Patent ID: 12223855

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The inventor has conceived of novel technology that, for the purpose of illustration, is disclosed herein as applied in the context of guided learning software. While the disclosed applications of the inventors' technology satisfy a long-felt but unmet need in the art of guided learning, it should be understood that the inventors' technology is not limited to being implemented in the precise manners set forth herein, but could be implemented in other manners without undue experimentation by those of ordinary skill in the art in light of this disclosure. Accordingly, the examples set forth herein should be understood as being illustrative only, and should not be treated as limiting.

Turning now to the figures,FIG.1is a schematic diagram of an exemplary system (10) configured to provide guided learning. A server (100) may include one or more physical servers, cloud servers, or other server or computing environments, and may include one or more processors distributed across such environments. A set of decision trees (102) may be stored in a database or in a computer memory as a collection, set, tree, or other data structure that is capable of expressing the relationship between individual locations on the tree and portions of the tree. As an example, a database may store information that may be accessed by the server (100) and used to build the decision trees (102) in memory where they may be readily accessed during guided learning. The decision trees (102) provide a number of actions that may be performed by or with the aid of the server (100) during guided learning, and the relationship between individual locations of the tree is usable by the server (100) to allow students and classes to traverse between locations of the tree based upon their performance during guided learning, as will be described in more detail below.

The server (100) is also configured to execute and provide an assessment and intervention engine (104), which includes a series of processes that, when executed, will generate customized materials that are usable during guided learning. The server (100) is also configured to provide a graphical user interface (106) to users of the platform. This interface (106) may be, for example, a website, a software application, an interface, or another communication channel that may be utilized by a user device (108,110), which may be a smartphone, laptop, tablet, or other computing device capable of allowing the user to interact with the interface (106) over a network.

FIG.2is a flowchart of an exemplary set of steps that may be performed to provide guided learning for a class of students. A class interface may be provided (200) to an administrator or educator of a class of students as part of the interface (106). In addition to providing basic information such as the names of students in the class, the class interface may also provide a number of indications throughout a school year that a screening assessment should be performed for a class, and may also be used to generate screening assessment materials, as will be described in more detail below. In some implementations, the number and type of screening assessments will correspond directly to portions of a decision tree (102) for that particular grade. A particularly effective way to conduct screening assessments is for the class interface to produce digital files (e.g., PDFs or other electronic documents) that may be printed by an educator and given to students to complete with a pencil or pen. The completed assessment may be graded by the educator to produce a score (e.g., number of questions correctly answered, number of correct digits in each answer, or another metric) which may be provided to the system via the class interface. In this manner, the educator and students may benefit from the guided learning provided by the platform while the educator remains the primary point of interaction with students.

Based upon the results of class screening (202), the system will determine (204) whether a particular branch of a decision tree should be entered. While a structure of the decision tree will be discussed in more detail below, it may be helpful to visualize a plurality of screening assessments as a “trunk” of the tree, with each screening assessment of the trunk leading to a multi-level branching path that may be traversed by entire classes or by individual students depending upon the scores from various screening assessments and sub-assessments. Where scores of a screening assessment are above a threshold configured for each particular screening assessment, the system will traverse (206) the class to a next screening skill (e.g., remaining on the “trunk” of the tree), and a subsequent class screening may be performed (202) on the next skill within several weeks.

Where a substantial number of students in the class (e.g., between about 40% and about 60%) produce assessment scores that are below the threshold, the system will traverse (208) the entire class to a first branch of that screening skill, which will typically be a sub-skill that is related to the more general screening skill (e.g., where a screening skill is 2-digit numbers multiplied by 2-digit numbers, a sub-skill may be 2-digit numbers multiplied by 1-digit numbers).

Where the class as a whole performs well on the assessments screening, such that class intervention (208) is not needed on that skill, one or more students may instead traverse (206) to a first branch of the screening skill. The decision trees (102) that are traversed by classes (208) and by individuals (206) may be the same decision trees, or may be different decision trees (e.g., a decision tree for 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication for an entire class may have a different structure than that traversed by an individual within the class).

Where an entire class is traversing (208) a branch of the decision tree, subsequent assessments on the screening skill may result in the classwide intervention ending (e.g., such as where the scores for most of the class rise above the threshold for intervention). In such cases, individual students that are still experiencing issues (210) may be routed to individual traversal (206) of the decision tree, as has been described. Where no issues exist (210), or where individual traversal (206) of the tree results in subsequent scores that are above a threshold indicating mastery of the skill, the individuals or the class may traverse and be returned (212) to the trunk of the decision tree, such that they will be assessed on a different screening skill in the subsequent weeks. While some portions of the guided learning process require manual intervention by educators (e.g., printing and providing assessments to students, entering student scores into the system) and students (e.g., completing assessments), the traversal of the decision trees (102) is entirely automated, and causes the interface (106) to automatically change and update such that the educator is always provided with the specific materials and tools that are needed for a particular location that a class or individual is on the decision tree (102). These features and other advantageous features of the disclosed system will be described in more detail below.

FIG.3is a schematic diagram of an exemplary data structure that may be created and managed by the system to provide traversable decision trees (102). Screening skill assessments (e.g., the “trunk”) are shown to the left, including a skill A1assessment (222), skill B1assessment (240), skill C1assessment, and so on, with the number of screening skills varying per grade level. Each screening skill branches off to the right to include a set of branches or sub-skills, such as a skill A2(224), skill A3, skill A4(238), skill B2(242), and so on, with the number of branches or sub-skills varying per grade level and per trunk skill (e.g., skill A1(222)). An entire class or an individual student may traverse outwards along the branches (e.g., skill A1to A2, A2to A3, A3to A4) based upon score results from assessments, and may also traverse inwards towards the trunk one branch at a time (e.g., skill A4to A3, A3to A2) or directly (e.g., A4to A1), again depending upon the score results that are entered into the system after assessments.

The branches for skills A2(224) and A3are shown in more detailed form, though it should be understood that each branch may have similar contents. Entry into the skill A2branch (224) begins with a range determination (226) of the score from the A1assessment (222). Ranges are represented as high, mid, and low, though the particular score ranges will vary and may be configured based upon the particular assessment (e.g., ranges may cover equal distributions of scores, but are not required to do so). A high score range will indicate that the student has at least partially mastered the assessed skills (e.g., in some cases a general skill such as A1may be assessed in combination with a sub-skill such as A2), and will typically result in a traversal (244) partially or fully back to the entry point. In the case of the branch A2(224), a high score will exit the branch and return to the trunk since the A1skill has been mastered, such that the next traversal will be to screening skill B1(240).

A mid-range score will indicate that the student, or class, has acquired the assessed skill but must still build fluency in order to master it. In response, the system will automatically generate materials and provide interfaces to provide an instructional script for fluency building for skill A1(230), as well as an assessment for skill A1(231) that will reassess the progress towards mastering skill A1after fluency building.

A low range score will indicate that the student, or class, has not acquired the basics of the assessed skill. In response, the system will automatically generate an assessment (228) for a subsequent skill (e.g., skill A2branch (225)), with the results of that assessment feeding into the A3branch (225) and traversing that branch similarly as described above in the context of the A2branch (224).

The skill A3branch (225) and subsequent branches that are not immediately adjacent to the trunk may have different response characteristics for the skill ranges. For example, the A3branch (225) includes a similar response for a low range score (e.g., assessment of the subsequent skill A3and traversal to the A4branch (238)), but has a different response for mid and high range scores. Mid-range scores result in materials being produced and an interface being provided for fluency building instruction for skill A2(232) and an assessment of the target skill A2as well as the general skill A1(233). Results of this assessment may cause traversal back to branch A2(224) or, if the skills indicate mastery of the general skill A1, traversal back to the trunk and then to skill B2(240). High range scores result in materials being produced and interfaces being provided for acquisition instruction of skill A1(234) and an assessment of the general skill A1(236). Branches may extend outwards from the trunk a variable number (e.g., the skill A1may have branches A2through A20), and the trunk itself may extend downwards a variable number (e.g., to a screening skill Z1), depending upon the particular subject matter, grade level, and other factors, with the particulars of each decision tree being configured by an educator.

With reference toFIG.3, each screening assessment or “trunk” portion (e.g., screening skill A1(222)) and each skill branch (e.g., skill branch A2(224)) may be referred to generally as a node, or more specifically as a trunk node, screening node, branch node, or skill node.

FIG.4is a flowchart of an exemplary set of steps that may be performed to traverse the data structure ofFIG.3in response to the results of an assessment (e.g., either a screening assessment such as A1(222) or a sub-assessment from the A2branch (224)). After an assessment score is received (250), the system may evaluate (252) the score and determine the range that it falls within, as described above. In response (254) to a high score, the system may provide (255) materials and interfaces for acquisition and assessment of a prior skill (e.g., which, in the case of mastery, results in traversing one branch back towards the trunk) and, in some cases, the general skill (e.g., which, in the case of mastery, results in traversing immediately back to the trunk).

In response to a mid-range score (260), the system may provide (262) materials and interfaces for fluency building and assessment for the present skill and, in some cases, the general skill, with the results of such assessment subsequently being received (250) by the system for further traversal. In response to a low-range score (264), the system may provide (266) materials and interfaces for a follow up assessment of and traversal to a subsequent skill branch.

FIG.5is a flowchart of an exemplary set of steps that may be performed to generate materials usable during guided learning. Materials, whether for instruction or assessment, may be generated automatically upon traversal between or within branches of a decision tree, or may be automatically generated in response to a user input such as a selection of a button or other element of the interface (106). In either case, when generating materials, the system may determine (300) what the associated general skill is (e.g., the screening skill, such as skill A1(222) or B1(240)). If the student or class is currently at the trunk, there will be no target skill yet since the target skill will be a sub-skill of the general skill (e.g., A2, B2). Where traversal has occurred away from the trunk, the current target skill will also be determined (304). The system may then identify (306) one or more problem types associated with the determined (300,304) skills. Problem types may be stored in any structured form in a database or other repository, and may be stored as information that defines the general structure of an associated problem with variables in place of integers (e.g., a problem type for 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication might be stored as XY*AB). The system may then generate (308) a configured number of random problems using the identified (306) problem types (e.g., continuing the previous example, random integers may be plugged in for the variables such that XY*AB becomes 12*34).

A set of assessment sheets may then be generated (310) that contain each of the randomly generated (308) problems spaced apart and with sections for students to show their work and provide an answer. The assessment sheets may be produced in any digital file format that can convey text and/or images, such as PDF, DOC, JPG. In some implementations, generation (310) of the assessment sheets may also include automatically sending data to a networked printer to cause the assessment sheets to be printed. This may also include using data stored and associated with the educator user of the platform and/or the class associated with the guided learning to identify a particular printer to print from (e.g., a printer in that educator's classroom), a number of assessments to print (e.g., based upon the number of students in a classwide intervention, or based on a number of students in individual intervention), or a particular student name or identification number to place on each of the printed assessments.

Where the student or class is currently not at the trunk (312), the system may also generate (314) an instructional script to be paired with the generated assessment. As previously described, scripts may be used to provide instruction prior to an assessment, and in some implementations the material provided as part of the script may be targeted at fluency building of nearly mastered skills, or acquisition of new skills. As with the generated (310) assessments, the generated (314) instruction script may be automatically printed to certain locations and customized in various ways. While the instructional content of the script may be statically configured by an educator, customized aspects may include descriptions of students past scores and goal scores for subsequent assessment, may include sections or questions targeted at specific students by name, or may include other dynamic customizations.

FIG.6illustrates a class intervention interface that may be displayed during guided learning. The class intervention interface may be displayed to an educator after a screening skill assessment (e.g., such as skill A1(222)) resulted in a classwide traversal into skill A2branch (224) or beyond. A skill identifier (400) may identify the skill branch that the class has currently traversed to. A set of material generation buttons (402,404) may be provided that an educator may interact with to generate new sets of instructional materials and scripts, or new sets of student assessment materials, or both. A graph (406) shows weekly progress of the students participating in the classwide intervention. Score targets may be shown on the graph (406) that indicate the score range, with scores below an instructional target (410) corresponding generally to low-range scores, scores between a mastery target (408) and instructional target (410) corresponding generally to mid-range scores, and scores above a mastery target (408) corresponding generally to high-range scores, as previously described. Each student, such as a student B (412), may be represented on the graph (406) in varying colors, patterns, or other visually distinctive features, with their weekly scores relative to the shown ranges.

From the graph (406), it can be seen that the class has been participating in a classwide intervention on skill A3for 4 weeks, which may include several rounds of acquisition and/or fluency instruction and subsequent assessment. Use of the materials buttons (402,404) will automatically generate materials appropriate for acquisition and/or fluency building of skill A3. A score submission area (414) may be used by the educator each week to enter the assessment scores for each student for that week. As can be seen, the week4score for student B (412) has not been entered yet, and so the graph (406) has yet to update for that student. An intervention timeline (416) is also displayed, showing a sequence of skills that the class is likely to traverse, with skills that have already been mastered (e.g., skill A5, skill A4) being visually distinct from the current target skill (e.g., skill A3) and subsequent skills (e.g., skills A2, A1, B1, etc.). The intervention timeline (416) may show additional information, such as quarterly goals or dates, estimated dates when each skill may be mastered (e.g., based upon the classes historic average number of weeks to master a skill), or other information. While the decision trees (102) are not visible from the intervention interface, the correspondence between structure and traversal of the tree and the current skill (400), material generation (402,404), and intervention timeline (416) is apparent.

FIG.7illustrates an individual intervention interface that may be displayed during guided learning. As has been described, individual intervention may occur when classwide intervention is not warranted, or when classwide intervention has completed and some individual students still fall within a frustration range of scores (e.g., low-range) for certain assessments. The individual interface is similar to the classwide intervention interface, and may include more detailed information on the individual student. For example,FIG.7shows separate graphs for an intervention target skill, A3, and the general skill, A1.

Where an educator has a number of students participating in individual interventions, the interface may additionally show the interface ofFIG.8, which illustrates an individual intervention grouping interface. The intervention grouping interface shows a list (424) of all students currently participating in individual interventions across a certain grade level (e.g., 2nd grade, 3rd grade), and may extend beyond an individual teacher's classroom. Controls may be provided that allow a teacher to generate (426) a recommended grouping (430) of individual intervention students such that they can be grouped into pairs for fluency building and acquisition instruction, as well as for assessment completion. The interface may also include a button usable to notify (428) the groups, which may cause an electronic communication to be sent to the classroom teacher notifying them of the grouping, or may be sent to the student themselves (e.g., a notification may be sent to the teacher of class B indicating that Student E has been paired with Student I, and that Student F has been paired with Student D). The recommended grouping (430) list may be automatically generated based upon the current skill each student is working on, the class that each student is in, or other factors that may be available to the system such as student schedules or preferences.

FIG.9illustrates a learning coach interface that may be displayed during guided learning. The learning coach interface is intended to be used by principal or other administrator of a school in order to develop an understanding of the use of the guided learning platform across an entire school. A grade average area (500) shows the average number of weeks that it takes each grade level to master a skill (e.g., traverse from skill A3back to skill A2). A classwide intervention area (502) shows the grade level and teacher for each class that is currently participating in an intervention.

A score recency column shows the number of weeks since assessment skills were last provided for a class. Ideally, assessment scores should be entered every week, so a score recency of 1 week or more may indicate a problem. A progress column shows the number of skills that the class has mastered, and how many skills remain, and may generally correspond to the intervention timeline (416) for each class. A consistency column shows the percentage of weeks that a score was entered for assessments. A 100% consistency indicates every week, while 50% would indicate that a score was entered for 5 weeks out of 10, and so on. As with recency, a lower consistency score may indicate a problem. A weeks per skill column shows an average number of weeks that it takes that class to master each skill, which may provide a useful comparison to the weeks per skill metric shown in the grade average area (500). A scores increasing column shows the percentage of students in that class intervention whose scores are increasing each week (e.g., a steady increase in the graph (406) ofFIG.6). A visit recommended column indicates, for each class, whether a visit from the learning coach is warranted. The visit recommended column may be automatically updated by the system on a daily or weekly basis, and the determination may be made based upon other factors such as score recency, consistency, percentage of scores increasing, or other metrics as will be described in more detail below.

A coaching visit section may identify each class for which a coaching visit or some other intervention is recommended. Coaching visits will generally be recommended for classes where the educator in charge of the manual portions of the guided learning platform is not timely or consistent in providing assessment scores and generating instructional materials, or where the class is not showing sufficient progress. In some implementations, buttons may be provided that may be clicked to automatically send a reminder to the educator of that class (504) (e.g., describing an issue with recency and/or consistency and reminding the teacher to promptly present the instructional materials and submit the assessment scores), to schedule a coaching visit (e.g., provide an electronic communication to the teacher with a time and location of a meeting with the learning coach), or to set a follow up reminder (e.g., to check back on the teacher and class progress in a set number of weeks). The learning coach interface may also include a recommended grouping area (430), as described above, such that the learning coach may generate, notify, and coordinate paired groupings of students across an entire school

FIG.10is a flowchart of an exemplary set of steps that may be performed to identify classes that are not benefitting from guided learning, and may be used as part of identifying a class where a visit may be recommended. The system may regularly evaluate one or more metrics for each classwide intervention. Factors such as poor recency (600), poor consistency, poor weeks per skill, and a low percentage of scores increasing may each result in an incremented risk (602,606,610,614,618) score or rating. An aggregate score that is above (616) a configured threshold may trigger the learning coach interface to recommend a learning coach visit to the teacher of that classroom, while a score below the threshold will indicate that no action is required (620).

It should be understood that any one or more of the teachings, expressions, embodiments, examples, etc. described herein may be combined with any one or more of the other teachings, expressions, embodiments, examples, etc. that are described herein. The following-described teachings, expressions, embodiments, examples, etc. should therefore not be viewed in isolation relative to each other. Various suitable ways in which the teachings herein may be combined will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein. Such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the claims.

Having shown and described various embodiments of the present invention, further adaptations of the methods and systems described herein may be accomplished by appropriate modifications by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention. Several of such potential modifications have been mentioned, and others will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For instance, the examples, embodiments, geometrics, materials, dimensions, ratios, steps, and the like discussed above are illustrative and are not required. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be considered in terms of the following claims and is understood not to be limited to the details of structure and operation shown and described in the specification and drawings.