Education and demonstration – Question or problem eliciting response
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-08
2002-07-02
Cheng, Joe H. (Department: 3713)
Education and demonstration
Question or problem eliciting response
C434S323000, C434S118000, C434S191000, C434S201000, C434S350000, C434S353000, C434S298000, C434S300000, C434S302000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06413100
ABSTRACT:
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to information exchange services in education and more particularly to computerized systems, methods and apparatus for searching for problems or problem types and providing solutions to given problems or problem types over a global computer network. In addition, this invention relates to computerized systems, methods and apparatus for searching for given math, chemistry, physics, physical science, engineering, biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, and computer science problems and problem types, and for providing solutions to math, chemistry, physics, physical science, engineering, biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, and computer science problems and problem types over a global computer network. More specifically, the present invention relates to computerized systems, methods and apparatus which enable students to instantly obtain solutions to the math, chemistry, physics, physical science, engineering, biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, and computer science problems contained in their textbooks or homework assignments, and to search for other math, chemistry, physics, physical science, engineering, biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, and computer science problems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention uses global computer networks, such as the Internet to provide students with additional help with their studies. The Internet comprises a large number of computers and computer networks that are interconnected through communication links. The Internet utilizes the TCP/IP suite of protocols, which are well-known in the art of computer networking. TCP/IP is an acronym for “Transport Control Protocol/Interface Program,” a software protocol developed by the Department of Defense for communication between computers.
The interconnected computers exchange information using various services, such as electronic mail, Gopher, and the World Wide Web (“WWW”). The WWW service allows server computer systems (i.e., web server or web site) to send graphical web pages of information to remote client computer systems. A remote client computer system can then display the web pages.
Each resource, (e.g., computer or web page) of the WWW is uniquely identifiable by a Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”). To view a specific web page, a client computer system specifies the URL for that web page in a request (e.g., a HyperText Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) request). The request is forwarded to the web server that supports that web page. When that web server receives the request, it sends that web page to the client computer system. When the client computer system receives that web page, it typically displays the web page using a browser. A browser is a special-purpose application program that effects the requesting and displaying of web pages.
Currently, web pages are typically defined using HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”). HTML provides a standard set of tags that define how a web page is to be displayed. When a user indicates to the browser to display a web page, the browser sends a request to the server computer system to transfer to the client computer system an HTML document that defines the web page. When the requested HTML document is received by the client computer system, the browser displays the web page as defined by the HTML document. The HTML document contains various tags that control the displaying of text, graphics, controls, and other features. The HTML document may contain URLs of other Web pages and web sites available on that server computer system or other server computer systems.
Localized and globalized computers are growing and beginning to be the primary means of accessing information. The World Wide Web (“WWW”), for example, provides all who have access to it with vast amounts of information, with new information being added every second of every day. The WWW contains web sites with information about everything from South American rain forests to health and medicine to automobile sales.
The WWW began as a tool that allowed information to be accessible over a network for educational purposes. Initially, it was primarily used by universities and government entities for the purpose of sharing information. Today, it is still used most often as a means of finding and sharing information, and its most important objective is still to educate people.
The WWW contains many educational web sites with topical information for students. For example, Educational web sites, such as Encyclopaedia Britannica (EB.COM) or the Teens section of About.com, contain generalized information about different topics to help students gain knowledge and learn.
Thus, the WWW has made it possible to provide students with information twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week with few, if any, interruptions in service. That notwithstanding, there are few online resources that provide students with targeted information to assist them with their math, physics and sciences homework and to help them improve their skills therein. Furthermore, there are no online resources for providing students with instantaneous solutions to the problems in their textbooks.
In fact, there are few resources of any kind presently available that provide people with instantaneous solutions and answers to textbook problems and problem solving techniques. Teacher manuals often include solutions to the problems in student textbooks, but are not usually available to students. Tutors and teachers can also assist students with solving problems, but they are not constantly available to students, and tutors can cost as much as $75.00 per hour in many areas of the United States, and are for that reason, inaccessible to the majority of students. The textbooks themselves usually have explanations and examples, but all problems are different and so are all students. Even with the explanations and examples from a textbook, a student may not be able to understand a particular problem nor be able to determine its solution. Even scientific calculators are inadequate because 1) they require the student to input the problem, which can be a daunting exercise in itself, 2) they do not provide a step-by-step solution to the problem, 3) they are often very complicated and difficult to use and understand, and 4) they are expensive, and many students cannot afford them.
One educational resource, Pinkmonkey.com, provides an educational environment for primary school students. It provides students with study guides, reference materials, a library of books available online, and various other helpful resources. It does not, however, provide students with solutions to specific problems, nor does it provide a way to teach students how to solve particular types of problems. It is also incapable of searching for particular types of problems based on certain criteria provided by the student.
Another educational resource, Webmath.com, is composed of math “fill-in-forms”. A student can type into the math fill-in-form the math problem they are working on, and a math program will attempt to solve the problem for the student. The math programs in Webmath.com also provide step-by-step solutions to the problems. But, again, Webmath.com cannot solve problems unless the student undertakes the tedious and time-consuming task of inputting the math problem. Because math symbols are not on most computer keyboards, this can be very time-consuming, especially with long and complicated math problems. Like Pinkmoney.com, Webmath.com does not provide a way of searching out specific types of problems based on criteria provided by the student. Furthermore, there are no resources compar
Brauer Kirk
Dickmeyer Jon Steven
Cheng Joe H.
Harris Chanda
Lyon & Lyon LLP
Netucation LLC
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