Method and apparatus for correlating educational requirements

• US 5,823,789 A
• Filed: 08/06/1997
• Issued: 10/20/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Proquest LLC (Clarivate Plc)
• Original Assignee: MediaSeek Technologies, Inc. (Clarivate Plc)
• Inventors: Collins, Robert J., Ramsay, Colin, Jeffrey, Richard S., Jay, Michael E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Apley, Richard J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rovnak, John Edmund
• Application Number:
  US08/907,167
• Time in Patent Office: 440 Days
• Field of Search: 434/365, 434/169, 434/219, 434/307 R, 434/322
• US Class Current: 434/365
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/0069 Engineering, e.g. mechanical, electrical design computer engineering G09B19/0053
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/065 Combinations of audio and video presentations, e.g. videotapes, videodiscs, television systems
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/00 Electrically-operated teaching apparatus or devices working with questions and answers mechanically operated G09B3/00; computing arrangements G06F

Abstract

A method and apparatus for correlating requirements of educators, guiding documents, and educational resource providers is described. The apparatus includes a central correlator accessed by each of the external entities using keys established according to a uniform protocol. The correlator includes a central database including a range of elements describing in varying levels of detail a field of study. Each of the external users correlates a set of components, such as the components of a teaching plan, to the elements in the central database. The apparatus correlates the several sets of components to the external user'"'"'s set of components and provides the various correlations through a variety of outputs.

Claims

1. A planning tool for identifying correlations between an instructional program having a plurality of components and components of resources for the instructional program, comprising:

a first storage medium containing a central knowledge base of conformed elements;

a correlator that correlates components of the instructional program to the conformed elements, the correlator connected to retrieve the conformed elements from the first storage medium;

an interface module for inputting to the correlator a first unidirectional key to identify correlations between individual ones of the components and corresponding conformed elements;

a second storage medium for storing the first key; and

a third storage medium containing data indicating correlation between the components of the resources and the conformed elements.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the conformed elements are conformed statements relating to an area of study.

3. An educational planning tool for correlating educational programs to guiding criteria, comprising:

a first storage medium containing a central knowledge base of conformed educational elements; and

a correlator for correlating components of the guiding criteria to the conformed educational elements, the correlator connected to retrieve the educational elements from the knowledge base;

an interface module for inputting to the correlator a guiding key to identify correlations between individual ones of the guiding criteria components and corresponding conformed educational elements; and

a second storage medium for storing the guiding key.

4. The educational planning tool of claim 3, further including:

a database containing the guiding criteria components, wherein the correlator is connected to retrieve the guiding criteria components from the database.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the conformed educational elements are conformed statements relating to an area of study.

6. A method of identifying external components correlated to a component of an instructional program, comprising the steps of:

storing a first set of components on a first storage medium;

producing a first key indicating correlation between the first set of components and elements in a central knowledge base of conformed elements, the elements being stored on a second storage medium;

storing a second set of components on a third storage medium, the second including resource components,

producing a second key indicating correlation between the resource components and the elements in the central knowledge base;

selecting a component of the instructional program;

producing a third key indicating correlation between the instructional program component and the elements in the central knowledge base;

identifying elements in the central knowledge base in response to the third key; and

identifying components in the first and third storage medium correlating to the identified elements in the central knowledge base.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of identifying the correlated components in the first storage medium includes the steps of:

retrieving the first key;

producing a bidirectional correlation between the first set of components and the elements in the knowledge base from the first key;

retrieving the third key; and

producing, from the third key and the bidirectional correlation between the components in the first set of components and elements in the knowledge base, a correlation between the instructional program component and the components in the first set of components.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of identifying the correlated components in the third storage medium includes the steps of:

retrieving the second key;

producing a bidirectional correlation between the resource components and the elements in the knowledge base from the second key;

retrieving the third key; and

producing from the third key and the bidirectional correlation between the resource components and the knowledge base a correlation between the instructional program component and the resource components.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of producing the first key comprises creating a linked list in a first memory identifying elements in the conformed knowledge base correlating to the instructional component.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of producing the second key comprises creating a linked list in a second memory identifying elements in the conformed knowledge base correlating to the instructional program component.