Patent ID: 8052426
Filing Date: 2011-11-08
Classification: G06Q,G09B

Abstract:
1. A method for automatically producing a schedule of classes for an educational institution having a curriculum, a plurality of teachers, and a plurality of students, the method comprising the computer implemented steps of: receiving, as an input into a computer system, designations of a plurality of discrete curriculum modules of the curriculum, each curriculum module including educational material capable of being taught within less than 25 hours; receiving, as an input into the computer system, curriculum information comprising an indication of which of the curriculum modules are prerequisite modules for subsequent curriculum modules and a weighted value for one or more curriculum modules which indicates how central the curriculum module is to the curriculum; receiving, as an input into the computer system, teacher information, comprising, for each of the plurality of teachers, an indication of the teacher's level of teaching competence with respect to one or more of the modules; receiving, as an input into the computer system, student information comprising, for each of the plurality of students, an indication of the student's level of competence with respect to the educational material of one or more modules; executing a scheduling algorithm responsive to the designations of the curriculum modules, the curriculum information, the teacher information, and the student information; wherein the scheduling algorithm prioritizes scheduling said teachers to classes for teaching the curriculum modules according to the quality of instruction that the teacher can provide in the modules and the weighted value of the module, preferentially assigning teachers with higher ranked competencies in teaching particular modules to teach those modules; and generating a prioritized schedule of classes for the teachers and students responsive to executing the algorithm.