SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ADAPTING LESSONS TO STUDENT NEEDS

• US 20080038708A1
• Filed: 07/13/2007
• Published: 02/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Discovery Education, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Dreambox Learning, Inc.
• Inventors: Dodge, Cheryl, Kornfeld, Ronald, Kerns, Daniel, Slivka, Benjamin, Smith, Neil, Weary, Mickelle, Green, Nigel, Leban, Roy, Cook, Cristopher, Gray, Lou
• Granted Patent: US 10,347,148 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/350
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/08 characterised by modifying the teaching programme in response to a wrong answer, e.g. repeating the question, supplying further information

Abstract

In one embodiment, the invention discloses a method for adapting educational content. The method comprises generating data for each of a plurality of students, the data pertaining to an aspect of the student'"'"'s interaction with an educational system, combining the generated data to form a combined data set; analyzing the combined data set to identify clusters, each representing similar students according to a mathematical model; and adapting the educational system to provide a customized learning experience for a particular student based on an identified cluster.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

generating data for each of a plurality of students, the data pertaining to at least one aspect of the student'"'"'s interaction with an educational system comprising educational content;

combining the generated data to form a combined data set;

analyzing the combined data set to identify clusters, each representing similar students according to a mathematical model; and

adapting the educational content to provide a customized learning experience for a particular student based on an identified cluster.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein adapting the educational system comprises predicting an expected outcome for the particular student based on the student'"'"'s membership in the identified cluster;

and adapting educational content for the student based on the expected outcome.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein adapting the educational system comprises generating a micro-sequence of lessons to present to the particular student based on the student'"'"'s membership in the identified cluster.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the micro-sequence of lessons comprises choices of lessons from which the student can choose.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein generating said micro-sequence comprises selecting said micro-sequence from a set or micro-sequences assigned to the identified cluster said selecting being based on an evaluation of an effectiveness of the micro-sequences in the set.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein generating said micro-sequence comprises at least one of altering an existing micro-sequence and creating a new micro-sequence.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein adapting educational system comprises at least one of splitting a lesson into multiple lessons, combining multiple lessons into a single lesson, and skipping lessons based on the student'"'"'s membership in the identified cluster.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein, a result of said analyzing is a classification of a particular student into more than one identified cluster.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one identified cluster corresponds to a learning style for a student.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said analyzing comprises identifying a plurality of clusters, each based on a situation-dependent differentiation criterion.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the situation-dependent differentiation criterion is selected from the group consisting of age, subject matter, gender, school district, and geographic location.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the data comprises receiving the data in the form of an event stream for each student.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the event stream comprises events selected from the group consisting of student-generated events, system-generated events, and biometric information pertaining to the student.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the student-generated events is selected from the group consisting of mouse clicks, pen clicks, pointing-device motion, keystrokes, and requests for help by the student.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the system-generated events comprise a history of every screen, problem, image, audio, and video element the educational system generated for the student.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the biometric information is selected from the group consisting of heart rate information, respiration information, eye movement information, and stress level information for the student.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the data comprises generating seed data for each student.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein adapting the educational content is performed automatically without human intervention.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein adapting the educational content is performed at least in part by a client system.

20. A system, comprising:

an event stream database, comprising data in the form of a plurality of event streams, each corresponding to a particular student and comprising data pertaining to at least one aspect of the student'"'"'s interaction with a client system;

a data analyzer to analyze the data in the event stream database to determine clusters of students that are similar based on a mathematical model;

a lesson adapter to adapt educational content for a particular student in accordance with the clusters determined by the data analyzer; and

a lesson delivery engine to deliver the adapted educational content to a client system for the particular student.

21. The system of claim 20, further comprising a lesson adapter to adapt educational content for a particular student in accordance with the clusters determined by the data analyzer.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the lesson adapter predicts an expected outcome for a particular student based on the student'"'"'s membership in a cluster and adapts the educational content for the student based on the expected outcome.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the lesson adapter adapts the educational content by generating a micro-sequence of lessons to present to the particular student based on the student'"'"'s membership in a cluster.

22. The system of 20 further comprising a lesson delivery engine to deliver the adapted educational content to a client system for the particular student.

25. A method, comprising:

provisioning at least one test in an educational system, each test having at least one first and at least one second lesson, wherein the at least one second lesson is for students in a control group;

receiving a lesson request from a client system the lesson request being associated with a student;

determining if the student is eligible for the test;

if the student is eligible for the test then (a) determining a test group for the student; and

(b) delivering the at least one second lesson to the student if the student'"'"'s test group is the control group, otherwise delivering the at least one first lesson to the student.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein each second lesson comprises a modified form of a first lesson.

27. The method of claim 25, determining if the student is eligible for the test comprises determining the lessons that are available to the student based on an assessment of the student, and determining if any available lessons have tests associated with them.

28. A method, comprising:

receiving a request for a lesson from a client system, the request being associated with a student; and

responsive to the request, selecting lessons from a lesson database that are determined to be effective for the student; and

delivering said lessons to the client.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein a lesson is determined to be effective for the student based on the students membership in a cluster which is constrained by a mathematical measure of similarity.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein a lesson is determined to be effective for the student based on an assessment of the student.