role of emotion in learning and acting.

With this perspective in mind, designing automated learning systems may be difficult. When these systems have to be applied to the general public that has a diverse base and cultural differences, the problem becomes gigantic. This problem is not simply associated with "classroom situations," but with electronic games, army and corporate training, remedial education, training, and a host of other teaching, sales, public education, learning, and therapeutic disciplines.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an automated system and method of instruction and learning that accommodates learning speed, learning style, cultural differences, and previously learned material, which allow a student be receptive to material that must be learned over extended periods of time.

There is also a need in the art to take any material to be learned and present said material to a student or user in an order and manner appropriate to the learning receptivity of that student or user, and elaborate it in a model easily assimilated by that student. .

There is a further need for a performance method, which provides a specific quantitative measure of the level of confidence and self-assessment of the material learned, regardless of the students' knowledge of the material.

United States Patent US-A5,180,309 describes an automatic question and answer device having a memory for storing questions and answers, a display screen and a receiving input for user responses.

Summary of the invention

In one embodiment of the invention an apparatus is designed to teach a user of a group of subjects, or to evaluate the performance of the user. The apparatus comprises means for displaying each of the materials to the user. The apparatus additionally comprises means for receiving a reply from the users, and logical means, sensitive to the reply from the users, for ordering the matters into two groups of known and unknown subjective matters. The apparatus further comprises means for generating a sequence of subjective matters, including at least one of each of the known and unknown subjective matters, and providing said sequence to the display means.

A technical advantage of the apparatus of the present invention is that a group of subjects can be learned more quickly, and more fully with good retention.

Another technical advantage is that tedium is used to advantage in the learning process. Another technical advantage is that user responsiveness is improved by employing high repetition rates for newly learned facts. It is also a further technical advantage of the invention, that it provides an apparatus that creates a pattern of known and unknown material, which adjusts said pattern to suit the individual user. It is still an additional technical advantage of the present invention to provide a device for the personalized instruction of a single set of material, personalized for each individual student or user, which can be taught, allowing a student to learn in the best way possible. material.

In another embodiment of the invention, a method of evaluating the performance of a user is provided, or of teaching a user of a group of subjects, in said group a specific answer is assigned to each of the subjects. The method includes steps performed in this following order or in a different order: One, the user asks whether each subject in the group is known or unknown. Two, the group of subjects is ordered into a first group of known subjective subjects and a second group of unknown subjective subjects. Three, a sequence of subjective matters is generated including at least one of each of the known and unknown subjective matters. Four, the sequence of subjective matters is visually presented in the following way: if the matter is an unknown subjective matter, then the matter and its answer are together shown together, if the matter is a known subjective topic then said matter, at first. moment, it is displayed and the associated reply is displayed at a later time.

A technical advantage of the present invention is a method that teaches a user a group of subjects, in which each subject is combined with a specific answer. Another technical advantage of the method of the present invention is that the subjects and their corresponding answers are distributed in the groups of known and unknown material, on the basis of the subjective answer of the user. Still another technical advantage of the method according to the present invention is that the material is deployed at the

ES 2 154 339 T3 user in such a way that unknown matters are presented with their associated answer at the same time; in another modality the known matters are displayed first, while the associated answer is displayed at a later time.

Brief description of the drawings

To more fully understand the present invention and its characteristic advantages, reference is now made to the following description made in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1: Illustrates a box diagram of a prior art system using repetition for instructional purposes.

Figure 2: illustrates a box diagram of an embodiment of a method according to the present invention.

Figure 3: illustrates a box diagram of a second embodiment of a Method according to the present invention.

Figure 4: illustrates a box diagram of an interrupted sequence used in connection with the method of the present invention.

Figure 5: illustrates a box diagram of a third embodiment of the method according to the present invention.

Figure 6: illustrates a first embodiment of an apparatus according to the present invention showing different displays of known and unknown subjects of a learning method according to the present invention.

Figure 7: Illustrates a second embodiment of an apparatus of the present invention and in which the learning method according to the present invention is practiced

Detailed description of the invention

Repetition used for instructional purposes is well known in the prior art. Such methods are used to learn associated terms such as vocabulary words, a foreign language, names, and numbers. Each of the subjects to be learned has an associated answer. In the prior art, the material can be presented in print or electronically as a card game, or visual display screens with a question and answer (a fact and a definition). All in the form of a selected subject associated with the answer.

In a method corresponding to the prior state of the art, which uses a card game, the cards are separated into separate groups or sets of short and thick pieces of cards to be memorized. Information is learned one short piece at a time, simply by studying the cards and performing the self-tests. Cards that pass correctly are set aside, while cards that do not pass correctly are repeated until learned. When a group or short piece is memorized, another group is studied until this group is known. The process continues until all the cards in all the groups are memorized.

In another method corresponding to the previous state of the technique, the subjects to be memorized are separated by a test in the unknown subject groups; and known. The user then focuses on repetitive study and learning, including the self-testing process of the unknown object. When an unknown subject is memorized, it is transferred to the known subjects until all unknown subjects are memorized.

In another method corresponding to the previous state of the technique, shown in FIGURE 1, a group of subjects to be learned is separated by an initial test 2 into two groups of known subjects 4 and unknown subjects 6, based on knowledge actual user, not in their perceived knowledge. Once the subjects have been separated into the two groups, a sequence of known and unknown terms is generated in a sequence generator 8. Each of the subjects in the sequence is then presented on a display screen 10 and then tested 12.

The user is then confronted with the test matter and is required to give an answer at stage 13. The answer was evaluated at decision point 14. If the answer is correct, then the method continues along the trajectory. 16 and the matter is then stored in the known matter collection 18, the known matters are incremented 4. The next matter in the sequence is incremented in step 20 and thus the process continues.

If the answer evaluated at decision point 14 is incorrect, then the method continues along path 22 to step 24, where the user is provided with the answer or an associated answer. The process continued and, in stage 26, the term is saved in the collection of unknown subjects 6. In stage 28 the sequence is incremented and the next subject in the sequence is displayed. Returning to decision point 14, if the subject is known, the method determines in step 30 whether the subject is the last term to be learned. If it is, the process stops at step 32, if not, and if there are pending matters, the process continues along path 34, and the next matter in the sequence is incremented and the process continues.

In one embodiment of the present invention it is shown, in FIG. 2, a method to separate the subjects to be learned, or to be used in performance measurement, into three groups, based entirely on the user's perception of whether he knows the term, and not on the basis of whether the subject it is really known or unknown. It must also be understood that the terms known and unknown represent to a relative degree various levels of knowledge, and not binary knowledge at all. Also

ES 2 154 339 T3 it should be understood that any perceptible factor can be substituted for the known and unknown matters, described in the preferred embodiments. For example, this invention can be used to prove a use or lack of use. A further refinement of the ordering process places a time limit for the receipt of the subjective reply from the user.

In this method, starting at step 40, the user is provided with a subject and given an initial test as to whether he thinks he knows the answer or not. There is also a clock running, unnoticed and unknown by the user, this records the time of the reply. It should be emphasized that in this test, the user is asked whether or not he knows the subject. And it is not proven if you know the matter. If the users answer that the answer is known, then the process follows path 42 and the matter is stored in matters perceived as known in category 44. If the user responds that the matter is not known, the process follows path 46 and the term is assigned to subjects perceived as unknown in category 48. If the user responds that he is not sure whether the subject is known or unknown, then the process follows path 50 and the term is saved in the subjects that we perceive as unsafe knowledge in category 52. ​​It is also recorded if the subject is User does not give a reply within the predetermined period of time. Then the term is treated as an unknown subject and is stored in the subjects perceived as unknown in category 48. The subjects perceived as the one that the user is not sure is known or unknown from category 52 are added to the subjects perceived as unknown from category 48, and are called “subjectively unknown subjects”. Subjectively unknown subjects along with known subjective subjects are directed to the sequence generator) 54, which creates a sequence or list of subjectively unknown or known subjects.

In the preferred embodiment, the sequence will include at least one unknown subject and a plurality of known subjects, selected at random. The unknown subjective matters can be interpreted as being placed in a series from 1 to N, where N is the total number of unknown subjective matters. Sequential generator 54 selects the first unknown subjective matter and combines it with known subjective matters, selected at random to generate the sequence. Once the sequence is generated, the process continues along path 56, the first term corresponding to the sequence is displayed to the user and then displayed on the display screen 58. The method would continue to display each subject in the sequence. until a user interrupt occurs. Matter can be presented visually or aurally in a variety of ways including animation, color matching, repetition, position, dimensional view, sound, and rhythm. In this way there is a continued redundant presentation of the unknown subjective matter, along with the randomly selected known subjective matters.

Now continuing along path 59 until interrupt by user 60, the method determines whether the user has chosen to interrupt the presentation. If it has not, the process follows path 62 and returns to display screen 58, where the next term in the sequence is displayed. If an interrupt is detected by the user at interrupt 60, the process follows path 64 to decision block 66, where the method determines whether the user should continue with the current sequence or should divert to other activities. If the method continued with the current sequence, the process follows path 68 to decision block 70. In decision block 70, the user is asked about the matter and asked if the matter is perceived as known or unknown. Again, this is only a subjective test. If the matter is perceived as known, the method follows the path 72 and the matter is stored in stage 74, in the matters perceived as known 44.

After matter is stored in step 74, the method checks, in decision block 82, if the unknown matter is the last unknown term. If the term is not the last unknown term, the method follows the path 84 to the next selector 80 of unknown matters, which selects the next unknown term and passes the sequence of stages to the sequential generator 54, in order to generate the new one. sequence. Returning to decision point 82, if the unknown matter is the last unknown term, then the process follows path 86 and stops at point 88.

Returning to decision point 70, if the matter is perceived as unknown, or the user is not sure whether the matter is known or unknown, the process follows path 76 and the matter is saved at stage 78 in the perceived terms as unknowns 48. After the term is saved, the next unknown term is selected in the next unknown matter selector 80 and a new sequence is generated by the sequential generator 54.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an alternative embodiment of the method according to the present invention is shown here. In this method, each of the subjects in a group of subjects to be learned has an associated answer. In the initial step 90, the user is asked whether he thinks he knows the matter and its associated answer. The user, at this time, is not asked to give or provide the associated reply. The answer is also timed and if no answer is given within a predetermined time T, then the term and its associated answer are treated as a matter perceived as unknown. If the user responds that he knows the subject and its associated answer, the process follows the path 92 and the subject with its associated answer is stored in a series 94 of subjects classified within those “perceived as known”. If the user does not respond within the time, or responds that the term is not known, then the process follows the path 96 and the matter is stored in the series, as a

ES 2 154 339 T3 matter perceived as unknown.

If the user responds that he is not sure whether the matter is known or unknown, the process follows path 100 and the term is stored in series 102, as a matter perceived without security. Subjects from series 98 and 102 are combined into a single table of unknown subjects.

When all the subjects of a group of subjects to be learned in the different corresponding series have been ordered, the process continues at the stage of generating a sequence of subjective subjects. The sequence generator 104 produces a sequence or list of subjects perceived as known and subjects perceived as unknown. In the preferred embodiment, the sequence generally consists of an unknown term and a plurality of known terms selected at random. Once the sequence has been generated by sequence generator 104, the first subjective term in the sequence is selected by term selector 106.

At any time after the term is selected, as shown in step 108, the user is allowed to abort the operation. If user outage does not occur, the process continues along path 110 in order to determine in step 112 whether the selected subjective term is perceived as a known or unknown term. If the selected subjective term is perceived as an unknown term, the process follows path 114 and both the term and its associated response are displayed to the user on the display screen. After the term as its associated response is displayed, in step 116, to the user on the display screen, the list of terms passed sequentially is incremented in step 118. If the subjective term selected is perceived as a known term, the process follows the path 120. The perceived term is shown to the user, for the first time, in the display stage 122. Subsequently, the term as its associated response, is shown to the user. user in the display stage 124. After the term as its associated response is displayed, in step 124, to the user on the display screen, the list of terms passed sequentially is incremented in step 118. After the sequence has been incremented, the process determines at step 126 whether the sequence has been completed, or not. If the sequence has not been completed, the process continues to path 128 and the next term is presented to the user. If the sequence has been completed, the process continues to path 130 and a new sequence generated by sequence generator 104 is presented to the user.

A unique and distinctive feature of the present invention is the novel way of allowing the user, at any time, to abort the learning process. Still referring to FIG. 3, if in step 108 an interrupt is detected by the user, the method branches off the path 132 of FIG. Four.

Referring to FIG. 4, the unique interrupt characteristic of the present invention is now described. Decision box 14 is activated in step 108 of the FIG process. 3. If the system determines that the user has actually activated the interrupt, the process follows the path 142 and the user is asked with respect to the decision block 144, if he wants to start a new sequence or not. If the user selects to start a new sequence, the process branches back through path 146 to sequence generator 104 (FIG. 3). The sequence generator 104 is activated to generate a new unknown term and generates a new sequence to continue the method. If the user decides not to select a new sequence and answers NO, the process can follow path 148 and the user is asked at game stage 150 whether they want to divert their attention. If the answer is yes, the process branches off into a set of games that are specifically designed to help alleviate annoyance, improve the user's attention span, or teach some other aspect of the associated pair, such as the exact spelling.

There may also be conventional games such as "hangman", etc. If the user decides not to select a game, the process continues along path 152 and, in step 154, the user is asked if he wants a different test or different learning scheme, such as the performance evaluation shown in FIG. .

5. If the user answers YES, the process branches to a new Test. If the user answers NO, then the method stops.

Turning now to user interrupt 140, it must be determined that it was not the user who will interrupt the method; then the process follows the trajectory 156 and determines in the stopwatch 153, if it was said stopwatch that will order the interruption. In one embodiment, the method is provided with a stopwatch to measure the response time of the users. It also works, when used together with a program stored digitally on a PC, provided with a display screen, to interrupt the session in case the user is no longer working with the device.

In another embodiment, timer 158 may be a counter to measure the number of times an unknown term has been repeated. If the user repeats the cycles very quickly, the methods can automatically start a new sequence 144 or a different test 154. If the user repeats the cycles very slowly, the methods can be diverted to a prescriptive game 150 or other activity. If the timer has signaled the cutoff, then the process follows path 160 and returns to decision point 144, and may ask the user if he wishes to choose a new sequence. If it is determined that the timer has not stopped, the process should follow path 162 and the sequence is restarted at step 164 and the process continues.

Referring now to FIG. 5, another embodiment of a method according to the present invention is described directly related to performance evaluation. Starting at step 180, a sequence of subjects is generated and the user is presented one subject at a time at the perception test stage 182. In the

ES 2 154 339 T3 step 182, the user is asked if he knows the subject, if he does not know it or if he is sure that the subject is unknown, or known. Again, emphasis should be placed on what the invention seeks to determine, which is not whether the matter is actually known or unknown, but whether the user believes that the matter is known or unknown.

If the user responds in step 182 that he does not know the term, the process follows the path 184. In step 186, a perception flag appears, in this case a "D" for the unknown. If the user responds that he knows the matter, the process follows the path 183 and the perception flag is set, in step 190, at "C" for the known term. If the user responds that he is not sure whether the matter is known or unknown, the process follows path 192 and the perception flag is set, in step 194, to "D" for the unknown.

After the perception flag has been displayed, the user is presented with the term and asked about their actual knowledge of the subject. This occurs in actual testing step 196, where the user is asked to provide an appropriate answer. If the answer is incorrect or bad, the process follows path 198, where the perception flag is tested in step 200. If the flag is set to D, the process follows path 202 and the counter of D is incremented by one in step 204. If the awareness flag is set to C, the process follows path 206 and the counter C is incremented. by one at stage 208.

Returning to test block 196, if the user provides the correct or correct answer, the process follows the path 210 and the perception flag is checked in step 212. If the perception flag had previously been set to "C" for known , the process follows path 214 and the "C register" is incremented by one in step 216. If the awareness flag was set to D, the process follows path 218 and the register of D is incremented by one in step 220. After the appropriate registers have been incremented in steps 204, 208, 216 and 220, the process determines whether matter is the last end of the counter 222 sequence. If this is the last end of the sequence, the process moves along path 224 to the measurement stage of operation 226. If this is not the last end of the sequence, the process follows path 228 and at step 230, the sequence of matters is incremented by one and returns along path 232 to the perception test block 182. One method of assessing or evaluating performance is to divide the sum of records 204 and 216 by the sum of records 204, 203, 216, and 220, expressing the result as a percentage of a current measure of knowledge. Another method of evaluating the performance is to calculate it by taking the unit minus the sum of registers 208 and 220, divided by the sum of registers 204, 208, 216 and 220 expressed as a relative percentage or measure of the ability of the performance. Other calculations of performance measure are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

Referring now to FIG. 6, an apparatus for carrying out the invention is shown as a mounted computer with a display screen. It should also be understood that the display can be either an auditory indicator or a combination of visual and auditory display.

Referring now to FIG. 6, the improved learning apparatus is generally shown at 300 and consists of a housing 302, a display 304, ports 306 and 308 interfacing with an external universal computer in conjunction with the internal computer or microprocessor (not shown in the figure). The function of switch 310 is used to control the functions of the appliance, such as ON / OFF. Generally, the input devices are shown in 312, which can be normal switches, pressure sensitive and named "Unknown" 314, "Not Safe" 316 and "Known" 318.

It has not been shown in FIG. 6, but is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, a conventional computer system or microprocessor possessing a normal processor, memory and I / O (I / O) functions. A list or data file containing the subjects or a group of subjects will be stored in the memory, which must be taught to the user. In this case, the display screen 304 shows the two names of a drug, the commercial one and its common name (the subject and its associated answer). The display means 304 points to the term 320, in this case the word, "amoxil", and the associated reply 322, in this case the word "penicillin".

After matter 320 and its associated reply 522 are flagged and displayed on display means 304, switches 314, 316 and 318 are activated as means of receiving a reply from the user. If the user believes that he knows the association between amoxil and penicillin, he presses the switch "C" 318. On the other hand, if the user does not know the relationship, he presses the switch "D" 314. If the user is unsure as to whether the relationship is known or unknown, he does not press the "S" switch 316. Using normal computing techniques, the input switches 312 communicate to the microprocessor's logic media, which classifies the matter as "Known" if switch 318 was activated by the user, or "Unknown" if switches 314 or 316 were activated by the user. The system continues to display different subjects 320, together with the associated answer 322, and asking the user about their perception until the list of subjects is complete. Once the list or sequence is complete, the microprocessor, through the stored program, generates a new list or sequence of the subjects to be learned, including at least one of each of the subjectively known and unknown terms of the subjects. subjects.

Still referring to FIG. 6, in this three display screens 304A, 30413 and 304C are shown separately, which illustrate, in a sequence, how the subjects 320 and their associated answer 322 are presented to the user. Starting with 304A, both the unknown subjects

ES 2 154 339 T3

320 with its associated 322 reply are shown on the display. At any time, after the first unknown term is displayed more than once, the user can activate any of the switches 312 to interrupt the process. Once the unknown term 320 is displayed with its associated answer 322, the system presents a known subject 326 on the screen. 30413. After a convenient systematic delay, the reply 328 associated with matter 326 is displayed alongside it, and is presented to the user on display screen 304C.

Referring now to FIG. 7, an alternative embodiment of an apparatus in accordance with the present invention is generally shown as a computer 400. Similar to the computer shown in FIG. 6, this computer employs a normal microprocessor with conventional internal functions, both arithmetic and logical, I / 0 drive operations, and a microprocessor memory in RAM, ROM, or other suitable memory device. As these subjects are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, they are not shown in the figure.

Referring now to computer 400, there is a display screen 402, which in the preferred embodiment is a liquid crystal display screen for presenting the user with a matter 404 and its associated reply 406. In this case, matter 404 is material. not known or not believed to be known to the user, and is classified as unknown material. On input pad 408, the different input devices are shown, said devices consisting of conventional push switches 410, 412 and 414 for receiving user feedback. Switch 410 indicates that he perceives that he does not know the matter. Switch 412 indicates that the user is not sure whether the subject is known or unknown, and switch 414 indicates that the user perceives that he knows the subject.

Also shown is the 416 keyboard which consists of a full set of alphanumeric keys, as well as various control keys. The keyboard 416 allows the user vastly increased input. For example, in one embodiment of the invention, the user is allowed whenever he wants to interrupt the learning process and activate a game or other learning module. For example, activating the input key 418, the process of displaying the subject group will be stopped and the user will be asked if he wants to continue, start the sequence over, use a new sequence, go to a game or perform some other. activity.

In an alternative embodiment of computer 400, there is a method in accordance with the present invention in external memory. The external memory can be any of the type of a floppy disk (varieties both 5 1/4 and 3 1/2, a card or other memory of chip type, such as RAM or ROM. In this embodiment, a device configured for computer 400 is maintained in order to perform a teaching method to a user, or to evaluate user performance by presenting a group of subjects. The device has the means to configure the input pad 408 and ask the user as to whether a term is perceived as known or unknown. The device has the means to configure the processor of the computer 400, to order each of the subjects within a group of subjects perceived as known and a second group of subjects perceived as unknown. The device also has the means to configure the processor of the computer 400, to generate a sequence that includes the subjective matters, at least one of said first group and one of said second group. The device is provided with the means to configure the display 402 with the sequence of subjective matters. The settings preferably described by the saved program instructions, as is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

The computers described in FIGS. 6 and 7 can operate under a set of saved and written instructions in accordance with the various shown embodiments of the method.

From the previous description it will be seen by those with skill in the technique, who follow the present invention, a method and apparatus is provided such that their approaches focus on the perception by the user of the knowledge that he has of a term, and do not require him to to the user who really knows the term. In this way, improved machine learning and performance evaluation can be achieved. Because the invention can be incorporated into a microprocessor based on a program stored on a digital computer, or on a renewable storage device, a wide variety of learning methods can be incorporated. While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various other changes in its form and detail can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention. they invented it, as described in the appended claims.