Method of instruction

• US 5,957,698 A
• Filed: 10/30/1996
• Issued: 09/28/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Pitsco, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Pitsco, Inc.
• Inventors: Holsinger, Philip, Kyncl, Rhonda D., Dean, Barry, McKechnie, Kristine, Dean, Harvey R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrison, Jessica J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fleming, David A.
• Application Number:
  US08/741,306
• Time in Patent Office: 1,063 Days
• Field of Search: 434/350, 434/432, 434/431, 434/365
• US Class Current: 434/350
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/14 with provision for individual teacher-student communication
• 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 computer-assisted instruction system used in a method of instructing a group of students broadly includes a suite (12,14,16,18) configured to accommodate the group of students and a computer system (36) for delivery of instruction relating to an instruction curriculum to the suite (12,14,16,18). The suite (12,14,16,18) includes a group assembly area and a plurality of harbors (24). The harbors (24) are each configured to accommodate a pair of the students. The computer system (36) includes a computer (38) positioned at each harbor coupled with a network computer (40). The computers (38) are linked to permit electronic transfer of information between the harbors (24). A method of instruction broadly includes the steps of assigning a pair of the group of students to each of the harbors (24), presenting a portion of an instruction curriculum to the pair of students at each harbor (24), assembling the students within the suite (12,14,16,18) after a selected period of time, presenting a group project to the assembled group of students, and dividing the group project into project segments, the pairs of students leaving the group assembly area to work on the project segments at their respective harbors (24). A presentation of the group project is given after the students reassemble.

Claims

1. A computer-assisted method of instructing a group of students, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) assigning pairs of students to harbors of a suite, said pairs of students being selected from a group, said suite configured to accommodate said group of students, each of said harbors being configured to accommodate one of said pairs of students, said suite including a group assembly area adjacent to said harbors and an instruction delivery means for delivering instruction relating to an instructional curriculum to said harbors, said curriculum being composed of a plurality of different curriculum portions, said delivery means including a computer system having a plurality of computers and a network computer, one of said plurality of computers being positioned at each of said harbors, said computers being coupled with said network computer;

(b) presenting one of said curriculum portions of said instructional curriculum to each of said pairs of students at each harbor via the instruction delivery means, the pairs of students working on said portions for a selected period of time;

(c) assembling said students within said suite at said group assembly area after said selected period of time;

(d) presenting a group project to the assembled group of students, said project being related to said instructional curriculum, said project including a plurality of different project segments, each of said segments being related to one of said curriculum portions;

(e) assigning each of said pairs of students one of said segments of said group project, said pairs of students working on said segments at their respective harbors using said computer system and the knowledge imparted from the respective curriculum portions; and

(f) combining the work of said pairs of students on said project segments using said computer system for completion of said group project by said group, said segments, when combined, cooperating to present a completed project by said group.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1, further including the step of preparation by said group of students of an abstract outlining the efforts said pairs of students will make to finish said group project.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1, further including the steps of reassembling said group of students within said suite at said group assembly area after said pairs of students have worked on the project segments for a second period of time for the step of using said computer system to combine the work of said pairs of students on said projects segments and for presenting the completed project.

4. The method as set forth in claim 3, further including the steps of matching said students with different partners from said group to form a new set of pairs of students after completion of said group project by the group, and assigning said pairs of students to harbors so that each student is assigned to a new harbor.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein said suite includes three harbors so that said suite is configured to accommodate a group of between about three to six students, and said instructional curriculum includes three different curriculum portions.

6. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein said selected period of time is four segments, each segment including approximately fifty minutes of work on said curriculum portions by the pairs of students, and said students remain assembled as a group for a two segment period following said selected period of time.

7. The method as set forth in claim 6, wherein said pairs of students work on said project segments for four segments, each segment including approximately fifty minutes of work on said project segments by said pairs of students.

8. The method as set forth in claim 1, further including the step of preparation by each student of a daily journal detailing the work performed by each student during each segment of work on said curriculum portions and project segments.

9. The method as set forth in claim 8, further including the step of evaluating the performance of each student based on the work completed by said students during said selected period of time, said daily journal and said group project.

10. A computer-assisted method of instructing a group of students, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) assigning pairs of students to harbors of a suite, said pairs of students being selected from a group, said suite configured to accommodate said group of students, each of said harbors being configured to accommodate one of said pairs of students, said suite including a group assembly area adjacent to said harbors and an instruction delivery means for delivering instruction relating to an instructional curriculum to said harbors, said instructional curriculum including a plurality of different curriculum portions, said delivery means including a computer system having a plurality of computers and a network computer, one of said computers being positioned at each of said harbors, said computers being coupled with said network computer, said computer system further including means for generating and transmitting electronic signals between said computers;

(b) presenting one of said curriculum portions of said instructional curriculum to each of said pairs of students at each harbor via the instruction delivery means, the pairs of students working on said portions for a selected period of time;

(c) presenting a group project to the students after the selected period of time, the project being related to the instructional curriculum, the project including a plurality of different project segments, each of said project segments being related to one of said curriculum portions;

(d) assigning each of said pairs of students one of said segments of said group project, said pairs of students working on said segments using said computer system and the knowledge imparted from the respective curriculum portions, said pairs of students communicating with each other while working on said project segments by using said computer system for transmitting electronic signals between said computers; and

(f) using said computer system to combine the work of said pairs of students on said project segments for completion of said group project by said group, said segments, when combined, cooperating to present a completed project by said group.

11. The method as set forth in claim 10, further including the step of preparation by said group of students of an abstract outlining the efforts that said pairs of students will make to finish said group project.

12. The method as set forth in claim 10, further including the step of assembling said group of students within said suite at said group assembly area prior to the step of presenting said group project to said students, said students leaving said group assembly area after the presentation step to work on said project segments of said group project at their respective harbors.

13. The method as set forth in claim 10, further including the steps of matching said students with different partners from said group to form a new set of pairs of students after completion of said group project by said group, and assigning the new pairs of students to harbors so that each student is assigned to a new harbor.

14. The method as set forth in claim 10, wherein said suite includes three harbors so that said suite is configured to accommodate a group of between about three to six students and said instructional curriculum includes three curriculum portions.

15. The method as set forth in claim 10, wherein said selected period of time is four segments, each segment including approximately fifty minutes of work on said curriculum portions by said pairs of students, and said students remain assembled as a group for a two segment period following said selected period of time.

16. The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein said pairs of students work on said project segments for four segments, each segment including approximately fifty minutes of work on said project segments by said pairs of students.

17. The method as set forth in claim 10, further including the step of preparation by each student of a daily journal detailing the work performed by each student during each segment of work on said curriculum portions and project segments.

18. The method as set forth in claim 17, further including the step of evaluating the performance of said group based on the work completed by said students during said selected period of time, said daily journal and said group project.

19. The method as set forth in claim 10, further including the step of monitoring electronic signals transmitted between said computers from a remote location with respect to said suite.

20. A computer-assisted method of instructing a pool of students, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) assigning pairs of students to harbors of suites provided in a classroom, said pairs of students being selected from a pool of students, each of said harbors being configured to accommodate one of said pairs of students, each of said suites being configured to accommodate a group of said pairs of students, said suite including a plurality of said harbors and a group assembly area adjacent to said harbors, said classroom including and an instruction delivery means for delivering instruction relating to a course of study to said harbors, said course of study including a plurality of different instructional curriculums, each of said curriculums including a plurality of different curriculum portions, said delivery means including a computer system having a plurality of computers coupled with a network computer, one of said computers being positioned at each of said harbors;

(b) presenting one of said curriculum portions to each of said pairs of students of each of said suites via the instruction delivery means so that each suite is presented with a different one of said instructional curriculums, the pairs of students working on said portions for a selected period of time;

(c) assembling each group of said pairs of students within each of said suites at said group assembly areas after said selected period of time;

(d) presenting a group project to each of the assembled groups of students, each of said projects being related to each of said instructional curriculums of each suite, each group project including a plurality of different project segments, each of said project segments being related to one of said curriculum portions;

(e) assigning each of said pairs of students one of said segments of their respective group projects, said pairs of students working on said segments at their respective harbors using said computer system and the knowledge imparted from the respective curriculum portions; and

(f) combining the work of each group of students on said project segments using said computer system for completion of said group projects by each of said groups, said segments, when combined within each group, cooperating to present a completed project for each of said groups.

21. The method as set forth in claim 20, further including the step of preparation by each group of students of an abstract outlining the efforts that said pairs of each group of students will make to finish said respective group projects.

22. The method as set forth in claim 20, further including the steps of reassembling said groups of students within said respective suites at said group assembly areas after said pairs of students have worked on said project segments for a second period of time, and preparation by each group of students of a group response to said respective group projects.

23. The method as set forth in claim 20, further including the steps of matching said students of each group with different partners from said respective groups to form a new set of pairs of each group of students after completion of said group projects by said groups, and assigning said pairs of students to harbors so that each student is assigned to a new harbor.

24. The method as set forth in claim 20, wherein each of said suites includes three harbors so that each of said suites is configured to accommodate a group of between about three to six students and each of said instructional curriculums includes three different curriculum portions.

25. The method as set forth in claim 20, wherein said selected period of time is four segments, each segment including approximately fifty minutes of work on said curriculum portions by said pairs of students, and said students remain assembled in their respective groups for a two segment period following said selected period of time.

26. The method as set forth in claim 25, wherein said pairs of students work on said project segments for four segments, each segment including approximately fifty minutes of work on said project segments by said pairs of students.

27. The method as set forth in claim 20, further including the step of preparation by each student of a daily journal detailing the work performed by each student during each segment of work on said curriculum portions and project segments.

28. The method as set forth in claim 27, further including the step of evaluating the performance of each of said groups based on the work completed by said students, said daily journal and said group project.

29. The method as set forth in claim 20, said computer system further including means for generating and transmitting electronic signals between said computers, the method further including the step of said pairs of students within each group using said computer system to communicate with each other while working on said project segments by transmitting electronic signals between said computers.