Abstract:
A method, system, and computer program product for creating educational worksheets is provided. In one embodiment, a worksheet creation wizard receives worksheet selection criteria from a teacher. The worksheet selection criteria may include, for example, grade level, textbook title, and number of questions of a specific type and difficulty level. Question type may include multiple choice, true/false, and short answer. Once the selection criteria have been entered, the worksheet creation wizard retrieves appropriate questions matching the selection criteria from a question database and creates a worksheet. The worksheet creation wizard may also allow a teacher or administrator to enter questions into the question database as well as allows students to take practice exams utilizing questions from the question database and obtain instantaneous scoring results as well as possible explanations of answers.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to computer software and, more particularly to educational software, and even more particularly to software for creating worksheets. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     In today&#39;s education system, classroom curriculums and lesson plans are becoming more challenging and time consuming to construct year after year. Parents ask teachers to make themselves available to students after school and off-hours to assist them with lessons. Meanwhile, school budget cuts force reduction in the number of teachers assistants and reduce time spent between students and teachers. Teachers are faced with higher education achievement goals each school year, but due to the increasing demands on their time, the likelihood of achieving those goals decreases. 
     One problem that confronts many teachers is the lack of a tool allowing them to create practice worksheets, tests, and quizzes for students dynamically and quickly. Each of these worksheets requires an adequate amount of time from the teacher to generate and review. However, with their services at a high demand, and student to teacher ratio rising, spare time for teachers is limited. 
     Typically teachers will receive lesson plans from textbook publishers. However, some teachers prefer not to use the material and would rather create their own. Furthermore, some of the textbook material is not covered or reviewed during the school year, thus, some modification to the worksheets are warranted. Since some worksheets are hard copied, they can easily get misplaced and storing them can be difficult. Furthermore, some worksheets that are on electronic media do not allow the flexibility to remove or modify problems. However, there are times when teachers need to add questions to or remove questions from the worksheet, but are unable to do so due to the lack of flexibility of the electronic media. 
     Usually a limited quantity of worksheets accompany the textbooks for individual chapter/units. If the students completed the worksheets and require additional practice on a chapter, teachers are required to create these themselves. In addition, many of the schools do not leverage other teachers&#39; existing home-made practice problems who are also part of the same school district. It would be nice to have a process where teachers can review other teachers&#39; worksheets within the same district to minimize time necessity of generating new tests, quizzes or homework problems. 
     Also missing in many schools is the ability for proactive students seeking additional practice problems to find extra problems and complete them at their own convenience. When students need additional help, they must contact their teacher and ask for such problems. The time for the student to request such material and for the teacher to generate such material can reach a couple days. 
     Therefore, it would be desirable to have a tool that allows students quick access to additional homework problems with instant results, allows teachers to minimize time to generate tests/quizzes/homework worksheets, and allows teachers within a district to leverage and pool common questions in a repository. Furthermore, it would be desirable to have a solution to creation of tests/quizzes/homework worksheets that reduces the administrative tasks at hand for creating worksheets and allows teachers to spend more time one on one with students. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a method, system, and computer program product for creating educational worksheets. In one embodiment, a worksheet creation wizard receives worksheet selection criteria from a teacher. The worksheet selection criteria may include, for example, grade level, textbook title, and number of questions of a specific type and difficulty level. Question type may include multiple choice, true/false, and short answer. Once the selection criteria have been entered, the worksheet creation wizard retrieves appropriate questions matching the selection criteria from a question database and creates a worksheet. The worksheet creation wizard may also allow a teacher or administrator to enter questions into the question database as well as allows students to take practice exams utilizing questions from the question database and obtain instantaneous scoring results as well as possible explanations of answers. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  depicts a pictorial representation of a distributed data processing system in which the present invention may be implemented; 
         FIG. 2  depicts a block diagram of a data processing system which may be implemented as a server in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  depicts a block diagram of a data processing system in which the present invention may be implemented; 
         FIGS. 4-11  depict exemplary user interfaces illustrating creation of a worksheet in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIGS. 12-15  depict exemplary user interfaces for allowing students to log into the worksheet wiz, retrieve and use worksheets in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference now to the figures, and in particular with reference to  FIG. 1 , a pictorial representation of a distributed data processing system is depicted in which the school worksheet wizard of the present invention may be implemented. 
     The worksheet wizard (Worksheet Wiz) of the present invention is a tool that allows teachers to enter questions into a repository, stored by the grade level, subject, chapter/topic and is capable of creating worksheets (test, quiz, homework) on demand without exerting much time. The questions can also be refined to include other information such for querying capability. Worksheet Wiz may also have a web portal allowing students to gain access and go through some of the problems at their convenience. 
     If Worksheet Wiz&#39;s repository is available throughout the school district, teachers in similar grades can input questions pertaining to their subject and allow other teachers to utilize their questions. The collaboration between the teachers can be used to optimize knowledge within the district and allow them to free up some time originally spent on worksheet creation. 
     Worksheet Wiz, in some embodiments, is designed to be platform independent, since many of the schools use Apple Macintosh as well as IBM clones. Thus, in some embodiments, the application will be designed to support both platforms as well as any other platforms desired. 
     Distributed data processing system  100  is a network of computers in which the worksheet wiz of the present invention may be implemented. Distributed data processing system  100  contains network  102 , which is the medium used to provide communications links between various devices and computers connected within distributed data processing system  100 . Network  102  may include permanent connections, such as wire or fiber optic cables, or temporary connections made through telephone connections. 
     In the depicted example, server  104  is connected to network  102 , along with storage unit  106 . Storage unit  106  is the repository for worksheets created by teachers within the school. In addition, clients  108 ,  110 ,  112 ,  120 , and  122  are also connected to network  102 . These clients,  108 ,  110 ,  112 ,  120 , and  122  may be, for example, personal computers or network computers. For purposes of this application, a network computer is any computer coupled to a network that receives a program or other application from another computer coupled to the network. In the depicted example, server  104  provides access to school worksheet wiz pages and data, to clients  108 ,  110 ,  112 ,  120 , and  122 . Clients  108 ,  110 ,  112 ,  120 , and  122  are clients to server  104 . Distributed data processing system  100  may include additional servers, clients, and other devices not shown. 
     Distributed data processing system  100  also includes printers  114 ,  116  and  118 . A client, such as client  110  or client  120 , may print directly to a printer  114  or  124  respectively. Clients such as client  108 , client  112 , and client  122  do not have directly attached printers. These clients  108 ,  112 , and  122  may print to printer  116 , which is attached to server  104 , or to printer  118 , which is a network printer that does not require connection to a computer for printing documents. Clients  110  and  120 , alternatively, may print to printer  116  or printer  118 , depending on the printer type and the document requirements. 
     In the depicted example, teachers utilize clients  120  and  122  to log into the worksheet wiz to create a quiz, worksheets, study questions, or an exam. The worksheet wiz application may be stored and executed on clients  120  and  122  or may be provided by server  106 , such as, for example, through the use of web pages provided to clients  120  and  122 . The teacher must authenticate themselves to the worksheet wiz in order to verify that the person logging on is a teacher and not an imposter, such as, for example, a student. This helps protect the integrity of the worksheets, quizzes, study questions, and exams created by a teacher. 
     Once the teacher is logged into the worksheet wiz, the teacher may enter new questions or peruse a list of previously entered questions in order to create. If entering questions, the teacher may simply type the questions into, for example, client  120 , or, alternatively, may scan a sheet of questions into the worksheet wiz through, for example, scanner  128 . The worksheet wiz may include character recognition software to determine the content of the scanned document so that the questions from the document may be separated from one another and stored as searchable content on worksheet wiz database  106 . 
     Questions may be organized by several different categories in a searchable database  106 . For example, questions may be tagged with information that indicates the grade level (e.g., 1 st  grade, 2 nd  grade, 11 th  grade), the main subject area (e.g., math, reading, foreign language, geography), and sub-sets of subject areas (e.g., addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc.). Questions may also be tagged with information indicating the source of the question (e.g., the teacher who first created or entered the question into the worksheet wiz or the workbook or textbook from which the question was drawn). Other information, as will be recognized by those skilled in the art, may be stored with the questions as well. Thus, a teacher can search on a number of different areas in order to locate and retrieve appropriate questions to peruse. 
     Once the teacher has retrieved and/or entered a list of questions, the teacher can select those questions that should be included in a quiz, worksheet, study guide, or exam. Alternatively, the teacher may merely select the type of questions, the level of difficulty, and the number to include and allow the worksheet wizard to select the questions that match the teacher&#39;s criteria. The worksheet wiz then creates the appropriate document, formatted according to standardized methods or formatted according to a teacher customizable format, and stores the document (e.g., exam, quiz, worksheet, study guide) in worksheet wiz database  106 . Additional information, such as, for example, the date created, document name, subject area, and teacher name maybe stored in worksheet wiz database  106  as well and associated with the document to allow a teacher or student to search the database  106  for a specific document. 
     Once the document has been created and stored, the teacher may print the document to, for example, printer  124 . Alternatively, students may retrieve the document via network  102  using, for example, one of clients  108 - 112 . The students may answer the questions on-line through clients  108 - 112  and have instant feedback presented regarding whether they answered correctly and, if not, be presented with the correct answer and possibly the rationale behind why the one answer is correct. Alternatively, the students may print the document to, for example, printer  114 , and study and/or answer the questions at a later time. 
     Other teachers may also retrieve documents created by other teachers. Thus, if a document suitable for a teacher&#39;s needs already exists within the worksheet wiz, then rather than having to create a new document, the teacher may choose instead to utilize an existing document. Thereby, saving the teacher time and allowing the teacher to devote more time to interacting with the students and less time to administrative tasks. Furthermore, because teachers can search and observe individual test questions created by others, if a document completely suiting a teacher&#39;s needs is not present in the worksheet wiz database  106 , the teacher can perhaps create a document by simply selecting appropriate questions from a list of questions already contained within worksheet wiz database  106 , thereby still saving precious time for the teacher. Also, because the teacher may select from existing questions or enter new questions and mix and match pre-existing questions with newly entered questions, the teacher can create completely customized quizzes, exams, worksheets, and study guides, but can do so with minimal effort and certainly with much less effort than if the teacher had to create the questions, type the questions, and format the document. 
     In the depicted example, distributed data processing system  100  is the Internet, with network  102  representing a worldwide collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols to communicate with one another. At the heart of the Internet is a backbone of high-speed data communication lines between major nodes or host computers consisting of thousands of commercial, government, education, and other computer systems that route data and messages. Of course, distributed data processing system  100  also may be implemented as a number of different types of networks such as, for example, an intranet, a school&#39;s local area network (LAN), or a wide area network (WAN). Furthermore, in addition to passwords and user identifications, security measures, such as, for example, encryption and implementation of a virtual private network, may be utilized in order to protect the integrity of the system. 
       FIG. 1  is intended as an example and not as an architectural limitation for the processes of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a block diagram of a data processing system which may be implemented as a server, such as server  104  in  FIG. 1 , is depicted in accordance with the present invention. Data processing system  200  may be a symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) system including a plurality of processors  202  and  204  connected to system bus  206 . Alternatively, a single processor system may be employed. Also connected to system bus  206  is memory controller/cache  208 , which provides an interface to local memory  209 . I/O bus bridge  210  is connected to system bus  206  and provides an interface to I/O bus  212 . Memory controller/cache  208  and I/O bus bridge  210  may be integrated as depicted. 
     Peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus bridge  214  connected to I/O bus  212  provides an interface to PCI local bus  216 . A number of modems  218 - 220  may be connected to PCI bus  216 . Typical PCI bus implementations will support four PCI expansion slots or add-in connectors. Communications links to network computers  108 - 112  in  FIG. 1  may be provided through modem  218  and network adapter  220  connected to PCI local bus  216  through add-in boards. 
     Additional PCI bus bridges  222  and  224  provide interfaces for additional PCI buses  226  and  228 , from which additional modems or network adapters may be supported. In this manner, server  200  allows connections to multiple network computers. A memory mapped graphics adapter  230  and hard disk  232  may also be connected to I/O bus  212  as depicted, either directly or indirectly. 
     Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware depicted in  FIG. 2  may vary. For example, other peripheral devices, such as optical disk drives and the like, also may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted. The depicted example is not meant to imply architectural limitations with respect to the present invention. 
     Data processing system  200  may be implemented as, for example, an AlphaServer GS1280 running a UNIX® operating system. AlphaServer GS1280 is a product of Hewlett-Packard Company of Palo Alto, Calif. “AlphaServer” is a trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company. “UNIX” is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries 
     With reference now to  FIG. 3 , a block diagram of a data processing system in which the present invention may be implemented is illustrated. Data processing system  300  is an example of a client computer, such as, for example any one of clients  108 ,  110 ,  112 ,  120 , and  122  depicted in  FIG. 1 . Data processing system  300  employs a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) local bus architecture. Although the depicted example employs a PCI bus, other bus architectures, such as Micro Channel and ISA, may be used. Processor  302  and main memory  304  are connected to PCI local bus  306  through PCI bridge  308 . PCI bridge  308  may also include an integrated memory controller and cache memory for processor  302 . Additional connections to PCI local bus  306  may be made through direct component interconnection or through add-in boards. In the depicted example, local area network (LAN) adapter  310 , SCSI host bus adapter  312 , and expansion bus interface  314  are connected to PCI local bus  306  by direct component connection. In contrast, audio adapter  316 , graphics adapter  318 , and audio/video adapter (A/V)  319  are connected to PCI local bus  306  by add-in boards inserted into expansion slots. Expansion bus interface  314  provides a connection for a keyboard and mouse adapter  320 , modem  322 , and additional memory  324 . In the depicted example, SCSI host bus adapter  312  provides a connection for hard disk drive  326 , tape drive  328 , CD-ROM drive  330 , and digital video disc read only memory drive (DVD-ROM)  332 . Typical PCI local bus implementations will support three or four PCI expansion slots or add-in connectors. 
     An operating system runs on processor  302  and is used to coordinate and provide control of various components within data processing system  300  in  FIG. 3 . The operating system may be a commercially available operating system, such as Windows XP, which is available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. “Windows XP” is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. An object oriented programming system, such as Java, may run in conjunction with the operating system, providing calls to the operating system from Java programs or applications executing on data processing system  300 . Instructions for the operating system, the object-oriented operating system, and applications or programs are located on a storage device, such as hard disk drive  326 , and may be loaded into main memory  304  for execution by processor  302 . 
     Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware in  FIG. 3  may vary depending on the implementation. For example, other peripheral devices, such as optical disk drives and the like, may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted in  FIG. 3 . The depicted example is not meant to imply architectural limitations with respect to the present invention. For example, the processes of the present invention may be applied to multiprocessor data processing systems. 
     Turning now to  FIGS. 4-11 , exemplary user interfaces illustrating creation of a worksheet are depicted in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Teachers are able to access Worksheet Wiz from either a client machine in their classroom, webpage, or from their home machine. Initially, a login page  400  as depicted in  FIG. 4  will be presented to the user allowing the user to enter a user name  402  and password  404 . 
     Once logged in, teachers will be presented with an interface  500  depicted in  FIG. 5  allowing the teacher to choose what action they would like to perform. For example, the teacher may have the selection choices  502 - 510 . In this example, the five choices  502 - 510  a teacher can select are 1) Creating a homework assignment  502 , 2) Creating a test  504 , 3) Submit a question to the school repository  506 , 4) Save a question to personal repository  508 , 5) Approve a question submitted to the school repository  510  (typically, only a select few will have this privilege). 
     If a teacher wishes to create a test, they would select “Create Test”  504  from the screen  500  displayed in  FIG. 5 . The next sequence of screens  600 ,  700 , and  800  that appear, will ask for the grade you are looking to build a test for (See  FIG. 6 ), the subject/chapter (See  FIG. 7 ), and the detailed requirements for building a test (See  FIG. 8 ). Screen  800  in  FIG. 8  is where a teacher can specify the # of questions  802 , range of chapters to include on the test  804 , where to retrieve the questions from (the teachers own personal repository or the school districts repository)  806  and  808 , the % of questions that should be easy/moderate/difficult questions  810 - 814  and question composition  816 - 824 . A suggested feature will be to either print the test  826  and make multiple copies, and also to print a Braille version  828  for students that may be blind. If there is a shared Braille printer used by the district, we can utilize the specific drivers for that printer and make it easy for teachers to produce a Braille printout. 
     If a teacher decides to add questions to the repository by selecting the third choice  506  in  FIG. 5 , they have a choice to input the question into a personal repository or into the district&#39;s repository. By selecting the third  506  or fourth choice  508  from screen  500  depicted in  FIG. 5 , users will see the “Add Question”  900  screen depicted in  FIG. 9  which prompts a user to select a question type  902  (e.g., true/false, multiple choice (3 choices), multiple choice (4 choices), multiple choice (5 choices), short answer) and complexity level  904  (e.g., easy, moderate, and complex). 
     In a first scenario, we walk thru adding a True/False question. The teacher will select True/False, from the question type list  902 , and choose the complexity level  904 . Once those are completed, the lower half of the screen will display a textbox  1002 , as depicted in screen  1000  in  FIG. 10 , where a teacher can type in the question, with the correct answer selected from drop down menu  1004 . 
     A second scenario, illustrated by screen  1100  in  FIG. 11 , shows what a multiple choice question with 4 answers would look like. In this scenario, the teacher has selected multiple choice (4 choices) from question type  902  and a complexity level  904  from screen  900 . Once the question  1102 , answer choices  1104 - 1110 , and correct answer from drop down list  1112  have been completed, the teacher submits the question to the repository by selecting submit question button  1114 . 
     If the teacher decided to submit the question to the district repository by selecting the fourth choice  508 , an approval team would then need to go in and determine whether the question is an acceptable question for the intended grade level and matches the complexity level described by the teacher. The approval process is only available to certain individuals by selecting the fifth choice  510  in screen  500  depicted in  FIG. 5 . The benefit of having an approval board for all questions submitted to the school districts repository is to receive feedback from others and verify the questions are suitable for the students. In the past 2003 school year, New York State (NYS) Math and Physics Regents exam were scrutinized for the difficult level of questions that students were held accountable for in comparison with 2002 exams. Having a governing body that approved complexity level of questions could help avoid such trouble. 
     Turning now to  FIGS. 12-15 , exemplary user interfaces for allowing students to log into the worksheet wiz, retrieve and use worksheets is depicted in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. A web portal is provided that allows students to login to the districts website and select a particular class that they are seeking further assistance with. By logging into Worksheet Wiz&#39;s web portal screen  1200  with their student IDs  1202  and password  1204 , the students have access to the same repository that teachers have provided. This will allow students to quickly access additional problems without waiting for teachers to create the worksheets. (However, some questions may be reserved by teachers for test or exam questions and not made available to the students.) 
     After logging into the worksheet wiz, the students will be presented with a subject selection screen  1300  depicted in  FIG. 13  which will allow the student to select a subject from a list  1302 . The students may then be presented with a choice as to the difficulty of questions, the number of questions of each selected difficulty level, and the number and type of questions desired from each difficult level selected. The students will then be presented a question  1402 , as depicted in screen  1400  in  FIG. 14 , from their chosen subject in screen  1400  with possible answers  1404 - 1410  displayed for the student to select from. Once the student has answered all the questions presented, the student will be presented with a results screen  1500  as depicted in  FIG. 15 , which the results of the test and allows to view the questions by clicking on a question number, such as question Q 7   1502 . Thus, the students will be able to view the correct answer immediately without waiting. Parents will be able to assist by printing forms for their children and helping them with any questions. 
     In addition to the services and functionality described above, worksheet wiz could include additional enhancements. For example, worksheet wiz could include additional services that teachers use day to day. These services may include, for example, grade tracking for report cards, attendance, teacher notes, and calendar/journal entries and student information. Worksheet Wiz can also have instant messaging chat rooms where teachers and students can also communicate for any extra help. Worksheet Wiz can also expand to include ‘books-online’ reference material for students. This allow for easier, quicker and cheaper mechanism to updating the content. 
     It is important to note that while the present invention has been described in the context of a fully functioning data processing system, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the processes of the present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of a computer readable medium of instructions and a variety of forms and that the present invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media actually used to carry out the distribution. Examples of computer readable media include recordable-type media such a floppy disc, a hard disk drive, a RAM, and CD-ROMs and transmission-type media such as digital and analog communications links. 
     The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention, the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.