Training system and method for improving user knowledge and skills

• US 7,153,140 B2
• Filed: 01/06/2002
• Issued: 12/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Prep4 Limited
• Original Assignee: Prep4 Limited
• Inventors: Stoffman, Asif, Ivanir, Dror, Gafni, Tamir, Berman, Alona
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheng, Joe H.
• Application Number:
  US10/250,666
• Publication Number:
  US 20040063085A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,815 Days
• Field of Search: 434/118, 434/219, 434236-238, 434/322, 434/323, 434/350, 434/362, 434/365, 434/218, 434/234, 434/353, 706/11, 706/46, 705/11, 709/219, 702/183
• US Class Current: 434/322
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/14 with provision for individual teacher-student communication
• 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

A method for creating training systems including analyzing/mapping course requirements for evaluating required knowledge/skills according to mapped subjects and defining possible failure causes, wherein each failure cause represents knowledge/skill weakness relating a certain subject or general weakness, defining knowledge/skills target level correct/wrong answers in each subject as function of the number of users, preparing a question pool, wherein each question relates to a subject knowledge/skill and/or failure cause, preparing correct and wrong answers for each question, wherein each wrong answer is related to a specific sub-subject/subject and/or to a failure cause, defining an evaluation module for assessing user knowledge/skills level based on user'"'"'s success in giving correct answers in comparison to predefined target levels and type of failure causes related to the user'"'"'s wrong answers, and defining exercise module for selecting sequence of questions from predefined question set based on evaluations of user knowledge/skills level and detected failure causes.

Claims

1. A computer based method of training a user in a given subject comprising:

providing the user through a computer interface a set of questions on the given subject, wherein the questions and their associated answers are predefined and stored in a database;

evaluating wrong answers the user provided to the questions;

correlating sets of wrong answers to the predefined questions in order to determine a Failure Cause, wherein a specific wrong answer is associated with a specific Failure Cause, which Failure Cause is selected from a list of possible Failure Causes;

if misunderstanding or misapplication of a principle or concept within the given subject is determined to be the Failure Cause, providing the user with a computer based lesson focused on the misunderstood or misapplied principle or concept.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein providing a computer based lesson focused on the misunderstood or misapplied principle or concept includes providing a computerized tutorial on the misunderstood or misapplied principle or concept.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein providing a computer based lesson focused on the misunderstood or misapplied principle or concept includes providing a set of questions focused on the misunderstood or misapplied principle or concept.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising evaluating answers the user provides to the set of questions focused on the misunderstood or misapplied principle or concept.

5. A computer based system for training a user in a given subject comprising:

a digital memory;

a human interface; and

a computing unit adapted to evaluate wrong answers the user provided to a set of questions which were stored in a database and presented to the user through the human interface, said computing unit further adapted to correlate sets of wrong answers to the questions in order to determine a Failure Cause, wherein a specific wrong answer is associated with a specific Failure Cause selected from a list of possible Failure Causes, and if misunderstanding or misapplication of a principle or concept within the given subject is determined to be the Failure Cause, to provide the user with a computer based lesson focused on the misunderstood or misapplied principle or concept.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the computing unit is adapted to provide a lesson focused on the misunderstood or misapplied principle or concept by providing a computerized tutorial focused on the misunderstood or misapplied principle or concept.

7. The system according to claim 5, wherein the computing unit is adapted to provide a lesson focused on the misunderstood or misapplied principle or concept by providing a set of questions focused on the misunderstood or misapplied principles or concept.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the computing unit is further adapted to evaluate answers the user provides to the set of questions focused on the misunderstood or misapplied principle or concept.