Education and demonstration – Question or problem eliciting response
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-20
2003-04-29
Vo, Hieu T. (Department: 3747)
Education and demonstration
Question or problem eliciting response
C434S118000, C434S362000, C434S350000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06554618
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to systems and methods for objectively managing integrated individualized instruction.
2. Description of Related Art
Historically, the process of educating a student, and more particularly, educating a student through a public education system has been considered an art and not a science. This view has lead to the adoption of various, non-uniform standards of instruction, student evaluation, and grading. Many of the standards used in education are geographic in nature. For example, different states may have different standards for education, different school divisions within a given state may have different standards of instruction, different schools within a particular school division may have different standards of student evaluation, and different teachers within a school may have different methods of teaching and evaluating student performance. An “A” in one particular school may be equivalent to a “C” in another school. Standardized tests like the Stanford 9's or SATs have demonstrated the disparate outcomes that result from different instructional standards.
In recent years, many states have adopted specific minimum standards not only for school accreditation, but also for student competency levels, which must be met before a high school diploma can be awarded to a student. Some states, such as, for example, the Commonwealth of Virginia, have established Standards Of Learning (SOLs). These standards attempt to ensure that each student, within each grade level, has at least a basic level of understanding, or “fund of knowledge”, in a core group of subject matters that is commensurate with that grade level.
Furthermore, the SOLs dictate that each student enrolled in a public school within that state, must demonstrate a basic level of competency in the determined group of subject areas before he or she can be awarded a high-school diploma from a public school within that state. This system has been established in an effort to guarantee that, for example, a student in a rural or impoverished portion of a state will not only progress through school, but will also graduate having the same basic “fund of knowledge” as a student who graduates in a more metropolitan or affluent portion of the state.
Additionally, this system attempts to ensure that each student in, for example, the eighth grade, has a similar basic “fund of knowledge”. Thus, as our society becomes more mobile, if a student must transfer from one school system to another, he or she does not have to be reevaluated before entering the new school system to determine what grade level the student is performing at in the new school. A student who performs at an “eighth grade” level in a school in the eastern portion of the state will perform at an “eighth grade” level in a school in the western portion of the state.
It is currently envisioned that a SOL might be introduced on a national level that will attempt to guarantee these advantages and equalities on a nation-wide level. Thus, each student who attends or graduates from any public school in the country will have a similar, basic understanding or “fund of knowledge” with regard to certain core subject matters.
In addition, many school systems are introducing computers into the classroom. The introduction of computers into a traditional classroom setting has, essentially, two goals. First, teachers hope to help students achieve computer literacy at an early age. Second, teachers hope to give students access to the almost unlimited resources available through, for example, the Internet. Thus, students are taught the requisite skills to utilize computers as research tools and study aids. Certain computer software packages have also been developed to, for example, assist students in improving language comprehension by attempting to make learning fun and enjoyable through the use of “interactive” cartoon characters and “video game” formats.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Unfortunately, as various curriculums advance and school systems work to ensure that their type and level of student instruction imparts an appropriate “fund of knowledge” to their students, the traditional model of teaching has been maintained. Current teaching methods utilize specific course level instruction, such that, for example, every student in an Algebra I course uses the same Algebra I textbook, regardless of student proficiency. The teachers present materials and concepts in a lecture environment to a heterogeneous group of students, worksheets are assigned to the group as a whole, and the number of presentations of the material is the same to all students in the class.
If a particular student has a problem or difficulty with a particular area within a given subject, such as, for example, the concept of negative numbers or prepositional phrases, the assigned textbook for that subject does not provide additional explanation of the subject. If the teacher becomes aware of the student's struggle, he or she might not be able to explain the concept to the student in a manner that makes the concept any more clear to the struggling student. Thus, early education “potholes” in the student's fund of knowledge can remain unfilled and the student may be promoted, by virtue of age or a sufficient understanding of other topics in the subject, out of a particular grade or skill level without ever having understood a building block concept.
Additionally, known computerized educational programs, while sometimes helpful in correcting a deficiency in a student's learning, do not replace the textbook for a given course or become the primary “teacher” of the subject material. Instead, known computerized educational programs focus merely on remediating a student's deficiencies or enhancing the student's understanding in a particular subject.
Furthermore, current models used in public education systems do not provide for a direct, efficient correlation between a student's progress through a particular subject and the student's preparedness for a standardized test, such as, for example, the SOLs. Moreover, the current education models do not provide a method for assessing and monitoring the effectiveness of a particular teacher, principal, school, or school district.
Accordingly, this invention provides systems and methods for integrating individualized, computer-assisted learning and direct teacher instruction. The systems and methods of this invention utilize computer-based instruction as the core means of instruction for a particular subject, effectively replacing any textbooks.
Initially, each student is given a gateway test to determine whether the student has mastered all of the elementary, foundation skills necessary in the particular subject and identify the student's fund of knowledge in a particular subject. For example, an Algebra student must master 4
th
grade “fractions” and 6
th
grade “multiplying fractions” before beginning Algebra. In various exemplary embodiments, a student must achieve an 80% proficiency in a given topic before the student is considered to have mastered the concept.
From the results of the initial, gateway test, each student's areas of understanding and weakness are revealed. Once the results of the initial test are analyzed, the computer then develops an individual instruction plan, which generates and assigns lessons to each individual student based on what the student has not mastered. Each student works through assignments and lessons that are specifically tailored to remediate deficiencies the student has in the particular subject. If a student has difficulty with a particular concept, the systems and methods of this invention provide as many presentations of the material as are necessary to master the concept.
If a topic is understood, the student can demonstrate proficiency or mastery by scoring, for example, an 80% on the mastery test. Once a student shows mastery of a particular topic, the individual instruction plan advances to the next to
Kaufman & Canoles
Vo Hieu T.
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