Abstract:
A method for instructing a student under the direction of a director allows the student to augment his or her core curriculum with tutorials relating to a non-core curriculum such as business administration. The method uses multiple modules in specific topical areas of study. The method may be environment specific so that the student can readily identify and incorporate the non-core curriculum into practice. The non-core curriculum is designed to be appropriate for the level at which the student has obtained. In that regard, the topical areas of study and the modules are organized to introduce concepts and skills at points in the core curriculum of the student that are appropriate to help facilitate maximum absorption. A reporting mechanism will provide the student and director with valuable information regarding the performance of the student.

Description:
BACKGROUND ART  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The invention relates to a method for tutorials to a student body to supplement their educational experience. More particularly, the invention relates to a method for providing tutorials to students through multimedia channels for subjects peripherally related to an area of study.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     Students entering programs for advanced degrees are oftentimes focusing on a very specific area of study. This is especially true in programs having a curriculum centered around a professional service, e.g., medicine, law, engineering, and the like. These programs are multi-year programs requiring the students to obtain vast amounts of information in the specific field of study. In some instances, the area of study may be focused or concentrated on a very particular subject.  
         [0005]     While these students learn and excel in the area of study, they lack an understanding of the business environment in which they are going to work. Unless these students enroll in a program for a business education, such as a masters in business administration, they may lack the skills and understanding to utilize their time and resources in an effective manner. This lack of understanding will reduce the students potential to enjoy a career in a service oriented profession by creating frustrations in the inefficiencies of the work places in which the students find themselves. The students fail at the simple task of being good stewards of the resources placed under their control.  
         [0006]     Students in these situations find it difficult to obtain additional information regarding the business of providing services for several reasons. First, students in advanced degree programs have little time to add additional, traditional studies through organized programs. Second, students tend to lack a desire to enter new fields of study once they have completed their desired program due to a lack of motivation. After several years of studying, a student tends to wish to leave academia and enter the work force. And third, with the costs of tuition constantly rising, few students have the luxury of being able to afford multiple programs.  
         [0007]     In the case of medicine, there is an additional incentive to advance the studies of the students. The medical field would desire the students and residents of various programs to understand basic business principles because these students and residents constitute a significant portion of the economic engine for a medical institution. Having these individuals understand the basic principles of business while they are training and completing their studies provides an economic advantage to the medical institutions. And, should the individuals be employed by those medical institutions after their education has been completed, they will be more efficient in their practices resulting in a higher return for the medical institution and a happier and more fulfilled individual.  
         [0008]     Currently, the offerings for students of professional services in the business arena are limited. Students are left with obtaining additional degrees, attending classes in spare time, or obtaining information through periodicals and publications which they may or may not locate for their particular needs.  
         [0009]     Therefore, there is a need for a program that provides additional training in the field of business for those students of professional services. This need would be best met by a program that can be completed concurrently with a students desired studies.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]     A method for instructing a student under the direction of a director includes the steps of selecting the topical area of study. Once selected, a module of the study within the topical area of study is selected. The module of study is received electronically. Once received the module of study is transmitted through a multimedia device to be received by a student in a period of time less than or equal to forty minutes. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]     Advantages of the invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a flow chart of one embodiment of the inventive method;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart of a second embodiment of the invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart of a third embodiment of the inventive method;  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart of a fourth embodiment of the inventive method; and  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  is an example curriculum employed by the inventive method specifically designed for the medical field. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0017]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , one embodiment of the inventive method is generally indicated at  10 . The method is a way in which a non-core curriculum may be delivered to a student allowing the student to learn from the non-core curriculum while participating in and completing his or her core curriculum. It is understood that the student will be completing his or her core curriculum under the direction of a director or counselor of some kind. The method begins at  12  with a student logging on to the system through a multimedia device. Multimedia devices may include, but are not limited to, computers, televisions, compact disk players, MP3 players, iPod®, and the like. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other means of delivering multimedia content may be used.  
         [0018]     Once the student has started the method  10 , the student selects a topical area of study at  14 . Referring to  FIG. 5 , there are ten topical areas  16  identified. These topical areas  16  relate to the operation of a business in the healthcare industry. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the operation of a business other. than a healthcare facility may be utilized by the inventive method  10 . As is shown, the topical areas  16  may include Economics and Cost Accounting, Operations Management, Organizations Management, Organization of Healthcare, Processes of Care, Financial Analysis, Marketing, Physical Leadership, a Programmatic Approach to Care, Strategy in Negotiation, and Physician Leadership, Part Two. Other topical areas  16  may be incorporated into the curriculum and utilized by the inventive method  10 .  
         [0019]     Once a topical area  16  is selected, the student selects a module within the topical area at  18 . Again returning attention to  FIG. 5 , there are several examples of modules  20  which may be incorporated into a particular topical area. There may be a single module  20  in a topical area  16  or there may be a plurality of modules  20  therewithin. Once a module is selected at  18 , the student receives the multimedia presentation of the module at  20  at  22 . As stated above, the multimedia presentation may be delivered to any device capable of presenting the module.  
         [0020]     Because students are very busy, oftentimes juggling studies with jobs and a family, there is little hope that a student will view the entire module  20  if it is the length of a standard lecture on a particular subject. Therefore, the modules  20  are less than or equal to forty minutes in length. In the preferred embodiment, the period of time of a module  20  is approximately twenty minutes in length. The short period of time allows a student to view a module at his or her convenience with a relative certainty that a student may complete the module  20  in a single, uninterrupted period. The inventive method  10  also include the opportunity to hear or view review questions at  24 . These questions are designed to facilitate a more complete understanding of the content delivered to the student by the module  20 . Once completed with the review questions, the student is able to complete a test at  26 . The answers to the test are corrected at  28 . Once the answers are completed and corrected, a report of the test results is sent to the student and the director of the student, at  30 . Because the inventive method  10  is typically given over an electronic device that provides for multi-directional communication, the report will be delivered to the student and the director almost immediately after it is generated. This will provide the proper feedback to the student and the director as to the comprehension of the content in the module  20  by the student. Once the report is delivered, the inventive method ends at  32 .  
         [0021]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , wherein like prime numeral represent similar steps as those found in  FIG. 1 , discussed above, the inventive method  10 ′ begins much the same way the inventive method of the first embodiment. This second embodiment of the inventive method  10 ′ continues after the report test results step  30 ′ by producing a comprehensive results report at  34 . The comprehensive results report will include information regarding all of the test results for that student up until that point. In addition, information regarding how quickly a student finishes a program may be included in the comprehensive results report. Other statistical information may include, but not limited to, statistical results relating to the students performance as compared with the rest of the class to which the student belongs, class results as compared with classes from other years or institutions, and the like. The test results are then associated with the student at  36 . A cumulative results report for the student is then generated at  38 . The cumulative results report will include all of the test results of all modules  20  taken by the student over the course of the program. Because this program is designed to be an augmentation to a formal curriculum, the student may complete all the modules ahead of his or her completion of the formal curriculum. Regardless, the cumulative results report will include all of the test results and be accessible by the student and the director of the student.  
         [0022]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a third embodiment of the inventive method  10 ″ is shown, wherein like double primed numerals represent similar steps as those disclosed in the first  10  and second  10 ′ inventive methods. The only step that is different in the third embodiment from the second embodiment is when the cumulative results test is created. In the third embodiment of the inventive method  10 ″, the cumulative results report is generated for the student upon graduation at  40 . In this embodiment, the topical areas  16  and the modules  20  will be more structured in their application. This will result in a student completing the complete informal curriculum at the same time that the student completes the formal curriculum. This is designed to prevent a student from moving forward in the informal curriculum too quickly such that the information obtained from the latter portion of the topical areas  16  will not be as readily understood by the student until the student reaches a certain level in the student&#39;s formal curriculum. More specifically, the content of a topical area  16  and/or a module  20  and its sophistication will only be provided to a student when that topical area  16  is relevant to the student, based upon the position of the student in his or her formal curriculum. By way of example, first year residents in a medical doctorate program will not have access to leadership modules because they are not ready for those topics. First year residents are more concerned about obtaining experience and information than they are about learning how to lead a group or organization.  
         [0023]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , wherein like triple primed numerals represent similar steps to those of the first through third embodiments, a fourth embodiment of the inventive method is generally indicated at  10 ′″. In this embodiment, the notion of limiting access of specific topical areas  16  and/or modules  20  is more formally controlled. Specifically, after a student selects a topical area of study at  14 ′″, it is then determined whether the topical area  20  is commensurate with the level of study of the student at  42 . If so, the student is allowed to select a module  20  within the topical area  16  at  18 ′″. If not the method then asks the student to select another topical area  16  at  44 . The method then loops back to provide the student the opportunity to select a topical area  16  of study at  14 ′″.  
         [0024]     Likewise, when the student selects a particular module  22  within a topical area  20 , at  18 ′″, the inventive method  10 ′″ determines whether the module  20  is commensurate with the level of study for the student at  46 . If so, the multimedia presentation of the module  20  is presented to the student at  22 ′″. If not, the inventive method  10 ′″ asks the student to select another module  20  at  48 . The method  10 ′″ then loops back to a point therein that allows the student to select another module  16  at  18 ′″.  
         [0025]     Every topical area  16  stands on its own. Generally, this means that the student may jump ahead at any time. There are no prerequisites for the curriculum and no prerequisites for any individual topical area  16 . Most modules  20  also stand on their own. Therefore, a student may take the modules  20  within a topical area  16  in any order. For that matter, the student may take the modules  20  of multiple topical areas  16  in any order. It is designed that this informal curriculum outlined in  FIG. 5  will take approximately three years to complete. This will allow a resident to develop his or her business skills in tandem with his or her clinical skills. The clinical experiences will inform and reinforce the business concepts. Likewise, the business concepts will inform and reinforce the clinical experiences.  
         [0026]     The invention has been described in an illustrative manner. It is to be understood that the terminology, which has been used, is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation.  
         [0027]     Many modifications and variations of the invention are possible in light of the above teachings. Therefore, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described.