U.S. patent application number 14/880624 was filed with the patent office on 2016-02-04 for comprehension instruction system and method for vocabulary training.
The applicant listed for this patent is ALTIS AVANTE CORP.. Invention is credited to Andrew Morrison, Timothy Shanahan.
Application Number | 20160035242 14/880624 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50981999 |
Filed Date | 2016-02-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160035242 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Morrison; Andrew ; et
al. |
February 4, 2016 |
COMPREHENSION INSTRUCTION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VOCABULARY
TRAINING
Abstract
A vocabulary training method calculates frequency and utility
scores for vocabulary words in a language. The frequency scores
relate to how frequency the words appear in the language while the
utility scores relate to how broadly the words are used in the
language. The method then groups and ranks the words according to
their frequency and utility scores. To gauge a user's vocabulary
knowledge, the method selects words to test the user based on a
combination of the frequency and utility scores, or the utility
scores alone.
Inventors: |
Morrison; Andrew;
(Deerfield, IL) ; Shanahan; Timothy; (Chicago,
IL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
ALTIS AVANTE CORP. |
Evanston |
IL |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
50981999 |
Appl. No.: |
14/880624 |
Filed: |
October 12, 2015 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13345558 |
Jan 6, 2012 |
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14880624 |
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12019578 |
Jan 24, 2008 |
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13345558 |
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11430325 |
May 8, 2006 |
8568144 |
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13345558 |
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11347425 |
Feb 2, 2006 |
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13345558 |
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60897414 |
Jan 24, 2007 |
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60679145 |
May 9, 2005 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
434/169 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09B 17/003 20130101;
G09B 7/00 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G09B 17/00 20060101
G09B017/00; G09B 7/00 20060101 G09B007/00 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method for vocabulary training, the
method comprising: determining, by the processor-implemented
instruction module, frequency scores for vocabulary words in a
language according to how frequently the vocabulary words appear in
the language; determining, by the processor-implemented instruction
module, utility scores for the vocabulary words according to how
broadly the vocabulary words are used in the language;
categorizing, by the processor-implemented instruction module, the
vocabulary words by grouping the vocabulary words into a plurality
of groups based on the determined frequency scores and ranking the
vocabulary words in each group based on the determined utility
scores; generating, by the processor-implemented instruction
module, a vocabulary training exercise to test a student's
vocabulary knowledge, wherein the vocabulary training exercise is
generated by selecting a plurality of vocabulary words from the
plurality of groups based on a combination of the frequency scores
and utility scores; and presenting, by the processor-implemented
instruction module, the vocabulary training exercise to the
student.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining
the utility scores of the vocabulary words includes determining the
extent in which the vocabulary words are used in different subject
areas, wherein the different subject areas include one or more
textual categories including one or more categories of science,
history, math, current events, politics, fiction, or non-fiction,
or media categories including one or more categories of books,
letters, poems, newspapers, stories, or lyrics.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein generating
the vocabulary training exercise includes determining a pool of
vocabulary words based on the student's need with vocabulary words
that have a higher frequency score or a higher utility score deemed
to be vocabulary words that should be mastered earlier than
vocabulary words with one or more of a lower frequency score or a
lower utility score.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising,
in generating the vocabulary training exercise, if the student
already knows a large amount of vocabulary words with a particular
frequency score or a particular utility score, the vocabulary
training exercise is generated by selecting vocabulary words for
the student that have a lower frequency score or a lower utility
score.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising,
in generating the vocabulary training exercise, if the student
knows very few vocabulary words with a particular frequency score
or a particular utility score, the vocabulary training exercise is
generated by selecting vocabulary words for the student that have a
higher frequency score or a higher utility score.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
analyzing, by the processor-implemented instruction module, results
from vocabulary training exercise in connection with vocabulary
words that the student already knows to make reasoned judgments on
what other vocabulary words the student is likely to know based on
the frequency scores or the utility scores of the other vocabulary
words.
7. A computer-implemented method for vocabulary training, the
method comprising: determining, by the processor-implemented
instruction module, utility scores for vocabulary words in a
language according to how broadly the vocabulary words are used in
the language; categorizing, by the processor-implemented
instruction module, the vocabulary words by grouping and ranking
the vocabulary words into a plurality of groups based on the
determined utility scores; generating, by the processor-implemented
instruction module, a vocabulary training exercise to test a
student's vocabulary knowledge, wherein the vocabulary training
exercise is generated by selecting a plurality of vocabulary words
from the plurality of groups based on the utility scores; and
presenting, by the processor-implemented instruction module, the
vocabulary training exercise to the student.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein determining
the utility scores of the vocabulary words includes determining the
extent in which the vocabulary words are used in different subject
areas, wherein the different subject areas include one or more
textual categories including one or more categories of science,
history, math, current events, politics, fiction, or non-fiction,
or media categories including one or more categories of books,
letters, poems, newspapers, stories, or lyrics.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein determining
the utility scores of the vocabulary words includes assigning
pervasiveness values to the vocabulary words.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the
vocabulary training exercise is generated by selecting the
plurality of vocabulary words from the plurality of groups based on
the pervasiveness values.
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein generating
the vocabulary training exercise includes determining a pool of
vocabulary words based on the student's need with vocabulary words
that have a higher utility score deemed to be vocabulary words that
should be mastered earlier than vocabulary words with a lower
utility score.
12. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising,
in generating the vocabulary training exercise, if the student
already knows a large amount of vocabulary words with a particular
utility score, the vocabulary training exercise is generated by
selecting vocabulary words for the student that have a lower
utility score.
13. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising,
in generating the vocabulary training exercise, if the student
knows very few vocabulary words with a particular utility score,
the vocabulary training exercise is generated by selecting
vocabulary words for the student that have a higher utility
score.
14. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising:
analyzing, by the processor-implemented instruction module, results
from vocabulary training exercise in connection with vocabulary
words that the student already knows to make reasoned judgments on
what other vocabulary words the student is likely to know based on
the utility scores of the other vocabulary words.
15. A system for vocabulary training, the system comprising: a
computing device; and a server, including a memory having
instructions for execution on one or more processors, wherein the
instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause
the server to: determine, by the one or more processors executing
one or more processor-implemented instruction modules, frequency
scores for vocabulary words in a language according to how
frequently the vocabulary words appear in the language; determine,
by the one or more processors executing one or more
processor-implemented instruction modules, utility scores for the
vocabulary words according to how broadly the vocabulary words are
used in the language; categorize, by the one or more processors
executing one or more processor-implemented instruction modules,
the vocabulary words by grouping the vocabulary words into a
plurality of groups based on the determined frequency scores and
ranking the vocabulary words in each group based on the determined
utility scores; generate, by the one or more processors executing
one or more processor-implemented instruction modules, a vocabulary
training exercise to test a student's vocabulary knowledge, wherein
the vocabulary training exercise is generated by selecting a
plurality of vocabulary words from the plurality of groups based on
a combination of the frequency scores and utility scores; and
present, by the one or more processors executing the one or more
processor-implemented instruction modules, the vocabulary training
exercise to the student by displaying the vocabulary training
exercise on the computing device.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions of the server,
when executed by the one or more processors to determine the
utility scores of the vocabulary words further include instructions
to determine the extent in which the vocabulary words are used in
different subject areas, wherein the different subject areas
include one or more textual categories including one or more
categories of science, history, math, current events, politics,
fiction, or non-fiction, or media categories including one or more
categories of books, letters, poems, newspapers, stories, or
lyrics.
17. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions of the server,
when executed by the one or more processors to generate the
vocabulary training exercise further include instructions to
determine a pool of vocabulary words based on the student's need
with vocabulary words that have a higher frequency score or a
higher utility score deemed to be vocabulary words that should be
mastered earlier than vocabulary words with one or more of a lower
frequency score or a lower utility score.
Description
RELATED APPLICATION/PRIORITY CLAIM
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 13/345,558 filed on Jan. 6, 2012 and entitled
"Comprehension Instruction System and Method," which is a
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/019,578 filed
on Jan. 24, 2008 and entitled "Comprehension Instruction System and
Method," which in turn claims the benefit of priority under 35 USC
119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/897,414
filed on Jan. 24, 2007 and entitled "Comprehension Instruction
System and Method." This application is a continuation-in-part of
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/430,325 filed on May 8, 2006
and entitled "Comprehension Instruction System and Method," which
in turn claims the benefit of priority under 35 USC 119(e) to U.S.
Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/679,145 filed on May 9,
2005 and entitled "Comprehension Instruction System and Method,"
and this application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/347,425 filed on Feb. 2, 2006 and entitled
"On-Task Learning System and Method," the entirety of all of which
are incorporated herein by reference.
APPENDIX
[0002] Appendix A is a 37 page document that contains the screen
shots of a mock-up of a software-based training system that
embodies the concepts disclosed in this application. This appendix
forms a portion of this patent application.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The invention relates generally to a computer-implemented
system and method for educational training and in particular to a
computer-implemented system and method for reading comprehension
training. Also, this process is highly impactful for the
instruction and improvement of other areas of reading-related
instruction, including phonics, fluency, high-frequency words and
phrases, and vocabulary (including morphology, multiple meaning
words, homophones and idioms).
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
[0004] Traditionally, reading comprehension is taught using a first
approach, a second approach or a combination of the two approaches.
The first approach is not reading comprehension, per se, but
instruction in basic, related skills that enable comprehension to
take place. For example, to understand a passage it is necessary to
decode the words effortlessly (so that attention isn't diverted
from comprehension), read fluently (that is, recognize the words in
the text quickly, accurately, and to translate them into prosodic
units as opposed to words), and know the meanings of the words. It
is clearly proven that improving word recognition, decoding,
reading fluency, and vocabulary knowledge all have a positive
impact on reading comprehension itself.
[0005] The other approach is what is usually referred to as
comprehension strategies instruction. Comprehension strategies
instruction explicitly provides students with approaches to
thinking during reading that have been found to improve reading
comprehension, at least with low reading comprehension level
readers. Some of the strategies that have been successful include
teaching students to summarize text, to engage their prior
knowledge before reading, to question the text, to translate the
text information into graphic form, to use story maps (to summarize
narrative text), and to monitor understanding. These strategies are
not skills-based instruction (see below), nor are they teaching
activities, but rather they are activities that readers are
supposed to carry out during their reading on an independent basis.
Most programs emphasize the teaching of strategies as the major or
sole focus of direct reading comprehension instruction. These
approaches do not, however address the more basic underlying
problems of a poor reader and thus it is desirable to provide a
reading comprehension system that addresses this limitation of the
typical approaches and it is to this end that the present invention
is directed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] A comprehension instruction system and method are provided
that is a new approach to teaching reading comprehension. The new
approach is based on the idea that poor readers struggle with more
basic aspects of information or language processing than just the
gross aspects of paying attention to the big ideas of a text that
are focused on with the prior approaches. The struggle with more
basic aspects of information and language processing occur because
poor readers may have trouble processing language at a more basic
"molecular" level.
[0007] For example, if a good reader is reading a really hard
biology text that he or she will be tested on, then it makes great
sense to read with deep intention using the kinds of strategies or
study skills stressed above. However, with most text, good readers
do not engage in such substantial effort of consciously using these
reading strategies; rather, good readers read the text and process
the information seemingly without intention, attention, or
effort.
[0008] That is not the case for poor or struggling readers. That
is, their problems can be at the "molecular level" of
comprehension; their difficulty is in grasping the basic concepts
imbedded in the words and seeing the relationships among these
concepts. One suspects these students do not automatically draw
connections among the parts of sentences and texts in the same way
that good readers do. For example, when presented a single sentence
like, "Maya feats of engineering are even more amazing considering
that they did it all without wheeled vehicles or draft animals and
without metal tools," a poor reader might only be able to tell
vaguely that the sentence had something to do with Maya tools or
that the Maya were amazing. But if asked, "What did the Mayan's do
that was so amazing?" or "Why was the Mayan accomplishment so
amazing?" they tend to struggle and be unable to provide a coherent
answer. Of course, as sentences are added to the text base,
building on and extending this information, even the use of simple
pronoun links or references are likely to multiply these initial
confusions and the student is in real trouble.
[0009] Studies of the impact of phonics instruction are informative
here. Teaching students to decode improves reading achievement
including reading comprehension for children in kindergarten,
first, and second grade. However, instruction in phonics beyond
those grade levels apparently does not materially improve reading
comprehension. Similarly, it has been found that phonics
instruction is beneficial to second language students, but that the
effects of such instruction are of lesser benefit to them than for
students whose first language is English. Finally, studies of young
children find that their vocabulary development and listening
skills are not very predictive of their beginning reading skills,
but are more predictive of later reading achievement.
[0010] These findings suggest that reading comprehension,
particularly beyond the second grade level, is highly dependent on
oral language development. This means that one way to help build
reading comprehension is to further develop students' oral language
capacity so that the words they decode will be meaningful (i.e.,
that they can be matched with the reader's knowledge).
[0011] Studies show that children differ dramatically in the amount
of direct experience with language they bring to school (it is
estimated that children raised in welfare will have about one
million words spoken to them by the time they enter school, while
their more advantaged peers will have experienced about 15 million
words). Of course, this suggests that students are likely to be
deficient in vocabulary and that increasing the knowledge of words
and concepts will raise reading achievement. This most certainly is
correct as various studies have shown. However, it also suggests
that students will struggle with other aspects of language as well.
This has less often been the subject of research, and rarely has
been the focus of instructional programs. The point here is that
students have trouble not only with words, but with the
relationships among words, as they would have had as little
experience with this aspect of language as they had with words.
[0012] As described above, past responses to reading problems have
aimed at improving decoding and fluency (so these can pose no
impediment), providing explicit teaching of vocabulary for this
specific text (e.g., feat), or providing guidance in the use of
comprehension strategies (at the end of reading this section, sum
up in your own words what the text said). It should be evident that
these solutions are not likely to work very well here, or if they
did their benefit would be with this specific passage rather than
with general reading ability.
[0013] The reading comprehension system in accordance with the
invention provides students with a substantial amount of intensive
and focused instruction and/or practice at the "molecular level,"
or in interpreting micro-relationships among individual words,
clauses and sentences under precisely controlled and varied
conditions. This type of training will provide the user with an
understanding of the language at a micro-level. In particular,
there are various micro-aspects of language that vary in ways that
make comprehension easier or harder. By precisely controlling and
manipulating these variables (known as language micro-variables),
one can provide direct, explicit instruction to develop
comprehension skills that will result in improved reading
comprehension, as compared to previous approaches to teaching
comprehension in which related skills are taught (e.g., vocabulary
instruction) or where general thinking strategies are taught (e.g.,
summarizing).
[0014] In accordance with the invention, a reading comprehension
training system is provided that has a computing device and a game
logic portion that generates a reading comprehension exercise at a
particular skill level. The system also has a user interface
portion that generates a user interface for the reading
comprehension exercise at a particular skill level wherein the user
interface for the reading comprehension exercise at a particular
skill level is displayed on the computing device. The game logic
portion also has a game administrator portion that adjusts the
skill level of the reading comprehension exercise based on one or
more micro-aspects of language that adjust a difficulty level of
the reading comprehension exercise.
[0015] In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for vocabulary
training may be provided. The method may include determining, by
the processor-implemented instruction module, frequency scores for
vocabulary words in a language according to how frequently the
vocabulary words appear in the language. The method may also
include determining, by the processor-implemented instruction
module, utility scores for the vocabulary words according to how
broadly the vocabulary words are used in the language. The method
may further include categorizing, by the processor-implemented
instruction module, the vocabulary words by grouping the vocabulary
words into a plurality of groups based on the determined frequency
scores and ranking the vocabulary words in each group based on the
determined utility scores. Further, the method may include
generating, by the processor-implemented instruction module, a
vocabulary training exercise to test a student's vocabulary
knowledge, wherein the vocabulary training exercise is generated by
selecting a plurality of vocabulary words from the plurality of
groups based on a combination of the frequency scores and utility
scores. Additionally, the method may include presenting, by the
processor-implemented instruction module, the vocabulary training
exercise to the student. The method may include additional, fewer,
or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere
herein.
[0016] In another aspect, a computer-implemented method for
vocabulary training may be provided. The method may include
determining, by the processor-implemented instruction module,
utility scores for vocabulary words in a language according to how
broadly the vocabulary words are used in the language. The method
may also include categorizing, by the processor-implemented
instruction module, the vocabulary words by grouping and ranking
the vocabulary words into a plurality of groups based on the
determined utility scores. The method may further include
generating, by the processor-implemented instruction module, a
vocabulary training exercise to test a student's vocabulary
knowledge, wherein the vocabulary training exercise is generated by
selecting a plurality of vocabulary words from the plurality of
groups based on the utility scores. Additionally, the method may
include presenting, by the processor-implemented instruction
module, the vocabulary training exercise to the student. The method
may include additional, fewer, or alternate actions, including
those discussed elsewhere herein.
[0017] In another aspect, a system for vocabulary training may be
provided. The system may include a computing device and a server
including a memory having instructions for execution on one or more
processors. The instructions, when executed by the one or more
processors, may cause the server to determine, by the one or more
processors executing one or more processor-implemented instruction
modules, frequency scores for vocabulary words in a language
according to how frequently the vocabulary words appear in the
language. The instructions, when executed by the one or more
processors, may also cause the server to determine, by the one or
more processors executing one or more processor-implemented
instruction modules, utility scores for the vocabulary words
according to how broadly the vocabulary words are used in the
language. The instructions, when executed by the one or more
processors, may further cause the server to categorize, by the one
or more processors executing one or more processor-implemented
instruction modules, the vocabulary words by grouping the
vocabulary words into a plurality of groups based on the determined
frequency scores and ranking the vocabulary words in each group
based on the determined utility scores. Further, the instructions,
when executed by the one or more processors, may cause the server
to generate, by the one or more processors executing one or more
processor-implemented instruction modules, a vocabulary training
exercise to test a student's vocabulary knowledge, wherein the
vocabulary training exercise is generated by selecting a plurality
of vocabulary words from the plurality of groups based on a
combination of the frequency scores and utility scores.
Additionally, the instructions, when executed by the one or more
processors, may cause the server to present, by the one or more
processors executing the one or more processor-implemented
instruction modules, the vocabulary training exercise to the
student by displaying the vocabulary training exercise on the
computing device. The system may include additional, fewer, or
alternate instructions for execution on the one or more processors,
including those discussed elsewhere herein.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary computer-based
reading comprehension training system in accordance with the
invention;
[0019] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating details of the software
implemented reading comprehension training system in accordance
with the invention;
[0020] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating further details of the
software implemented reading comprehension training system in
accordance with the invention;
[0021] FIGS. 4A and 4B are a flowchart illustrating a method for
reading comprehension training in accordance with the
invention;
[0022] FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of the training system in a
networked computer environment;
[0023] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a hierarchy of users of a
networked computer training system; and
[0024] FIG. 7 illustrates a method for question comprehension of
the training system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0025] The invention is particularly applicable to a personal
computer-based, software implemented reading comprehension system
and method and it is in this context that the invention will be
described. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention has
greater utility since the invention may be used with a variety of
different computer systems (that have computing devices) as well as
implemented in hardware or software without departing from the
scope of the invention. For example, the computer may be a
client/server type system, a web-based system, a wireless system, a
PDA-based system, a network-based system, a mobile phone system or
a portable computing device based system. The computer/computing
device may also be a device that displays an educational training
exercise, but the computing for the educational training exercise
is performed elsewhere or two or more devices that each perform
part of the computing for the computing for the educational
training exercise, such as a dumb terminal and a mainframe or
computing in the cloud with a terminal. Similarly, the invention
can be implemented as software (as described below), but the
software also be embedded into a hardware device or implemented
using hardware logic. The system may also be used to train other
language-related skills including reader fluency and
vocabulary.
[0026] The reading comprehension system and method in accordance
with the invention provides the user with training at a language
micro-variable level to provide students with a substantial amount
of intensive and focused instruction and/or practice at the
"molecular level," or in interpreting micro-relationships among
individual words, clauses and sentences under precisely controlled
and varied conditions. The initial level of training can start in
one or more different ways. For example, the system may perform an
initial assessment of the user to determine the proper starting
point for the training. Or, during other instruction, the program
may (i) track the instances where a student has missed
comprehension-type questions about a text or otherwise demonstrated
poor comprehension, (ii) evaluate the structure or micro-variables
contained in the specific language or text that contain the answer
that the student missed and (iii) provide micro-comprehension
training for the student that matches the kinds of structures the
student is struggling with. Or, alternatively, a teacher can place
the user at a particular starting point or the system may start
each user at a default level. Thus, the system may start at a level
of difficulty and then adjust the difficulty of the training as the
user becomes more proficient or less proficient. In more detail,
the various micro-aspects of language may be varied in ways that
make comprehension easier or harder. By precisely controlling and
manipulating the micro-aspects of language, the system provides
direct, explicit instruction to develop comprehension skills that
will result in improved reading comprehension, as compared to
previous approaches for teaching comprehension in which related
skills are taught (e.g., vocabulary instruction) or where general
thinking strategies are taught (e.g., summarizing).
[0027] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary personal
computer-based reading comprehension training system 10 in
accordance with the invention wherein the personal computer is an
example of a computing device. In accordance with the invention,
the system also may be implemented on a variety of other, different
known computer systems/computing devices that are within the scope
of the invention. For example, the system may be implemented as a
client/server system, a peer to peer system, a workstation, a
mainframe system, networked over a computer network, such as a LAN
or WAN, etc. The exemplary system shown in FIG. 1 may include a
display device 12, such as a LCD display, on which the training
will be displayed to the user, and a chassis 14 that houses a
processing unit 18 that controls the system, a memory 20, such as a
static or dynamic random access memory or flash memory, that holds
software and application being currently executed by the processing
unit to implement the training system and a persistent storage
device 24, such as a hard disk drive, flash memory, optical drive,
etc. that stores the software and applications and retains the data
when the power is turned off to the computer system as is well
known. Depending on the particular computer implementation of the
system, the elements shown in FIG. 1 may or may not be present in
each particular implementation. In accordance with the invention,
to implement the training system in accordance with the invention,
the memory 20 may store a training tool 26 that is executed by the
processing unit to implement the reading comprehension system. The
computer system may also include one or more input/output devices
that permit the user of the system to interact with the computer
system. Those input/output devices may include a printer (not
shown), a connection to the Internet or network (not shown), a
keyboard 28, a mouse 30 and one or more speakers 32. The computer
system may also include a sound input device (not shown), such as a
microphone, to provide speech recognition and/or a touchscreen (not
shown).
[0028] In accordance with the invention, the training system
software in the preferred embodiment of the invention may be
provided to the computing device on a piece of media, such as a CD
or memory stick or disk, it may be preloaded on the computing
device, or the software may be downloaded/communicated over a link
to the computing device. In accordance with one aspect of the
invention, a portion of the training software may be communicated
to the computing device and executed by the processing unit and
then additional training modules/portions of the software can be
communicated to the computing device at different times.
[0029] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating details of the software
implemented reading comprehension training system in accordance
with the invention and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating further
details of the software implemented reading comprehension training
system in accordance with the invention. In a preferred embodiment,
the training tool comprises a plurality of lines of computer code
that are executed by the processing unit. The training tool may be
implemented as a single software application or as a series of
interconnected software modules. The training tool may also consist
of one or more training modules/segments/assignments that may or
may not be resident on the computing device when the training tool
is used since the training modules/segments/assignments may be
communicated to the computing device as needed. The training tool
20 further comprises a user interface portion 40 and a game logic
portion 42 that are executed by the processing unit 18 to implement
the reading comprehension training system. The user interface
portion 40 may generate the user interface of the training
presented to the user (See FIG. 3) while the game logic 42 performs
the other functions of the training system. In the example shown in
FIG. 2, the user interface portion 40 and game logic portion 42 are
resident on the personal computer. However, the user interface
portion 40 and game logic portion 42 may also be split between a
computing device and a server computer in the example of the
training system shown in FIG. 5. Alternatively, the user interface
portion 40 and game logic portion 42 may be located on the server
that generates one or more training user interface web pages that
may be communicated to a computing device on which the user
interacts with the training wherein the responses of the user are
communicated back to the server using a known protocol such as
HTTP.
[0030] As shown in FIG. 3, the game logic 42 may further include a
game administrator and scorer module 54, one or more games files 50
and a scores database 52. Thus, the game administrator module may
determine the appropriate training for a particular user, pull that
training game/module from the game files 50 and then instruct the
user interface portion 40 to generate the user interface to be
displayed to the user. The user may then respond to the training
which is captured by the scorer and stored in the scores database
52. The game administrator module also controls the level of
difficulty of the training based on the response of the user to the
current level of difficulty of the training as described in more
detail below. Generally, the different training provided by the
system corresponds to different language micro-variables that, when
learned, improve the reading comprehension of the user.
[0031] FIGS. 4A and 4B are a flowchart illustrating a method 60 for
reading comprehension training in accordance with the invention. In
this method, the user is presented with a challenge to answer in
step 62. The challenge involves a reading comprehension problem
that contains a language micro-variable at a particular level in
accordance with the invention. Examples of these language
micro-variables are provided below. The challenge has a particular
level of difficulty that is adjusted based on the level of
proficiency of the user so that the training is customizable to the
skills of the user. In step 64, the user is prompted to respond to
the challenge. The challenge may involve one or more questions. In
step 66, the user indicates his/her response or series of responses
using one or more input devices. In step 68, the training system
analyzes the response or series of responses and provides feedback
to the user in step 70. In step 71, the system determines if the
user should stay at the same level/training in order to practice.
If so, the method loops back to step 62. If not, then in step 72,
the system may determine if the level of difficulty of the training
should be adjusted (increased, decreased or otherwise changed)
based on the user response(s). If the level should be increased,
the system modifies the micro-complexity in step 74 and presents
the harder/different challenge to the user. Examples of how the
difficulty may be adjusted for several language micro-variables is
set forth below in the text and Table 1. In step 76, if the
difficulty should not be increased, the system determines if the
difficulty should be decreased and can either decrease the level of
play in step 78, maintain the same level of difficulty or move to a
new level of difficulty that is not harder or easier, but is
different. When the training is adjusted in step 72, the system may
change one or more of the micro-variables at any time during the
training provided to the user.
[0032] Now, several examples of the novel language micro-variable
used in the training system to teach reading comprehension are
provided. These language micro-variables include, but are not
limited to, the variables set forth in Table 1, below. Table 1
below also illustrates examples of the difficulty continuum that
may be employed by the training system to adjust the level of the
training The language micro-variables may include, but are not
limited to, verbs, agents, word and relationships. Each of these
examples will now be described in more detail.
[0033] Micro-Variable for Verbs
[0034] A verb plays a central role in comprehension since verbs are
the center of meaning in any sentence. With an understanding of the
verb, it becomes possible to link the agents (or subjects) and the
objects to the verb and to each other. Without a good understanding
of what verbs are communicating in and across sentences, accurate
comprehension is virtually impossible.
[0035] Some existing programs may teach the definitions and
conjugations of verbs, recognizing verbs in context and even
connecting verbs to agents and objects (i.e., subjects and
predicates). In this invention, however, we precisely control the
micro-variables of text. We have identified additional textual
variables that impede comprehension. Some examples with respect to
verbs include: (i) comprehension is harder when the verb occurs
later in the sentence than earlier (In the winter we climbed from
the hollow to Baker's ridge.); (ii) comprehension is harder when
there is more distance between the subject and the verb (Papa spent
the whole day basting the roast goose for mama.); (iii)
comprehension is harder when there are distractors, like adverbs
that make identification of the verb in that sentence ambiguous, or
more difficult (see, "spent" in the previous example); (iv)
comprehension is harder when there are multiple verbs in the same
sentence (Papa cut a fresh tree up on the ridge, and we pulled it
home on a tin sled.); (v) comprehension is harder when there are
multiple verbs in the same sentence and there is a single subject
that is not repeated for the second verb (When we got home, we hung
our wet clothes over the stove to dry and warmed ourselves in
Mama's kitchen.); (vi) comprehension is harder when the verb
describes a cognitive state (Everything felt special.); (vii)
comprehension is harder in cases of questions, or with verbs
describing saying, thinking or believing or in cases of commands
("Read a book," said Mrs. Quimby.).
[0036] Micro-Variable for an Agent
[0037] An agent also plays a central role in comprehension since
verbs always have agents. The agent is the one who takes action or
whose state of being is being described by the verb. Once a student
has understood the verb (see examples above), the student must also
figure out who or what is taking this action. As with the verbs,
micro-aspects of the text can greatly impede comprehension of the
agents as shown by the following examples:
[0038] In the winter we climbed from the hollow to Baker's Ridge.
[0039] Who climbed from the hollow to Baker's Ridge?
[0040] Our sleds were made from leftover tin used for roofs, and we
rode them down through the woods by moonlight. [0041] What was made
from leftover tin? [0042] Who rode the sleds?
[0043] When the black creek was frozen, we shared a few skates and
everyone took a turn. [0044] What was frozen? [0045] Who shared a
few skates? [0046] Who took a turn?
[0047] Mother, can I go to the circus? [0048] Who wants to go to
the circus?
[0049] As with the verbs above, similar types of micro-variables
can be identified and precisely manipulated for many other aspects
of language. In the case of verbs, this type of precise, direct
comprehension instruction applies to direct objects, and verb
modifications of all sorts (e.g., relative clauses, adjectives,
adverbs, negated propositions, superlatives, comparatives,
questions as modifiers, causal verbs as modifiers, etc.).
[0050] Micro-Variables Related to Reference
[0051] The meaning of some words cannot be interpreted
semantically, but make reference to something else for their
interpretation. Repeated discourse referents are a source of
coherence in text since it creates a textual web by making the
reader engage in processes that strengthen the links between the
parts.
[0052] There are three types of words that carry referential
meaning in English: personals, demonstratives, comparatives with
examples set forth below. The reference can be anaphoric or
cataphoric. Anaphora means that the reference is to preceding text
(most examples are anaphoric so these will not be labeled as such,
but examples of cataphora will be). To interpret anaphoric
reference, the reader must either hold the semantic referent in
memory which will allow for an immediate satisfaction or completion
of the reference or must go back to retrieve the referent upon
confronting the personal, demonstrative, or comparative in the
later text. Cataphora presents elements that do not seem to link to
anything, but then get resolved later by the eventual appearance of
the referent.
[0053] Personals: I, me, he, she, they, it, you, we, us, him, her,
them, one, mine, yours, ours, hers, him, my, your, our, its, one's.
Connections are through person: number of people, gender, speaker,
spoken to, spoken about, generalized person. These are links made
with pronouns.
[0054] Three blind mice, three blind mice. See how they run! See
how they run? [0055] Who are they? (They are three blind mice.)
This is a simple pronoun reference.
[0056] The Queen said: `Curtsey while you're thinking what to say.
It saves time.` (The reference is to a thing, but not in a narrow
sense, it is to a process or complex phenomenon). [0057] What saves
time? (Curtsey at the same time that you are thinking). [0058] This
is an extended reference (same as the above example, but it is more
than word matching).
[0059] He who hesitates is lost. [0060] Who is he? (The one who
hesitates.)
[0061] Demonstratives: There, here, this, these, that, those, the
(connections are through location on scale of proximity: near, far,
neutral)
[0062] Doctor Foster went to Gloucester in a shower of rain. He
stepped in a puddle right up to his middle and never went there
again. [0063] Where did Doctor Foster never go back to ?
(Gloucester).
[0064] Comparatives: Another, better, more, less, similar,
similarly, likewise, so, such, identically, differently, otherwise,
equally, etc. (connections through identity or similarity).
[0065] There were two wrens upon a tree. Another came, and there
were three. [0066] What came? (A wren or another wren)
[0067] Anaphora: [0068] we use pronouns to refer to entities in the
focus of attention [0069] with multiple antecedents contextual cues
are needed to disambiguate a pronoun
[0070] Anaphora use is rule driven. [0071] referents in the
discourse focus are more likely to be selected as the pronoun
antecedent than are less discourse relevant referents [0072]
referents that are more recently mention are more likely to be
selected as the pronoun referent [0073] prior topicalization makes
an antecedent more salient
[0074] All aspects of language are subject to this identification
of the micro-aspects of text that impede comprehension, and then to
the rigorous, controlled manipulation of each of these variables to
identify, instruct and provide individualized practice for each
student in mastering those text barriers that are impeding his or
her comprehension.
[0075] Application of Micro-Variables
[0076] As already discussed, there are many micro-aspects to
language that interfere with a student's ability to comprehend what
he or she has read. For example, typically it is harder to identify
an item if its placement is varied (at the beginnings, middles, or
ends of sentences, for instance) or if it is multiple (e.g., two
verbs are harder to identify than is a single verb), and
relationships are harder if the items that need to be linked are at
a greater distance from each other or if there is intervening
information that competes for the link (for example, it is probably
harder to determine who got the watch in a sentence like, "Dave
gave his brother Tom's watch to Bill" than in a sentence like "Dave
gave the watch to Bill.")
[0077] In the present invention, the student would start out with a
simple problem. If he/she succeeds, the training system adds micro
complexity and the student is given the harder problem. If the
student succeeds with the harder problem, then more micro
complexity is added and so on. As mentioned in the table below, one
type of complexity is to mix multiple types of micro-complexity
together. In this manner, the system precisely isolates the aspects
of language that are impeding a student's comprehension. The
program would then target direct instruction on that particular
aspect of language. As the student becomes more proficient at that
aspect of language, the program would further increase the
difficulty of the challenge, either by making that particular skill
level harder (e.g., adding even more distance between verb and
agent), by presenting aspects of language that the student still
has not mastered, or by combining one or more additional language
complexities together. The instruction would continue in that
fashion from one language construction or syntactic structure to
another (or combinations thereof), with lots of varied practice and
review.
[0078] Some language constructions will be easier than others (it
is easier to identify a specific element in a sentence such as a
subject or a verb than to interpret a relationship; or concrete
items are usually easier to interpret than abstract ones). However,
any construct or type of relationship will be harder to interpret
as we change the context. Table 1 indicates some of the varied ways
that difficulty can be manipulated to ensure that a student really
can handle the skill.
[0079] As discussed above, most work on comprehension these days
emphasizes the "strategic" aspects. These are the actions the
reader can take intentionally to try to understand or remember a
text. For example, students might be told to translate a text into
a graphic image to better remember it or to appreciate the
inter-relationships among major concepts. This kind of a strategy
is not to be used automatically, but instead, the reader is to
choose to use this for particular reasons under particular
conditions. In some ways, it could be thought of as an approach to
studying text, rather than a reading skill.
[0080] Skills are different than strategies in that they are to be
carried out with little or no conscious attention. For a good
reader, sentences like, "John cried." Or, "The flag is red, white,
and blue." are not particularly difficult to interpret and probably
entail very little conscious or formal analysis. In other words,
the reader might need strategies to operate on the whole text, but
these simple sentences pose so little difficulty they can be
interpreted in a skilled manner. The purpose of this aspect of the
intervention is to develop reading comprehension as a skilled
activity.
[0081] Although knowledge of grammar is related to reading, these
relationships have not been measured frequently and the
correlations are not particularly high. Likewise, the teaching of
formal grammar by various approaches has not usually had much
impact upon reading comprehension. Methods of instruction that have
been effective in this regard have typically focused on the
meaningful interpretation and construction of language (such as
sentence combining activities), rather than the study of
grammatical forms. These findings are consistent with the
psychological studies of Walter Kintsch and the linguistic analyses
of Michael Halliday and Ruquaiya Hasan: "By contrast to
substitution, which is a grammatical relation, reference is a
semantic relation." The implications of this distinction in their
example means that the relations being described in a language do
not need to be constrained by grammatical conditions such as
matching parts of speech and that what is focused on more than
structural properties of language are semantic or meaning
relations. This means that a sound program of comprehension
instruction will engage students deeply in interpreting the meaning
of text; not in the most global or macular terms alone (what was
the text about?), but in much more specific terms that require the
interpretation of all of the myriad ideas in the text. The training
system aims to intensively "pattern" student interpretation of
language so that they are able to automatically envision the
meanings of words and the relationships among meanings of
words.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Examples of Difficulty Continuum Reading
Level: The difficulty of the text itself - in terms of sentence
complexity or vocabulary challenge can influence how well a skill
can be executed. If a text is at a 3.sup.rd grade level, then a
student will be more likely to be able to execute a particular
skill than he or she could if the text were written at the 5.sup.th
grade level. This can apply to grade levels of K-12 and beyond.
Kindergarten 1.sup.st grade 2.sup.nd grade . . . 12.sup.th grade
and beyond Amount of Text: It is generally easier to carry out a
task with a small amount of text than with a larger amount as this
other information can overwhelm or distract the reader and it
creates more opportunities for error (eg, linking to the wrong
information, getting tripped up by a vocabulary term). Short
sentence Longer sentence Paragraph Larger pieces of text (such as
multiple paragraphs, a page, multiple pages, sections and multiple
sections) Varied Practice: It is harder to execute a skill when it
has to be one of several skills applied than when it is the only
skill that is being exercised. All practice items emphasize a Items
require a choice among two or more particular concept,
relationship, or skill. concepts, relationships, or skills (the
greater the number of choices, the harder it will be to execute).
Varied Context: It is harder to identify an element when it appears
in multiple places within a sentence or when it appears in various
forms. Beginning of sentence Middle of sentence End of sentence
Identical element Similar element Element seems quite different
from the No competing element Competing element, Competing element
that but dissimilar could create ambiguity or confusion Varied
Distance: It is harder to draw a relationship between two elements
when there is a greater distance between them, or when there are
competing elements that seem attractive as potential links.
Contiguous elements Elements separated by a Elements separated by a
small distance great distance No competing elements Competing
elements but Competing elements are no ambiguity (perhaps the
potentially ambiguous items differ from the link in (need to rely
on meaning terms of number or number) alone to make the link)
Recognition-Construction: It is easier to pick the right answer
than to construct one, it is easier to select a correct answer when
there are few choices than when there are many, and the more
similarity among the choices the harder. Recognition
Construction
[0082] FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a training system 110 in
a networked computer environment that includes one or more
computing devices 112 that are capable of connecting to a link 114
so that the one or more computing devices 112 may communicate with
a central training unit 116. Each computing device 112a, 112b, 112n
may be a computer-based system with sufficient connectively to the
link, computing power and memory to store and execute the user
interface portion and game logic (or some portion thereof) or
sufficient connectively to the link, computing power and memory to
execute a browser application that can permit the user to interact
with web pages containing the training communicated to the
computing device (when the user interface portion and game logic
are executed by the central computer). Each computing device may
be, for example, a laptop computer, tablet computer, handheld
computer, pocket PC, PDA, wireless email device, mobile phone and
the like. In a preferred embodiment, the central training unit 116
may be one or more server computers. In a preferred embodiment of
the invention, the computing devices communicate with the central
training unit over a wireless network, but may also communicate
over any other known communications path such as a cellular
network, wired computer network such as a local area network or a
wide area network or a wireless computer network so that the
invention is not limited to any particular type of communications
path. The computing device may have similar components to those
shown in FIG. 1. The central training unit 116 may be coupled to a
storage unit 118 that stores the data and information for the
training system.
[0083] In this networked environment, the user interface portion 40
and game logic 42 may be stored and executed on each computing
device 112 wherein the results are communicated to the main
training unit. In some embodiments, the main training unit may
communicate other training modules to each computing device.
Alternatively, the user interface portion 40 and game logic 42 may
be stored in the data storage unit 118 and may be executed by the
central training unit 116 that generates each
training/problem/challenge and communicates the training exercise,
such as by a web page, to each computing device that displays the
training exercise, such as by using a browser application, so that
the user of each computing device interacts with the training and
the user's responses are communicated back to the central training
unit 116 that then determines how (if at all) to adjust the
training as described above.
[0084] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the system is available on a
variety of delivery platforms, including an application service
provider (ASP) platform and a local area network/wide area network
(LAN/WAN) platforms both of which are described above with
reference in FIG. 5. The training system also, at any time that a
LAN/WAN customer wishes to convert over to the ASP version of the
program, permits the LAN/WAN databases that are on servers all over
the country to be virtually and seamlessly integrated into the
then-current database used in the main ASP version of the program
so that conversion between the platforms is more easily
accomplished.
[0085] In addition, various different people may use the system
including students and other individuals who may wish to evaluate
or impact the instruction of one or more students, as well as
individuals who may wish to view reports based on student, class,
grade, school, region, district, etc. Accordingly, in accordance
with the invention, the "users" of the system may include students,
teachers, education specialists (like reading specialists and
special education teachers), school principals, district
administrators, district superintendents, technical,
administrators, parents, etc.
[0086] In accordance with the invention, the users of the system
may be organized in a hierarchy for the training system. An example
of a hierarchy for a training system installed at a state
educational agency is shown in FIG. 6. The system may have a
hierarchy 120 that has one or more levels of granularity. The
example of the hierarchy for the state educational agency shown in
FIG. 6, the hierarchy may include a state level 122 (at the top of
this exemplary hierarchy), a district level 124, a school level 126
and a class level 128. The hierarchy permits the system to
categorize users of the system based on their level in the
hierarchy and therefore be able to parse and report data
appropriately and accurately. In general, each hierarchy for each
installation of the training system is going to be unique since, in
the example shown in FIG. 6, the number of schools, the names of
the schools, regions, districts, etc. will likely be unique for
each installation. The hierarchy will permit, among other things,
for the system to provide proper roll-up reports at various levels
of the hierarchy and for the particular districts, schools, etc.
that are part of the particular hierarchy. The hierarchy also
permits the training system to properly determine the permissions
of a particular user based on the level of the user in the
hierarchy. For example, the principal of one school should not have
access to the data generated at another school, whereas the
superintendent of the district may wish to have access to data
generated anywhere within his or her district. Unlike typical
systems, the training system may be shipped to a customer with the
hierarchy pre-built and loaded into the system to make the
integration and installation process easier for the customer. The
training system may also be populated with the names of all the
applicable districts, regions, schools and other data applicable to
the customer. Not only does it greatly reduce the burden imposed on
the customer, but it permits the customer and other appropriate
users to create and view reports that accurately roll-up to all the
different possible levels within the public school system, private
school systems (e.g., Catholic and other parochial schools), BIA
schools, etc.; while ensuring that each user has access limited to
their appropriate permissions as determined by their level of
seniority in the hierarchy.
[0087] In addition to the language micro-variable instruction set
forth above, the training system may further comprise questioning
comprehension, mass customized homework, instructional efficiency,
a vocabulary selection method, vocabulary instruction, a method for
vocabulary inferred meaning, built-in instruction and review,
varying the amount of text in the questions, race consciousness
support, English as a second language support, idiom training,
phonics meta-intelligence, fluency test construction, recorded
fluency dialog, a unique scoring method, doze sentence training, a
typing interface, an assessment methodology and high frequency
phrases training, each of which is described in more detail
below.
[0088] In the vocabulary training, the system may also ask the
student to identify words from a list of words that the student
believes that the student already knows and; based on the student's
self-assessment, a pre-test is dynamically generated to evaluate
the depth of the student's existing knowledge only with respect to
the words he/she identified as already being mastered. In the
pre-test, words that the students has indicated he/she does not
already know are not assessed. In the vocabulary training, the
system may also present either a pre-test or initial training
exercises with words from a pool of target words that initially are
assumed to be un-mastered by the student. The vocabulary training
exercise, based on the results of the pre-test or the initial
training exercises, sorts the words from the pool of target words
onto a mastered list or un-mastered list by the student and are
dynamically placed accordingly either onto a mastered or
un-mastered (instructional) word list. The vocabulary training
exercise also presents words from the mastered words list, if any,
at a lower frequency than the words pulled from the un-mastered the
mastered word list is answered incorrectly, presents that same word
will again at the next opportunity (in a different format or type
of question).
[0089] The vocabulary training exercise, if the student incorrectly
answers questions related to that specific word pulled from the
mastered word list more than a specified number of times, removes
the word from the mastered word list and is placed on the
un-mastered (instructional) word list, and as such will
subsequently be presented to the student at the higher frequency
rate as an un-mastered word. The vocabulary training exercise also
presents words from the un-mastered (instructional) words list at a
higher frequency than the words on the mastered words list. The
vocabulary training exercise if questions relating to a word pulled
from the un-mastered (instructional) word list are answered
correctly (in a variety of formats/types of questions) a specified
number of times, then the word is deemed to be mastered and moved
to the mastered word list. In the vocabulary training exercise, the
words moved onto the mastered word list will still be queried, now
at the lower frequency rate associated with the mastered word list,
until such time as the student has placed the specified number of
words from the total word pool in that unit onto the mastered word
list, and the vocabulary training associated with that unit is
deemed mastered & complete.
[0090] FIG. 7 illustrates a method 130 for question comprehension
of the training system. The ability to generate a question while
reading is an important comprehension strategy since a good reader,
while reading, will often summarize for themselves what they have
just read. In part, the good reader accomplishes this by asking
themselves questions about what they have read and the answering
the questions. For good readers, this process of framing questions
and then answering them is often done seamlessly, such that the
formulation of the questions is subsumed by the answer/summary
experience. For a good reader, there is often not much conscious
attention on asking themselves, "How do I know what question to ask
myself?" The answers that good readers generate while reading
provides an ongoing summary of what is going on in the reading,
which is the foundation upon which additional comprehension is
built as reading proceeds. However, before struggling readers can
even reasonably be expected to learn how to summarize during
reading, they must first learn how to frame the questions that they
should ask themselves with respect to specific texts. It is
important for these students to learn how to know what questions
they should be asking themselves, how to identify appropriate and
important questions in relation to the material being read.
[0091] To facilitate this learning of the questioning process, the
training system may include a module, preferably implemented as a
piece of software code, that implements the method for questioning
as a comprehension strategy shown in FIG. 7. Thus, in step 132,
while the student is reading a particular portion of text, the
training system presents a student with a question, such as "What
question is a good question to ask here?," that asks the student to
identify what would be a good question to ask him or herself (in
step 134) in relation to that particular portion of the text (such
as "Who is this passage about?" or "When did this happen?," etc.)
wherein the correct answer to the good question provides a best
summary of the particular portion of the text. The training system
may provide the student with one or more different questions from
which to select the best question. In step 136, the training system
determines if the student has chosen the correct question. If the
student has selected the correct question, then the method goes to
step 142 in which the student is then asked to provide a response
to the correct question selected by the user which causes the
student to summarize the particular portion of text.
[0092] In certain applications of this activity, if the student
does not select the correct question, the training system may
narrow the target text. In particular, the student is directed back
to the particular portion of text and the attention of the student
is focused on a smaller portion of the particular text. The student
is then asked to select the correct question and the training
system determines if the student selects the correct question in
step 140. If the user selects the correct question, then the
training system goes to step 142 as described above. If not the
text is again narrowed (with the key text highlighted this time)
and the student is again asked to identify the correct question. If
the student still cannot identify the correct question, the
training system provides the correct question to the student. In
this process, students are taught not only how to summarize while
reading, but also how to determine, based on the text being read,
what are appropriate questions to ask themselves. The proper
formulation of appropriate questions are a prerequisite to teaching
a struggling reader how to independently begin to summarize
information while reading.
[0093] The automated process in the system described above is
employed in a variety of contexts in the system. In many
circumstances, a student is presented some type of challenge; it
may be in the questioning context described above, or in a variety
of other contexts. In any case, these challenges will relate in
some fashion to a text or a portion of a text. Typically, the
answer to the challenge is contained in a portion of the text or
can be derived from a portion of the text. If a student is
presented with a challenge, the system may return the student to
the text, with a portion of the text highlighted or otherwise
called out. The highlighted (or otherwise called-out) text contains
relevant information (e.g., the answer to the challenge). It serves
as a clue to help direct the student's attention to the relevant
text to review or search. If the student requires more help, (for
example, still responds incorrectly), the system can again return
the student to the text, but this time highlighting an even smaller
portion of the text. This process can continue one, two or any
number of times, progressively calling out smaller and smaller
sections of text, thereby focusing more and more closely on the
exact text that provides the clue or answer. Ultimately, only the
correct answer contained in the text may be highlighted. This text
may also be accompanied by supporting information (textual, audio
or other) explaining why the highlighted text was the appropriate
text for the student to have identified.
[0094] Similarly, this process is also used in the context of
correct answers. For example, where a student is challenged to make
an inference from the text and does so correctly, he/she may be
returned to the text with a portion highlighted, and instructed to
click on the text that provided him or her with the clues necessary
for him/her to have made the correct inference.
[0095] Now, the mass customized homework of the training system is
described in more detail.
[0096] The training system may permit a teacher to automatically
generate mass-customized homework sheets for each student. The
mass-customized homework sheets may be generated for all types of
training/instruction (vocabulary training, phonics training,
comprehension instruction, fluency instruction, high-frequency
words instruction, high-frequency phrases instruction, etc.) that
is provided by the training system so that each training module
(that may preferably be a piece of software code) may include the
function of generating the mass-customized homework sheets. To
illustrate this mass-customized homework sheets of the training
system, an example of the mass-customized homework sheets for
vocabulary training is provided. The training system is aware that
every student (at an installation in an elementary school, for
example) must do vocabulary training, but that each student may be
working on a different set of vocabulary words, based on his or her
own ability, placement and progress. Moreover, even within the same
lists of vocabulary words, the training system tracks which of
these words each student has "mastered" and which words the student
has not yet "mastered." Thus, in many cases, even within the same
lists of words, students will be focusing on different words within
that list. The details of the mass customization process is
described in more detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No.
11/347,425 filed on Feb. 2, 2006 and entitled "On-Task Learning
System and Method" which is incorporated herein by reference.
[0097] Since the training system has information on each student
and his/her level of each type of training, such as vocabulary, the
training system allows the teacher to print out a particular
homework assignment for all students with each student's specific
homework being unique. In this case, for example, the teacher may
print out a sheet for each student with the same assignment to go
home and write a sentence using each of the vocabulary words on the
sheet. However, every student's sheet is unique to that student
based on the variables described above so that the assignment sheet
has a unique set of words for each student. Thus, all students can
have the same homework assignment, yet it may be that no two sheets
are identical as each sheet has been customized for the specific
instruction appropriate for that individual students at that very
point in time. Now, the instructional efficiency of the training
system is described in more detail.
[0098] The training system may provide training and instructions
that increases a student's time-on-task. The training system
increases the time-on-task of the student by finding more time for
instruction and practice (e.g., extending learning into the home),
substituting time (e.g., reducing instructional time in one area
where there is little need and increasing instructional time in
another where the need is greater) or improving the efficiency of
the time already being spent on this topic. The training system
ensures that the student is working on the areas of instruction
that he/she needs (e.g., accurate assessment and placement), and is
getting maximum efficiency/return from the time he spends in the
program (granularity and/or real-time instructional adjustment
during learning). As with the mass-customized homework, the
time-on-task functions of the training system may be used with all
of the training/instructions of the training system. For purposes
of illustration, an example for vocabulary training is
described.
[0099] For vocabulary training, the student is placed in the
vocabulary training based on the results of certain, targeted
instruction. Based on that placement, certain additional
assessments are used to determine whether there are any gaps that
require antecedent remediation prior to the student's placement in
the overall remediation program. However, once the student is
finally placed and program instruction begins, an entire other
layer of methods to maximize time-on-task of the student is
employed. In particular, for each unit of the training, the
student's mastery of the words for that individual unit are
evaluated and, once instruction begins, the student's responses are
tracked on a word-by-word basis. Then, either as a result of the
unit assessment or as a result of the student's responses
demonstrating "mastery" for an individual word, each such
"mastered" word is taken off the "instructional" list (of the
particular words for the particular student) and moved to the
"mastered word" list so that the training system is continuously
adjusting the training provided to ensure that the training is
customized to each student. During the vocabulary training, the
training system draws from the instructional list (of words for the
vocabulary training) to ensure that the student is primarily
spending his efforts on words he does not know.
[0100] To further the time-on-task training, the training system
ensures that the student, once the student has mastered a word,
continue to be accountable for retaining knowledge of that mastered
word. Accordingly, while the training system instruction draws
primarily from the instructional pool, it will simultaneously mix
in words randomly from the mastered word list, but at a
significantly lower rate per word than for the words in the
instructional word pool. In this manner, the program is not only
targeting the student's time and attention on the specific
vocabulary instruction that the student needs the most, such
individualization and customization occurs in real time, matching
immediately to the learning that is going on in that instant. At
the same time, the training system instruction provides subtle
ongoing review and accountability for material that the student has
already mastered, to ensure that this knowledge is retained and
applied. If at any time, one of the randomly-selected mastered
words is mixed into the instructional list and is missed, that word
is retained in the very next cycle as one of the review/mastered
words. If that mastered word is missed a second time in a row, it
is removed from the mastered list and placed back into the
instructional pool, until such time as mastery is demonstrated
again for that word. Now, a method for vocabulary selection of the
training system is described in more detail.
[0101] The training system in accordance with the invention may
include a novel method for selecting the vocabulary words used by
the training system. Typically, instructional programs select
vocabulary words by one or two different methodologies including:
1) creating text or repurpose existing texts for use in the program
and then review the texts for words that someone thinks will be
interesting to the target student and use those words; or 2) the
programs will refer to other materials that reflect the grade
levels that words are typically taught to students by the large
education publishers. The problem with this second approach is that
it is fundamentally the same as the first approach. The large
education publishers have generally employed the same subjective
criterion for what words to teach when. A consensus is then built
as each subsequent publisher relies on the judgments of each other
publisher. The fundamental flaw in these two approaches is that a
student's knowledge of one word does not provide meaningful
information that would allow one to extrapolate whether a student
knows any other given word. For example, if one determines that a
student knows the word "garage," it provides no reasonable basis
for determining whether that student also knows the word "loft." In
fact, from a phonics development perspective, the word "loft" is
easier to decode, yet the word "loft" may very well be less likely
to have made it into a student's vocabulary than the word "garage."
On the other hand, if a student does know the word "loft," on what
basis can one assume that this student knows the word "garage"?
[0102] In the training system, a different approach for selecting
the vocabulary words is used. In particular, in developing this
system, studies of word frequencies in the English language were
reviewed and evaluated. Specific words were identified and grouped
according to language acquisition and instructional patterns.
Through this process, word-frequency bands were developed for each
grade level and for ranges within each grade level. During this
process, the frequency variations among these word bands were found
to be statistically significant. In the end, word frequency bands
were developed for each grade level and for ranges within each
grade level. English language words were then grouped into these
bands according to the frequency with which they occur in the
English language.
[0103] For example, words that typically occur in the language of
second graders typically have a word frequency value (SFI) of
between 57.99 and 54; third grade SFI is from 53.99 to 50.0; fourth
grade SFI is from 49.99 to 48; and fifth grade SFI is from 47.99 to
46. Note, that the second grade band was truncated at the top end
of the SFI to prevent words that were "too frequent" (that is, too
easy) from being included in the instructional pool. (Note, the
pool was further scrubbed to separate out things like proper nouns,
peoples' names, etc.).
[0104] Next, these words were screened for utility. It is important
to know not only what words might be appropriate at a certain grade
level (based on frequency), but--especially for struggling
students--it is desirable to know what words are useful. Given two
words of the same frequency rate, it was deemed that the word that
could be used in more settings, in many different contexts, was
more useful that the word that was equally frequent, but could be
used in fewer contexts.
[0105] In previous studies, words have been evaluated for how
limited or broad is their use in language. That is to say, some
words are narrow in their use (e.g., "election" might be useful
primarily in discussions about governance) while other words may be
broad in their use (e.g., "balance" might occur across diverse
areas of interest--science, history, math, current events). This
measure of "pervasiveness" ranges in value from 0 to 1.0, with the
higher numbers being more broadly applicable, or more
pervasive.
[0106] This research was then applied to the words previously
organized into the grade-leveled frequency word bands described
above. Only words with a "pervasiveness" value of 0.6 or greater
were retained.
[0107] As a result, an instructional word pool containing thousands
of words was developed that selected words for usefulness, and
organized them according to frequency bands tied to appropriate
grade-levels for instruction. These words were then incorporated
into the texts as they were being created (rather than identified
in texts post-hoc after they already existed).
[0108] As a result of this novel process for selecting the
vocabulary words, the training system can make reasoned judgments
and extrapolations about and from words. In other words, if a
student already knows the word "garage" and several other words
that occur in language at the same frequency as the word "garage,"
we can now gauge how much language exposure this student has had;
and it stands to reason that other words that are comparably
pervasive and equally frequent in language are likely also known by
that student. It would then be appropriate to move the student up
to the next set of words that occur slightly less frequently in the
English language and evaluate (and if appropriate instruct) that
student on these slightly less frequent words. Thus, the system can
select vocabulary words used by the training system based on
word-frequency bands for grade levels and ranges within grades. The
method for selecting the words may include word pervasiveness. The
educational training system also can use frequency and
pervasiveness data in connection with words that a student
currently knows (or does not know) to make reasoned predictions
based on this data as to the amount of language exposure that
student has had and what other words that student likely does (or
does not) already know.
[0109] A similar approach has been implemented for Morphology
instruction, another aspect of Vocabulary instruction in the
system. While certain programs provide morphology instruction, no
discernible methodology can be identified for the process by which
the morphemes were selected. It appears that the process is
typically similar to the way many programs identify words for
Vocabulary instruction. In contrast, this system reflects
additional research about the English language; namely, 29 prefixes
make up 97% of the all the prefixes used in English (based on
numbers of words that have prefixes, and number that have these
particular prefixes as drawn out of a corpus of more than 5 million
words). Moreover, 20 suffixes account for 93% of all words that
have suffixes in English. Accordingly, this frequency data has been
used to develop the compilation of appropriate morphological units
about which to provide instruction.
[0110] One particular process for Morphology instruction in the
program presents a student with a word. The student is directed to
consider the word and identify any one or more recognizable
morphemes, and then divide the word into its morphological
components. The student is then tasked with identifying the meaning
of the one or more morphological components of the word. (If
certain of the morphological units is not a subject of the
instruction, the meaning of those units may be provided to the
student.). Based on the meanings of the component morphemes that
the student has identified, the student is then challenged to make
a reasoned judgment on what the word itself likely means.
[0111] In the case of vocabulary training, struggling readers often
develop a variety of compensatory strategies. In the context of
Vocabulary programs, one strategy is for the student to match
definitions to their corresponding target (or vocabulary) word by
matching key words of the definition to the target word, rather
than actually understanding/knowing the meaning of the word. For
example, the word "ecstatic" might have the definition of "very,
very happy." Rather than learning what the meaning of "ecstatic"
is, a student might simply remember that the word "ecstatic" goes
with the definition that has "very very" in it. To prevent this
compensation strategy and encourage the student to focus on the
meaning of the word, the training system may have multiple versions
of each definition of a vocabulary word wherein a single definition
is stated in multiple ways using different words in the definition.
For example, the word "ecstatic" might have the definition of
"very, very happy" and "state of rapture" which are two different
expressions of the same definitions (compare two different
definitions for the word "bank"--place to keep money vs. edge of a
river). (Note, the program, under other conditions--e.g., the
teaching of words with multiple meanings--may also provide multiple
definitions of a word, like "bank." The student might be presented
with one version of the definition at certain times when learning
the new word, and may be presented with other expressions of the
same definition at other times. Moreover, yet another expression of
the definition might be used on final assessments. In this way, the
student will not be able to get the correct answers simply by
matching key words in the definition to the target word, but rather
will have to associate the meaning of the definition to the target
word.
[0112] The training system may also provide the student with a
methodical, step-by-step process for tackling unfamiliar words. A
number of existing programs tell students that inferring meaning is
important--look at other, known words that might help you guess the
meaning of the unknown word--but do not provide a systematic
approach to handling the unknown words. The training system (at
skill-appropriate levels), teaches students that they should (i)
consider what the passage is about, (ii) look for other, known
words that might provide a clue about the unknown word, (iii) look
at the word itself for (morphological) clues and (iv) consider the
subjective or connotative aspects of the passage. It is important
that the student come to understand that this step-by-step strategy
needs to be applied flexibly, and that all four of these steps
won't always help. Accordingly, the training system is designed
such that, on occasion, the strategy the student is invited to
employ will be only partially effective, and sometimes may not work
at all. Sometimes strategies, even in properly employed, are
ineffective. The training system may provide the student with
training of this methodology as well as how to use the methodology
since it may not work each time and the student needs to be aware
that the methodology does not always work.
[0113] The training system may also have a unique training
structure that includes instruction with built-in, in-unit reviews,
as well as reviews that automatically integrate content from across
multiple units. For example, the training system may include
training for one or more grade levels (2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade
level for example) with each grade level containing the same number
of themes (such as six themes) wherein each of the themes in each
grade has its own grade-appropriate sub-theme. For example, if the
theme is "Nature," the 2nd grade subtheme might be "Rainforests"
while the 3rd grade subtheme might be "Endangered Animals" and the
4th grade subtheme might be "Natural Disasters," such as tornadoes.
Each subtheme for each grade level has a video relating to that
sub-theme and four training units. Each training unit contains a
passage that ties to the sub-theme associated with the particular
unit. In the preferred embodiment, the first three passages of the
subtheme (the 1.sup.st three units) are all instructional and
present new, instructional information to the student. Each unit
also contains built-in review to reaffirm and re-enforce the
mastery achieved within those units. In addition to the in-unit
review and re-enforcement that the training contains, the fourth
unit of each subtheme is dedicated to providing review and
re-enforcement of the content the student has mastered in the
previous three units. This training structure ensures that students
demonstrate mastery of mastered content, and that this demonstrated
mastery occur on multiple occasions, and over time so that the
mastery of the content does not fade. In order to avoid repeating
known items for a student, the training may also contain "early
advancement review triggers," so that within units and across
units, a student who has demonstrated exceptionally high or robust
levels of mastery will be asked to spend less time on review and
re-enforcement, and in fact, under certain conditions, can skip the
review units altogether.
[0114] Each unit in the training structure above may have multiple
levels of difficulty and a user/student has to show mastery at the
hardest level to complete each unit. Each level may include
iterations of training that must be completed. As described above
with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, the user/student can do well on
a level and move up a level, do poorly on a level and move down a
level or do average on a level and repeat the level so that the
training adjusts to the user's skills. To encourage the completion
of a level and/or a unit, the training system awards
bonus/completion points to complete a level and its iterations,
bonus/completion points when the level is increased and unit
completion points when a unit is completed. The user/student is
made aware of these bonus/completion points in order to provide the
user/student with additional motivation to complete the levels and
units wherein the points can be converted into gems as described
below in more detail.
[0115] The training system may also vary the amount of text in each
question since one of the ways students improve reading skills is
to have more practice reading. Aside from the texts the students
are asked to read, by controlling and varying (gradually
increasing) the amount of text in each of the questions, the
student is subtly being given more reading practice, and the
reading of the questions themselves becomes part of the adaptive
reading instruction. Moreover, some students may experience lower
levels of motivation while reading text passages. It is not evident
that any particular segment of text will be relevant to their
ability to score well on the questions related to that text. In
contrast, students may experience higher levels of motivation to
read and understand the text in the questions themselves, as it is
clear that understanding this text will be critical to the
student's ability to successfully answer that question.
Accordingly, the training system makes use of the potentially
higher student motivation and uses the questions themselves to
subtly provide students additional reading practice.
[0116] The training system may also provide positive racial images
to the students training with the system since there have been
studies that indicate that, for members of certain racial groups in
the United States, such individuals will tend to perform better or
worse in testing environments based on subtle messages suggesting
negative assumptions or stereotypes, or even settings that simply
remind the student of race (given the many issues that race
implicates in America and many other countries). For example, a
form that simply asks a student to indicate the racial group of
which he/she is a member can lead to poorer performance by African
American students. Accordingly, the training system may employ
certain techniques to turn this research to the benefit of the
student, namely to present positive racial images and to remind the
student of his or her sense of pride, competence, history, heritage
and confidence that can be drawn from his ethnic and racial
heritage. For example, before each training unit, a student can
select a short snippet reminding that student of recent and
historical achievements of people that are ethnically or racially
similar to the student.
[0117] The training system may also permit the teacher to indicate
whether a student is an English Language Learner (ELL), and--if
so--what language is the student's home language. Based on these
(and in some cases, some additional variables), the training system
may automatically adapt all of the starting levels of each of the
activities to provide additional supports, alternative flows, and
modified instructional templates, all designed specifically to
support the needs of an ELL student. The training system may also
adapt the training based on knowledge that people with a
non-English home language (such as Spanish) might have difficulty
with particular sounds in the English language (e.g.,
differentiating /d/ from /th/). Thus, the system may have an
English Language Learner ("ELL") module which makes predictive
adjustments, and automatically adapts the starting levels of the
activities to provide supports, alternative flows and modified
instructional templates to support the unique needs of the ELL
student; for example, the program may automatically insert into the
student's phonics instruction modules contrasting English sounds
that often are confused by native speakers of that child's native
language. If the child is a native Spanish speaker, the program
might, for example, provide additional phonics instruction
contrasting /d/ and /th/, whereas if the student is a native
Japanese speaker, the program might instead automatically provide
instructional modules contrasting /r/ and /l/.
[0118] Another instructional progression that is particularly
helpful for certain ELL students is as follows: (i) showing a word,
with a picture of that word right underneath it, and an audio
pronunciation of the word available upon clicking on the image;
(ii) scrambling the word and the image/audio so that they are no
longer aligned, and the student must match them (matching text and
image/audio); (iii) the same as "(ii)" above, except that no audio
is available--scrambled images and words only (matching text and
image); and (iv) replacing the image with a written definition, so
that the student is required to match the word to the appropriate
definition (matching text-to-text). Also, a step or steps may be
added where the image and the textual definition are matched and/or
scrambled.
[0119] If a student is identified in the system as an ELL student,
the system may automatically customize the flow/order of the
instructional training, the content offered to the student (as
described above), and the supports available to the student (for
example, audio supports may be available to the student in both
English and in his or her home language), etc.
[0120] The training system may provide idiom instruction to the
student. The idiom instruction may include an "idiom history"
support, that provides an historical or logical explanation to help
the student remember the meaning that the particular idiom is
intended to communicate. For example, the idioms "bought the farm"
means that someone died. Its origin comes from the fact that,
during WWI, when a soldier died the government would provide the
soldier's family with enough money to buy a farm. These historical
origins of idioms, as well as other mnemonic devices for
remembering their meaning, will be integrated into the idiom
instruction.
[0121] The training system may also provide phonics
meta-intelligence. In particular, the errors that a student makes
in reading and/or spelling provides an indication of the phonics
rules that the student has not mastered. However, other patterns in
these phonics errors can be identified to provide deeper insights
into patterns among these patterns. Accordingly, certain
combinations of error patterns can be analyzed and evaluated, and
used to conclude that the student may be struggling not because of
a failure of a particular phonics rule; but rather, because that
student is likely familiar with the sounds of another language or
language pattern. Accordingly, these meta-pattern analyses can be
used to adjust the learning path, and the instructional targets and
foils to tailor the training/instruction to a particular student
who is demonstrating confusions typical of students who, for
example, are more familiar with the sounds of the Spanish language
than with the sounds of English. Accordingly, a specific sorting
activity may now be presented to this student that he/she would not
have previously seen. However, more importantly, the training
system knows that certain target/foil combinations are more
critically important for these students, so (in the case of a
Spanish language sound pattern) the student will be contrasting /d/
and /th/ sounds, or letters "e" and "a"--as these are sounds and
letters often confused by such students. Similarly, these
intelligence can be used to identify and intervene in a similarly
customized fashion for students who may come from a home where
African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is spoken; similarly,
certain letters and sounds are typically confused, switched or
substituted in such cases.
[0122] Accordingly, not only is the instruction
modified/individualized to target more heavily the areas of
instruction that the child is struggling with, but the program can
further modify the instruction for the student to provide
instruction in areas where the student has not yet shown deficits
but that tend to be highly correlated with the types of errors that
student has already made.
[0123] The training system also permits the student to construct
his own fluency texts. One of the ways to get a student engaged in
a text is for that student to have a sense of investment in the
text. One way that the training system has developed to help create
student investment is to permit the student to essentially "create"
the text himself. Although it is desirable for a student to create
a text, it is often a challenge for a struggling student to write a
text at all, much less come to feel connected to that text.
Moreover, under certain circumstances, it is desirable to control
the themes of a text or words used in a text to ensure that the
works remain appropriate for the educational setting and age group.
In addition, it is also difficult to have a student create a text
because to do so often requires the student to type a text which
imposes additional hurdles and distractions. To assist the student
in creating text, the training system presents the student with
pre-existing texts, songs, poems and the like. These texts can be
pre-assembled, partially assembled, or completely disassembled in,
for example, a bank of stanzas, sentences or other chunks of text.
Each of these items has corresponding fluent-reading audio
associated with it. This program enables the student to re-arrange
phrases, clauses, sentences, stanzas, etc. to create his own
unique, custom, individualized text of his own creation. And, after
having re-arranged/"re-written" a passage, the audio files
associated with each portion of text are maintained so that, once
the passage has been created, the student can actually hear a
reading of the new text he has created. This fluent reading audio
then provides a model for the student, as he practices reading
fluently his own creation.
[0124] The training system may also train the student with recorded
fluency dialog wherein some of the texts that are part of the
training system may be in the form of dialogs, interviews, skits,
etc. with two or more readers. The training system provides the
student with a model reading of the dialog and, when the student is
ready, the student reads the roles of one of the speakers while the
training system provides the readings of the other characters. The
training system may use a microphone that is part of the computer
system so that the user can record himself in one of the roles and,
after he has recorded himself, he can listen to his reading with
the computer-delivered dialog integrated into the recorded dialog.
The student thereby can listen to his own recording in the context
of the multi-person dialog and compare pacing, flow, etc. In the
meantime, another student may be doing the same thing, but playing
the other role in the dialog. The training permits each student to
practice and rehearse the dialog in private and then, when both of
the students are sufficiently comfortable and prepared, they can
perform the dialog with each other, in front of the teacher or
other classmates to give the students some training in public
speaking For example, one student who recorded himself reading
"Role A" with the computer reading "Role B," and a second student
who recorded himself reading "Role B" and the computer reading
"Role A" and the system can then match the two student recordings
to listen to their combined dialogue as if they had read the
dialogue together and simultaneously.
[0125] In determining a student's target Fluency rate, it desirable
to know at what point in the school year the student is then in. A
student's target fluency rate typically is lowest in the fall,
rising through the winter, and is highest at the end of the school
year, in the spring. However, typically the target rate for the
student is lower at the beginning of the next school year than it
was at the end of the previous school year, as most students
decrease in fluency rate over the summer break. In the case of a
struggling student, who may be in the fourth grade, for example,
who reads at 65 Words Per Minute (WPM), it is difficult to know
whether the student is reading at a typical middle-second-grade
level or a typical early-third-grade level since the target rate
for both is 65 WPM. However, if one knows the time of year that the
student achieved that rate, then the determination is facilitated.
The training system identifies the time of year that the student
achieved that rate, automatically matches the rate and
calculations, and can provide a grade-level equivalency score. The
determination is even more greatly complicated, however, if the
student does not happen to score a rate that is identical to one of
the target rates, but is somewhere on the sliding scale between
those rates. A sliding scale matching every possible score at every
time of year has been constructed, so that the training system can
automatically make the appropriate rate/time of year calculations
for each reading.
[0126] The training system may provide highlighted pacing for
fluency practice. The highlighting moves along the text, providing
pacing for the student. The student practices his or her reading,
gradually working his or her fluency rate up to match the rate of
the pacer. Of note, however, is that--for each student target rate
(which varies according to target skill level)--the pacer is
available at three different rates that the student can select, so
the student can adjust the rate as he or she is working up toward,
and past, the target rate at his or her next-applicable goal.
[0127] The training system may include a scoring method that
ensures that the student's time and effort is being used
efficiently and appropriately and includes certain early-evaluation
points. Most training has identified certain performance criteria
as instructional levels, mastery levels and frustration levels.
However, there is a risk that a student will be working at a level
that is much too easy or way too hard for him, yet the training
will not be able to determine this fact until a round has been
completed and a score calculated. To avoid this problem, the
training system has built in "early bail-out triggers," "early
regression" triggers and "early acceleration" triggers. So, for
example, if very early in an instructional cycle, a student is
scoring very, very poorly and hits the "early bail-out trigger,"
the instructional activities will be stopped, the student will be
returned to the instructional/teaching area where he will again be
presented with the teaching portion of the unit, and then the
student will again begin the instructional activities. When the
student reaches again the "early bail-out trigger" spot in the
cycle and his performance has not materially improved, the
instructional activities will again be stopped and the student will
be relocated to an easier/more supported level of activity. Then,
later in the instructional flow (assuming the student has made it
past the early bail-out point), the training system may again do an
early check at the "early regression trigger." If the student's
performance has in fact improved enough to pass the early bail-out
trigger, but not enough to make it past the early regression
trigger and continue through the whole cycle, then the student will
be relocated to an easier/more supported level of activity. Also,
at this point, the training system will check for early exceptional
performance, so will also serve as the early acceleration trigger.
If, for example, the student has scored 99% correct up to that
point, the student will be accelerated to the next level
immediately, rather than have the student complete the entire cycle
at a level that is much too easy for him. Thus, the training system
continuously adjusts the training provided to each student based on
each student's scores during the training. In addition, the
training system may evaluate the student's progress based on
accuracy/correctness of answers, but also on consistency so that a
student must not only demonstrate mastery (that is, a "passing"
score), but he must demonstrate it on multiple occasions during
different sessions indicating that the student has learned the
concept and not just maintained it in short term memory.
[0128] When the system selects a particular educational training
exercise as described above, the system may use an adaptive unit
that adaptively selects the particular educational training
exercise meaning that the system adapts to the skills or areas of
needed training. When the adaptive unit selects a particular
educational training exercise, it selects the particular
educational training exercise based on one or more of the subject
matter, skill level, presentation format and presentation context
of the particular educational training exercise based on a
characteristic of a student.
[0129] The training system also may assign variable points for a
correct answer, with more important questions (that is, questions
that are more directly related to the skill or strategy being
taught) receiving more points, and less important questions
receiving fewer points. This weighting system permits the training
program to provide more and more diverse approaches to instruction
for the student, without having the student's performance/mastery
scores being too heavily influenced away from the most telling
areas of student response.
[0130] Moreover, the points system may also be weighted to permit
the student to receive more points on the first attempt, and fewer
and then fewer points for subsequent attempts. Additional bonus
points may be allocated to a student for correct answers on a first
attempt at a first round or level of play.
[0131] Under certain conditions, points for a certain response
level can be earned only once. For example, if a student earned 0.5
points for a correct response that was his third attempt, he may
see that question again in a subsequent round. However, having
already earned 0.5 points for a third-attempt correct answer, if he
answered the question correctly in a subsequent round on the third
attempt, no further points would be awarded. However, if he
answered the challenge correctly on his first attempt in a
subsequent round, for that response he would still earn the full
(for example) 2.0 points that one receives for a correct answer to
that question on a first attempt.
[0132] The training system may also include doze sentences (a
sentence is presented to the student wherein the sentence has a
blank space in it and the student is supposed to identify the word
that is the best choice to fill in the blank) training. In the
training system, all of the words that are presented as possibly
being inserted into the blank will make sense in that sentence so
that it is impossible to determine which is the best word to use in
that sentence only from reading and understanding that sentence.
Rather, the student must read and understand the entire paragraph
in order to determine which word is the correct choice, as only one
word will be appropriate given the content contained or implied in
the paragraph as a whole.
[0133] The training system may also provide a typing interface for
training that requires typing (which may be turned off by the
teacher.). Many students will not be proficient with a keyboard so
that the training system provides an option for an onscreen
keyboard where the virtual keys are shown in alphabetical (rather
than QWERTY) order, making the letters easier for students to
locate quickly.
[0134] At each unit of instruction there are multiple levels of
training offering different levels of instructional support. A
student typically starts at level 1 unless a different setting has
been established for the student. Level 1 provides a moderate level
of support, typically including audio supports, embedded links,
definitions and other supports. If the student's performance is
below the appropriate instructional level, the student will be
bumped down to a lower level (e.g., Level-1), where more supports
are offered, making the initial learning process of the same
material easier. For example, at Level-1, the program's responses
to the student's answers are typically "Snap-Back" responses.
Snap-Back response means that the student receives immediate
feedback after each individual response, and in fact--in the case
of dragging an answer to an incorrect location--the incorrectly
dragged response will immediately "snap-back" to its original
position. While the response will register to the system as an
incorrect answer, the dragged item will not be accepted in that
space, and the student will immediately be invited to try another
choice. In contrast, at a higher level (Level 1), responses become
"Batch" responses. In other words, the level of challenge is
increased because the student puts forth all of his responses to
the applicable challenge(s), and when he is ready he "submits" his
choices. Only then does the program evaluate and respond to the
student's choices--again providing immediate feedback but to the
batch of answers (and perhaps still offering the student another
chance to respond to the missed items). Higher levels of training
include additional increased challenges, offering little support
and adding time challenges, thereby requiring the student to
demonstrate independent mastery, often under timed conditions.
[0135] Other variables that are controlled in order to manage
difficulty at various levels include (i) the number of questions
presented at a time (ranging from only one question to many), (ii)
the amount of time the student has to respond, (iii) the number of
tries the student is permitted to have to correctly answer a
question, and (iv) embedded textual supports (such as links to
definitions, sample uses, translations, etc.).
[0136] The training system may provide many levels of assessment
wherein these assessments are used to place a student, identify
particular areas of weakness, establish remediation and
instructional paths, provide ongoing progress monitoring, etc.
While assessment is important, it also is important not to perform
excessive assessment on students, particularly students who are
reluctant, struggling and failing readers since they already have
challenges with motivation, self-esteem, self-image, etc. and
assessment identifies the relevant points of failure of the
student. In order to provide appropriate assessment without
demoralizing a student, the training system at certain levels of
assessment asks the student which words (in the example of
vocabulary training) that the student wishes to be tested on
wherein the student is shown the words and is invited to indicate
which words he thinks he already knows. Then, if none are marked by
the student, no assessment will be delivered. If he indicates that
he already knows two of the words, then only the student's
knowledge of those two words will be tested. This method means that
the student is determining what level of assessment is appropriate
for him and, the assessment, if any, that is then delivered is
being delivered at his suggestion; and he has a reasonable chance
of having an assessment that in fact he can perform well on. This
method not only empowers the student and increases motivation, but
it also prompts the student to ask himself "What do I know
already?" Many reluctant readers know more than they think they do,
but often fail to access this knowledge. This process of asking
themselves what information they already know is itself beneficial
training. Finally, this process enables the system to quickly
determine the extent to which the student's sense of what he knows
actually matches his demonstrated knowledge (in either
direction).
[0137] Through an initial reading comprehension assessment and
placement function, the system may place a student at an
appropriate starting level in the program. Additional assessments
are used to determine whether the student has any gaps in core
knowledge at levels earlier than the reading level at which he has
just been placed. While a student's reading comprehension may be at
a certain level, that student's mastery of particular
reading-related skills may be at a lower level, or have meaningful
gaps in them. For example, a student may be placed at the third
grade reading level, but the program may determine that there are
still some key second-grade phonics skills where the student is
deficient. The system's assessments are specifically linked to the
system's instructional scope and sequence, such that if any
particular gaps are identified through these assessments, the
program will automatically generate a remediation program for that
student, comprised of a remedial path linking only those aspects of
earlier instructional units that the assessment indicates are
student deficiencies. Once this path is complete, then the student
will move forward with instructional units starting at the reading
comprehension level at which he was placed.
[0138] The training system may also provide high frequency phase
training. Research has shown that the first 50-100 high frequency
words may account for as much as one-third of all the words an
elementary student may read in print, and some say that roughly 50%
of all such text is comprised of the first roughly 100-200 most
frequent words. Accordingly, it is important for students to become
familiar with and readily recognize the most frequent words in the
English language. (Some existing programs teach 100-200 of the most
frequent words while the training system provides training for the
500 most frequent words in the English language.) Some existing
systems allege that they train students in the area of high
frequency phrases, but these phrases are really only phrases that
have been constructed out of the lists of high-frequency words
described above. The odds that many--if any--of these phrases
actually occur frequently in the English language is remote at
best.
[0139] The training system, however, has applied select research
from a relatively new area of study known as Phraseology in which
n-gram phrases (an n-gram is a phrase comprised of "n" words) that
occur most frequently in the English language have been identified.
The training system has taken n-grams ranging from three to six
words in length, ranked them in order of frequency and filtered
them for grade-level appropriateness. Accordingly, all of the
high-frequency phrases in this program are in fact phrases that
occur frequently in natural, English language, that students are
likely to encounter, and are presented according to their frequency
values and complexity (in terms of length and word choice). Thus,
the training system provides the student with actual high frequency
phrase training with phrases that actually are high-frequency
phrases (not phrases artificially constructed for the program from
high-frequency words).
[0140] The training system and method described above may also
provide the user/student with incentives for being engaged in the
training so that, even if the student/user does not answer
questions correctly, the student/user stills receives positive
feedback from the training system. The positive feedback may
include awards and accolades. In one embodiment, the training
system may include tiered points system in which the user/student
may receive a number of points (for example 10 points) for being
engaged, but not providing the correct answer, a higher number of
points (for example 20 points) for providing the correct answer but
not on the first attempt and a higher number of points (for example
30 points) for providing the correct answer on the first attempt.
In this manner, the training system provides some positive feedback
for a user/student even when the user/student may be unable to
correctly answer questions. The training system may further include
a rate of point inflation/deflation that can be adjusted as items
that can be purchased change or evolve. For example, the training
system can increase/decrease the point value evenly across the
points system (how many points a user receives for each activity),
the system can increase/decrease the number of points it takes to
convert into a gem (gem purchase inflation/deflation) and/or the
system can change the number of points for an individual
activity/group of activities/exercises compared to the other
exercises having the same rate of change (so that some activities
become more/less valuable relative to the other activities.
[0141] In addition to the points system described above, the
training system may provide the points for positive feedback, but
then also permit the user to convert a predetermined number of
points into gems wherein the gems are more difficult to obtain than
the points. In one embodiment, each user/student may have strict
gem conversion rules so that it is more difficult for each
user/student to acquire the gems that can be used to purchase items
for an avatar as described below in more detail. Thus, the items
that can be purchased with the gems are motivational for the
user/student since the gems are harder to acquire. In addition to
the avatar items described below, the gems can also be used to
purchase real world items (such as music or books or clothes) or
coupons (such as a coupon to Barnes & Noble or an electronic
coupon) wherein the real world items cost a larger number of gems
than the avatar items and therefore are more sought after and
valuable since they are real world items and have external market
value. The training system may also permit users of the system to
trade purchased "virtual items" with other users using the training
system (to create a virtual market) so that there is a community of
users of the training system that can interact with each other.
[0142] The training system and method may also include a graphical
user interface in which each user/student can create/choose an
avatar that represents the user/student in an virtual environment
created by the graphical user interface. The avatar may have
various different attributes that a user/student can select for
his/her avatar, such as the clothes of the avatar, the gender of
the avatar, the race of the avatar, the body type of the avatar, a
decoration/furnishing for the house/room of the avatar in the
virtual environment, a vehicle of the avatar in the virtual
environment (such as a bicycle, automobile, motorcycle, etc.), a
pet of the avatar in the virtual environment, etc. so that the
user/student can customize the appearance of the avatar. Much like
a video game in which the user has a character that they control
within the game, the training system allows the user to control the
actions of the avatar within the virtual environment. The virtual
environment is shown in Appendix A which is incorporated herein by
reference. In particular, Figures A-1 shows the splash screen of
the product. Figure A-2 shows a screen in which the user of the
training system begins to customize his/her avatar by selecting the
gender of the avatar. Figure A-3 illustrates a screen in which the
user can customize the features of the avatar (in this example a
male avatar. Figure A-4 illustrates the screen displayed to the
user after the avatar has been customized in which the avatar
directs the user to do an assessment of the skills of the user.
Figure A-5 illustrates an example of the assessment exercise
presented to the user. Figure A-6 illustrates a screen presented to
the user once the training system has determined the appropriate
training for the user based on the assessment. Figures A-7 to A-12
show different themes (Going West for example) and the subtheme
(the smaller circles) and the units (boxes at the bottom) that are
provided to the user by the training system. The line in these
figures illustrates the progress of the user in the particular
theme/sub-theme and the boxes illustrate the progress of the user
in the units (with yet to be completed units shown as locks).
Figure A-13 illustrates a screen presented to the user for a
training exercise. In the example shown in Figure A-13, the system
is set up to permit the user to select the training/assessment to
perform. Alternatively, the screen may also show the "phonics"
button for a particular user who is being directed to the phonics
training Figure A-14 shows the phonics training being selected by
the user and Figure A-15 illustrates an example of an initial
screen for a particular phonics training which is long and short
vowels. Figure A-16 illustrates an example of an instructional
screen for the long and short vowels training Figure A-17
illustrates an example of a vocabulary training unit of the system.
The system permit the user to select whether or not the avatar is
shown or how much of the avatar is shown using the rectangular
controls in the bottom right corner. The system also displays a
number of points earned by the user (7845 in this example) and a
gem icon that, when selected, shows the number of gems accumulated
by the user as shown in Figure A-18.
[0143] Figure A-19 illustrates an example of the user interface for
a particular game that is part of the training system. Figure A-20
is an example of a points and gems user interface that permits the
user to convert points into gems. Figures A-21, A-22 and A-25
illustrate examples of a virtual storefront of the training system
where the user (using his/her avatar) can show for items for the
avatar and pay for them using the gems. Figure A-23 illustrates a
user interface for the inside of a store shown in the virtual
storefront where the user can select items for the avatar as shown
in Figure A-24 wherein the details of each item and the cost of
each item (in number of gems) is shown to the user. The user can
then purchase an item from the store.
[0144] Figure A-26, A-28 and A-29 illustrate the virtual
environment for the avatar including a bedroom (Figure A-26) and
house/garage (Figure A-28) and a room (Figure A-29) wherein the
items purchased by the user for the avatar are placed into these
areas. As shown in Figure A-27, the user can then select from the
items in these areas for use by the avatar such as the different
pants shown in Figure A-27.
[0145] Figure A-30 to A-32 illustrate an example of the different
male avatars (with different races) that can be generated by the
training system while Figures A-33 to A-34 show the female avatars.
Finally, Figures A-35 and A-36 illustrate additional examples of
the avatars that can be customized by the user in the training
system.
[0146] For example, as part of the positive feedback provided by
the training system, the training system may award the one or more
gems for various activities in the training system and then user
can then use the gems to buy information and/or items for the
avatar, such as a different hair style, a cell phone, different
clothes, etc. The virtual environment of the training system may
thus include a store for the avatar items (from which the avatar
may purchase items) wherein the contents of the store may be
adjusted based on the shopping options (selected by the
user/student or assigned to the user/student), the gender of the
avatar or other characteristics. The store may provide a
user/student with additional incentives to excel in the training
systems exercises. The virtual environment may also include an
avatar environment, such as a house, bedroom, etc. of the avatar
for the particular user/student (customizable by the particular
user/student) wherein the information and items purchased for the
avatar may be placed into the avatar environment. For example, when
a user purchases a pair of pants for his/her avatar, those pants
may appear in the closet of the bedroom of the avatar in the
virtual environment so that the user/student can then select those
pants to be worn by the avatar. The training system may also track
the characteristics of the avatar chosen by each user/student as
well as the information/items purchased for the avatar since this
data can be used to analyze the interests of the user/student and
may then be used to provide targeted additional information to the
user/student.
[0147] The education training system may also provide a spiraling
mastery checks that automatically integrates into current
instruction content previously mastered by the student earlier in
that level, in one or more previous levels or across one or more
previously mastered units. The system may also, if the student
demonstrates that he/she has not retained mastery of the
previously-mastered materials, dynamically re-integrate the
previously-mastered content into the current instructional
program.
[0148] The system may also allow a student to construct his/her own
fluency texts. The system may present the student with pre-existing
texts, which may be pre-assembled, partially assembled or
completely disassembled. The pre-existing texts have corresponding
fluent-readings audio associated with them. The system may also
enable the student to re-arrange pieces of the text, including
phrases, clauses, sentences, stanzas, etc. to create an
individualized text of his/her own creation. The system may also
maintain the audio files associated with each portion of the text
so that, once the "new" passage has been assembled by the student,
the student can listen to a reading by the computer of the new text
he/she has created. The system may also present a fluent reading of
the new passage that serves as a model for the student, and the
student is then able to practice reading the new text him/herself.
The system may also allow the student can record himself reading
the new text he/she has created, and can listen to his/her own
reading and compare it to the modeled reading by the computer.
[0149] While the foregoing has been with reference to a particular
embodiment of the invention, it will be appreciated by those
skilled in the art that changes in this embodiment may be made
without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention
as defined by the appended claim.
* * * * *