US6322366B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Instructional management system
Assignee: ASSESSMENT TECHNOLOGY Inc A CORP OF ARIZONA
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Filing: 1999-06-23
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Granted: 2001-11-27
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Expires: 2019-06-23
Abstract
Abstract An education management system designed primarily for preschool and beginning elementary grade levels employs learning capabilities which have assigned difficulty and discrimination factors. The learning capabilities for each developmental or grade level are classified into developmental areas which are further broken down into knowledge areas. Those learning capabilities which are indicated as learned for each child are used to assess child educational development, child developmental scores and to indicate readiness level for learning higher difficulty learning capabilities. In the absence of direct observation, work sample, or parent information regarding achievement of individual learning capabilities, an estimation of general overall capability can be used to compute indications of learned capabilities in each developmental area. The system additionally includes lesson plan tools having activities with specific goals or learning capabilities along with indications of class readiness and/or achievement for the specific goals.
Inventors
- 👤 John Richard Bergan
- 👤 John Robert Bergan
- 👤 Kerrie L. Cole
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 22:04
CPC Classifications
G; G09; G09B; G09B7/00; G09B7/02; G09B19/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 41
Claim 1
Independent Claim
117 words
An instructional management system for use in a computer having user input, a display and data storage; the system comprising: a database for being stored in said data storage and including a list of learning capabilities with associated corresponding varying difficulty factors and a file for setting up a list of students with associated corresponding ability scores; and a computer program for computing a probability of a student in the list of students performing each of the learning capabilities on the list based upon the corresponding difficulty factor and the corresponding ability score of the student, and for determining a present learning suitability of the student for each of the learning capabilities based upon said computed probabilities.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
117 words
An instructional management system for use in a computer having user input, a display and data storage; the system comprising: a database for being stored in said data storage and including a list of learning capabilities with associated corresponding varying difficulty factors and a file for setting up a list of students with associated corresponding ability scores; and a computer program for computing a probability of a student in the list of students performing each of the learning capabilities on the list based upon the corresponding difficulty factor and the corresponding ability score of the student, and for determining a present learning suitability of the student for each of the learning capabilities based upon said computed probabilities.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
28 words
An instructional management system according to claim 1 wherein said computer program classifies present learning suitabilities into suitability to begin learning now and suitability to begin learning later.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
23 words
An instructional management system according to claim 2 wherein said computer program also classifies present learning suitabilities into suitability to begin learning soon.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
48 words
An instructional management system according to claim 1 wherein the computer program includes means for a teacher entering an estimate of a student's ability score by the computer input, and computes the probability of performance of the learning capabilities based upon the estimate of the student's ability score.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
42 words
An instructional management system according to claim 2 wherein the database includes a plurality of learning activities, and each learning capability is linked to one or more learning activities in the data storage for enabling a teacher to select a learning activity.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
49 words
An instructional management system as claimed in claim 5 wherein the computer program includes a procedure for displaying for a plurality of the learning capabilities within a selected developmental area and for displaying numbers of students of a selected class having each suitability status for each corresponding learning capability.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
64 words
An instructional management system according to claim 1 wherein the database also includes varying discrimination factors associated with the corresponding learning capabilities, and the computer program computes the probability of a student in the list of students performing each of the learning capabilities on the list based upon the corresponding difficulty factor, the corresponding discrimination factor and the corresponding ability score of the student.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
89 words
An instructional management system according to claim 1 wherein the computer program computes the probability P i of performance of each learning capability i by the equation P i = 1 θ = 1 1 + - a i ( θ - b i ) wherein e is the natural or Naperian logarithm base, a i is a discrimination factor of the learning capability i, b i is the difficulty factor of the learning capability i and θ is the ability score of the student.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
33 words
An instructional management system according to claim 8 wherein the ability score of the student is based upon the number of learning capabilities which have been learned in the list of learning capabilities.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
25 words
An instructional management system according to claim 9 wherein the database includes an indication of a data source of an assessment of each learned capability.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
19 words
An instructional management system according to claim 10 wherein possible data sources include estimate, work sample and direct observation.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
40 words
An instructional management system according to claim 8 wherein the ability score of the student is an item response theory score derived from a table based upon the learning capabilities which have been learned in the list of learning capabilities.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
42 words
An instructional management system according to claim 9 wherein the ability score of the student is an item response theory score derived from a table based upon the number of learning capabilities which have been learned in the list of learning capabilities.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
88 words
An instructional management system for use in a computer having a display, an input and data storage; the system comprising: a database for being stored in said data storage including a plurality of learning capabilities with associated corresponding varying difficulty factors; and a computer program for receiving from the input an estimate of general ability of a student to accomplish the list of learning capabilities, and for computing a learned indication for each of the learning capabilities based upon the difficulty factors and the estimate of general ability.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
88 words
An instructional management system for use in a computer having a display, an input and data storage; the system comprising: a database for being stored in said data storage including a plurality of learning capabilities with associated corresponding varying difficulty factors; and a computer program for receiving from the input an estimate of general ability of a student to accomplish the list of learning capabilities, and for computing a learned indication for each of the learning capabilities based upon the difficulty factors and the estimate of general ability.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
83 words
An instructional management system according to claim 14 wherein the computer program converts the entered estimate of general ability into an item response theory score derived from a table based upon the estimate of general ability, computes a probability of performance by the student for each of the learning capabilities in the list based upon the corresponding difficulty factors and the item response theory score, and assigns a learned indication to each learning capability having a computed probability greater than a predetermined probability.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
91 words
An instructional management system according to claim 15 wherein the computer program computes the probability P i of performance of each learning capability i by the equation P i = 1 θ = 1 1 + - a i ( θ - b i ) wherein e is the natural or Naperian logarithm base, a i is a discrimination factor of the learning capability i, b i is the difficulty factor of the learning capability i and θ is the item response theory score of the student.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
29 words
An instructional management system according to claim 16 wherein the computer program assigns the learned indication to each learning capability having a probability P of performance greater than 0.5.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
81 words
An instructional management system according to claim 17 wherein the computer program indicates each learning capability having its probability P of performance in the range from 0.25 to 0.5 as being suitable for being learned now, indicates each learning capability having its probability P of performance in the range from 0.15 to 0.25 as being suitable for being learned soon, and indicates each learning capability having its probability P of performance less than 0.15 as being suitable for being learned later.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
44 words
An instructional management system according to claim 14 wherein the computed learned indications are stored in the data storage and the computer program has a further input for enabling manually changing the computed learned indication of each learning capability based upon actual observed performance.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
42 words
An instructional management system according to claim 14 wherein the database includes a plurality of learning activities, and each learning capability is linked to one or more learning activities in the data storage for enabling a teacher to select a learning activity.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
95 words
An instructional management system for use in a computer having a display, an input and data storage; the system comprising: a database for being stored in said data storage including a file for storing indications of suitabilities of a student in a plurality of learning capabilities; and a computer program for receiving from the input indications of suitabilities of the student to update the file and for further receiving anecdotal notes input by a teacher and storing such anecdotal notes in said database as records associated with said stored indications of suitabilities for the student.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
95 words
An instructional management system for use in a computer having a display, an input and data storage; the system comprising: a database for being stored in said data storage including a file for storing indications of suitabilities of a student in a plurality of learning capabilities; and a computer program for receiving from the input indications of suitabilities of the student to update the file and for further receiving anecdotal notes input by a teacher and storing such anecdotal notes in said database as records associated with said stored indications of suitabilities for the student.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
41 words
An instructional management system as claimed in claim 21 wherein the computer program generates a suggested anecdotal note in response to input of an updated suitability and which can be manually accepted, modified and/or supplemented for being stored in said database.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
92 words
An instructional management system for use in a computer having a display, an input and data storage; the system comprising: a database for being stored in said data storage including a plurality of learning capabilities, a file for setting up a list of successive time periods, and a file for storing a plurality of records of student accomplishment of the learning capabilities along with an indication of one of the time periods; and a computer program for computing an indication of progress of student accomplishments over the plurality of successive time periods.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
92 words
An instructional management system for use in a computer having a display, an input and data storage; the system comprising: a database for being stored in said data storage including a plurality of learning capabilities, a file for setting up a list of successive time periods, and a file for storing a plurality of records of student accomplishment of the learning capabilities along with an indication of one of the time periods; and a computer program for computing an indication of progress of student accomplishments over the plurality of successive time periods.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
132 words
An instructional management system for use in a computer having a display, an input and data storage; the system comprising: a database for being stored in said data storage including a plurality of learning capabilities, a file for setting up a list of successive time periods, and a file for storing a plurality of records of student accomplishment of the learning capabilities along with an indication of one of the time periods; a computer program for computing an indication of progress of student accomplishments over the plurality of successive time periods; each of the records of student accomplishment including a class to which each student is assigned, and the computed indication of student accomplishments including an indication of progress of the class as a whole in accomplishment in the different time periods.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
132 words
An instructional management system for use in a computer having a display, an input and data storage; the system comprising: a database for being stored in said data storage including a plurality of learning capabilities, a file for setting up a list of successive time periods, and a file for storing a plurality of records of student accomplishment of the learning capabilities along with an indication of one of the time periods; a computer program for computing an indication of progress of student accomplishments over the plurality of successive time periods; each of the records of student accomplishment including a class to which each student is assigned, and the computed indication of student accomplishments including an indication of progress of the class as a whole in accomplishment in the different time periods.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
36 words
An instructional management system as claimed in claim 24 wherein each of the plurality of learning capabilities is assigned a difficulty factor and the indication of progress is based upon difficulty factors of the learning capabilities.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
105 words
An instructional management system for use in a computer having a display, an input and data storage; the system comprising: a database for being stored in said data storage including records of students each including a first field designating a class selected from a plurality of classes and a second field designating a suitability status for each of a plurality of learning capabilities; and a computer program for operating the computer and for displaying for a plurality of the learning capabilities within a selected developmental area and for displaying numbers of students of a selected class having each suitability status for each corresponding learning capability.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
105 words
An instructional management system for use in a computer having a display, an input and data storage; the system comprising: a database for being stored in said data storage including records of students each including a first field designating a class selected from a plurality of classes and a second field designating a suitability status for each of a plurality of learning capabilities; and a computer program for operating the computer and for displaying for a plurality of the learning capabilities within a selected developmental area and for displaying numbers of students of a selected class having each suitability status for each corresponding learning capability.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
32 words
An instructional management system according to claim 26 wherein computer program includes means for manually assembling a lesson plan based upon selected learning capabilities selected from the displayed plurality of learning capabilities.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
28 words
An instructional management system according to claim 27 wherein said computer program classifies present learning suitabilities into suitability to begin learning now and suitability to begin learning later.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
88 words
An instructional management system for use in a computer having a display, an input and data storage; the system comprising: a database for being stored in said data storage including a listing of a plurality of goals to be achieved by students, a computer program for indicating and storing indications of achievement of each goal in the plurality of goals by each student in said database, and means for computing a developmental score based upon the number of achieved goals of the plurality of goals for each student.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
88 words
An instructional management system for use in a computer having a display, an input and data storage; the system comprising: a database for being stored in said data storage including a listing of a plurality of goals to be achieved by students, a computer program for indicating and storing indications of achievement of each goal in the plurality of goals by each student in said database, and means for computing a developmental score based upon the number of achieved goals of the plurality of goals for each student.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
93 words
An instructional management system according to claim 29 wherein the database includes instructional activities each assigned with one or more of said plurality of goals, and each of the plurality of goals is assigned a difficulty factor; and the computer program includes a procedure for assigning readiness levels to each goal for each student based upon the number of achieved goals of each student and the difficulty factor of each goal, and a procedure responsive to selection of a goal for displaying activities assigned with the selected goal to enable achievement based instruction.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
28 words
An instructional management system according to claim 29 wherein the computer program includes a procedure for indicating and storing a data source for each stored indication of achievement.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
19 words
An instructional management system according to claim 31 wherein possible data sources include estimate, work sample and direct observation.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
63 words
An instructional management system according to claim 29 wherein the database includes instructional activities each assigned with one or more of said plurality of goals, and each of the plurality of goals is assigned a difficulty factor; and the computer program includes a procedure responsive to selection of a goal for displaying activities assigned with the selected goal to enable achievement based instruction.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
19 words
An instructional management system according to claim 29 wherein the developmental score is further based upon item response theory.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-11-26 | 2005-05-28 | 2005-11-27 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-11-26 | 2009-05-28 | 2009-11-27 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-11-26 | 2013-05-28 | 2013-11-27 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |