Student response system

A student response system which centrally processes student response data received from a plurality of classrooms. The system includes a main controller coupled to an instructors's terminal in each of the classrooms. The system also includes a plurality of student response keypads in each of the classrooms as well as a plurality of student data controllers associated with each of the classrooms wherein each student data controller is coupled to a group of keypads to accumulate data therefrom. The main controller is responsive to commands from an instructor's terminal to control each of the student data controllers in the instructor's classroom to accumulate data from the keypads in a particular manner for transmission to the main controller which then processes the data. The student response system may be operated in a Sign-On mode, Test mode, Survey mode or Student Election mode and may further be used to generate seating charts for each of the classrooms.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
The present invention relates to a teaching or student response system and 
more particularly to such a system which allows students' responses from a 
plurality of classrooms to be centrally processed. 
BACKGROUND OF THE ART 
Teaching systems have been known which include multiple student response 
stations each of which allows a student to enter a response to oral or 
written multiple choice questions, the entered responses being coupled to 
an instructor's station for recording or to provide a visual indication 
thereof. Such known systems are limited in the number of students which 
may simultaneously use the system. That is, typically only a small number 
of students in one classroom may use the system at a given time. Further, 
if use of these known systems is desired in a number of classrooms, 
duplicate systems must be installed in each room with no central control 
or means to correlate student responses from all classrooms. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention, the disadvantages of prior 
teaching systems as discussed above have been overcome. The student 
response system of the present invention includes a main controller which 
is coupled to a plurality of classrooms to allow student response data 
received from each of the classrooms to be centrally processed and 
correlated if desired. 
The student response system of the present invention includes a plurality 
of student keypads in each classroom, the keypads being operable by a 
student to enter a response to oral or written multiple choice questions. 
Each classroom includes a plurality of student data controllers each of 
which is coupled to a different group of student keypads in the classroom. 
The student data controllers are responsive to control commands from the 
main controller for accumulating, in a particular manner, student response 
data from their associated keypads. Each classroom also includes an 
instructor's terminal having a CRT display for displaying messages from 
the main controller and a keyboard for entering the instructor's command 
data. The main controller is responsive to command data from an 
instructor's terminal to provide control commands to each of the student 
data controllers in the instructor's classroom to control the manner in 
which each of the student data controllers accumulates data and transfers 
the data to the main controller. The main controller then processes the 
data according to the instructor's command data. 
The student response system of the present invention may be operated by the 
instructor in a number of modes to process information from the student 
keypads. In a Sign-On mode, the students are allowed to enter student 
identification numbers on their individual keypads. From the sign-on 
information, the main controller may determine whether any unauthorized 
students are present in a particular classroom and may notify the 
instructor if unauthorized students are present. The main controller may 
also use the sign-on information to automatically generate a seating chart 
for the instructor, the seating chart being displayed on the instructor's 
CRT or printed. In a Test mode, the students may respond to test questions 
in any order by entering a test question number and a response. The main 
controller grades each student's test and during the grading operation 
compiles data regarding the difficulty and validity of each test question. 
The system may also be used to take a survey in which one question is 
presented to a group of students and the student responses to the survey 
question immediately processed and displayed in terms of the number of and 
percentage of students selecting each of the possible responses. The 
system of the present invention may also be used to hold student elections 
in which the results of the election are known immediately. 
Because the student responses are centrally processed by the main 
controller, the main controller may correlate student tests results for 
students taking the same course at the same time but in different 
classrooms. The student election or balloting mode may be used to run 
student body elections as well as elections limited to a particular 
classroom. Further, student profiles may be compiled by the main 
controller in which a student's grades for a number of different courses 
may be stored in one file. 
These and other objects and advantages of the invention, as well as details 
of an illustrative embodiment, will be more fully understood from the 
following description and the drawings.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
The student response system of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, 
includes a main controller 10 which responds to instructor commands from 
each of a plurality of classrooms only three of which, 12, 14 and 16, are 
shown to control the accumulation and transmission of data from the 
classrooms as well as the processing of the data. The main controller is a 
computer having a central processing unit and a memory for storing 
software and data. A suitable main controller is an ALTOS computer. 
An instructor's terminal 18, 19, 20 is installed in each of the respective 
classrooms 12, 14 and 16 wherein the terminals preferably form an integral 
part of the instructor's podium. Each of the instructor's terminals 18, 19 
and 20 includes a CRT display for displaying messages from the main 
controller 10 and a keyboard which allows the instructor to enter input 
commands which identify a particular mode of operation desired by the 
instructor. For example, the main controller, in response to an input 
command from an instructor's terminal, may operate in a Sign-On mode, a 
Test mode, a Survey mode, or a Student Election mode. 
In each classroom student response keypads 22, preferably one keypad for 
each available seat in the classroom, are provided to allow students to 
respond to multiple choice questions posed by the instructor. As shown in 
FIG. 2, each student response keypad 22 includes an LED display 24 and a 
number of push buttons actuable by a student to enter alphanumeric data. 
In order to enter numerical information, a push button 30 labelled "1" is 
provided as well as an up arrow push button 32 and a down arrow push 
button 34. In order to enter a number greater than 1, a student merely 
presses the "1" button 30 and thereafter presses the up arrow push button 
32 until the left-hand portion 35 of the LED display 24 is incremented to 
the desired number. To decrease the number shown on the LED display 24, 
the down arrow push button 34 is pressed. Responses to multiple choice 
questions are entered by means of the push buttons 25-29 respectively 
labelled A-E. When response data is entered using push buttons 25-29, the 
letter A, B, C, D or E associated with the selected push button is 
displayed on the LED display 24 at position 37. As shown in FIG. 2, the 
keypad 22 is in an initial, cleared state in which the number 9 is 
displayed in position 37 and 001 is displayed in position 35. The keypad 
includes an additional push button 38 labelled with a question mark. The 
push button 38 may be used by a student to automatically display the first 
question number which the student left unanswered in responding to a group 
of sequentially numbered test questions. For example, in answering a test 
with ten questions, if the student skips questions 2 and 4, by pressing 
the "1" button 30 and thereafter the button 38, the display 24 will depict 
002 in the display portion 35 so that the student may enter a response. 
Thereafter, if buttons 30 and 38 are again pressed, the number 004 will be 
displayed in the portion 35. The push button 38 allows the student 
response system to keep track of answered and unanswered questions to 
thereby facilitate test taking. 
Each of the student response keypads 22 in a classroom is coupled to one of 
a plurality of student data controllers such as controllers 40-43 shown 
for classroom 12. The student data controllers 40-43 respond to control 
commands from the main controller to (1) lock and unlock the keypads 
coupled thereto; (2) control the LED display 24 of the keypads; (3) 
accumulate data from the keypads in a particular manner; and (4) transmit 
the accumulated data to the main controller 10. Each student data 
controller in each of the classrooms includes a central processing unit 
and a memory for accumulating data from the keypads in accordance with 
control commands from the main controller. A suitable student data 
controller may include a Motorola 6801 CPU. Further, each student data 
controller includes a short haul modem 44 for transmitting data to the 
keypads. 
Each student data controller may be associated with a particular row in a 
classroom such that for each row of seats in the classroom there is one 
student data controller. For example, for a classroom such as shown in 
FIG. 3 having seven rows of seats, there are seven student data 
controllers each associated with a different row. Each seat in each of the 
rows has an associated student response keypad which is coupled to the 
student data controller associated with the row in which its seat is 
located. For simplicity, hereinafter each of the student data controllers 
40-43 will be referred to as row controllers. 
The main controller 10 is coupled to the row controllers of a given 
classroom through a buffer 45 and a multiplexer 47. An SMAO1-186 
communications adapter from Black Box Corporation is a suitable buffer and 
a SW852 code operated switch also from Black Box Corporation is a suitable 
multiplexer. The multiplexer is responsive to a code from the main 
controller 10 to couple control commands from the main controller 10 to 
the particular row controller identified by the code. The multiplexer 
maintains communication between the main controller 10 and that particular 
row controller so that data and control commands may be transmitted 
therebetween until a code identifying a different row controller is 
received by the multiplexer from the main controller. 
Also coupled to the main controller 10 is a registrar's terminal 50 and a 
printer 52. The registrar's terminal 50 may include a CRT display for 
providing information to the registrar from the main controller 10. The 
terminal 50 may also include a keyboard to allow the registrar to input 
information to the main controller 10. The printer 52 is used to print 
various reports as discussed below. Upon registration, the registrar 
inputs background information regarding a student into a student 
background file stored in the memory of the main controller 10. At this 
time, the main controller assigns the student to a particular course and a 
classroom in which the course is to be taught. The main controller also 
assigns a three digit student identification number to the student to 
allow the student to use the student response system. At registration, a 
response system student data file is also set up in the main controller 
for the student. This file includes the student's identification number, 
name, social security number, the classroom to which the student is 
assigned as well as the course number and class number. The response 
system student data file is also updated when the student signs-on, as 
discussed below, to include the identification number of the keypad used 
by the student and the number of the row controller coupled to the keypad. 
The operation of the student response system depicted in FIG. 1 will now be 
described with reference to FIGS. 4-10. On the first day of a class for a 
particular course, students sit at any seat they desire in the classroom 
to which they are assigned at registration. At the start of the class, the 
instructor enters the course number and class number on the keyboard of 
the instructor's terminal 18. Thereafter a main menu as shown in FIG. 4 is 
displayed on the CRT of the instructor's terminal 18. A portion of the 
main menu display depicts the various menu choices available to the 
instructor including: (1) SIGN ON STUDENTS; (2) ADMINISTER A TEST; (3) 
SURVEY