Patent GB-1189642-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to Teaching Machines.
Inventor: STEELE MALCOLM STUART
IPC: G09B7/073
Filed: 1967-04-02
Abstract: 1,189,642. Teaching apparatus. GRUNDY & PARTNERS Ltd., M. S. STEELE and M. E. SIME. 2 April, 1967, No. 52996/65. Heading G5G. A teaching machine system for use by a group of students comprises common presentation means for successively presenting a sequence of instructional items of question and multi-choice answer form, a plurality of student response units each arranged for operation to indicate by way of respective electrical signals a student's responses to said items, and a control unit coupled with the presentation means and response units and adapted in at least one mode of operation to control the successive presentation in response to at least some of said electrical signals. The presentation means may comprise one or a plurality of units e.g. a projection system including a micro-film, cine film or slides or a magnetic tape recording system and the presentation may be audio and/or visual. In the illustrated embodiment the instruction items are frames on a cine film which carries control items associated with each question and comprised by two areas which are transparent or opaque. The control unit comprises relays RL1, RL2 (Fig. 1) energized or not in response to photo-cells sensing the areas on the film. The state of the relays sets up a positive supply to one line A-D corresponding to the correct one of four possible answers and a negative supply to the incorrect lines. A correct answer may also be set up by manual buttons PBA-PBD. Lamps LA-LD indicate the correct answer to the tutor. Each pupil unit includes four switches corresponding to the possible answers. A pupil's selection is indicated permanently at the control unit until the film is advanced and temporarily at the pupil unit by lamps. A pupil may make more than one response, but only the first answer affects the control unit. Each wrong answer energizes an error counter. The control unit also includes a timer circuit (Fig. 5) which is so arranged that a trigger pulse may be transmitted via tutor operated switches PS1-PS3 to the relay RL8 depending as to whether (a) a predetermined interval has passed i.e. switch PS1 closed; (b) the predetermined interval has elapsed and a predetermined proportion of pupils have responded to a question i.e. switch PS2 closed; or (c) all the pupils have responded i.e. switch PS3 closed. Energization of the relay RL8 switches over contact RL8/1 to energize relay RL7. The contacts of relay RL7 switch to (a) energize relay RL9 which opens contacts in the lines A-D; (b) effect stepping of the film; and (c) charge a capacitor C2. Upon de-energizing of relay RL7 relay RL6 is energized and its contacts switch to cause resetting of the system to its inoperative state and to restart a time switch TS. The pupil's responses may be recorded. A part of the control circuit (Fig. 6, not shown) is so arranged that two student groups can compete, the winning group being that having the greatest number of correct responses. In a modified embodiment the timer circuit is responsive only to correct answers. In a further embodiment (Fig. 8, not shown) an output from a device (11) represents the proportion of correct answers. Adjustable detectors (S1a) (S1b) are actuated upon receiving different outputs from the device (11). The outputs from the detectors when received at a store (12) produce a further output which actuates an adjustable store (13). The output from (S1b) also actuates a further store (14). The outputs from the stores (13, 14) are compared and when equal produce a signal to trigger the programme stepping arrangement. A detector (S2a) indicates a relatively high proportion, e.g. 100% of correct responses. The stores (13, 14) may each be a reversible electric motor or a digital counter, the counter being controlled by an adjustable frequency pulse generator.