Systems and methods for helping language learners learn more

Abstract

The invention includes a group of programs that help people learn languages. The programs include explanations of the grammatical rules of the language that a user is trying to learn, and statistical analyses of the types of errors that the individual user makes, and ways that these errors can be corrected. Most embodiments reinforce students' language learning using systems of visual displays, data graphics, and a “grammar of graphics”. The programs can be run on cellular phones, computers, and other electronic devices. The programs can be used by a student to learn a language, or by an instructor to augment a class being taught to students. Some embodiments also allow a student to preserve records of his or her progress and the types of errors that he or makes, between classes, allowing an instructor to tailor a class to the strengths and weaknesses of the students in the class.

Claims

1. A method of teaching students by giving them a series of sentences created by the sentence generator with different parts in color.

Description

SOME VERSIONS OF THE FIRST EMBODIMENT

[0074] The first embodiment of how the invention will work is below. It relies on presenting information, and presenting language-related problems, for the student to solve. The student will view the information and view and solve the problems using a display device (2) which can be a personal computer, a smartphone, or another type of computing device.

[0075] Many languages, such as Romance languages, have highly structured grammar, with different “tenses” for words, and other specific forms of words, to use in certain situations. The invention helps students to learn grammar rules. Students deserve to know how a language they are learning is structured, and also to expand their vocabularies, while doing so, if possible.

[0076] One of the principles behind this group of embodiments of the invention is that people tend to remember information that is connected to unique or memorable situations, and another is that people tend to remember information that is immediately useful. For example, the inventor's mother, Arabella Persaud, used Fluffy, their cat, to illustrate the names, in Spanish, of body parts such as eyes and ears. This helped the inventor to remember the Spanish terms for these body parts. Students might be able to learn better if they see visuals that are there to help them learn, so the first embodiment will provide students with multiple types of visuals to help them learn about the language(s) they are studying. The invention also includes close statistical monitoring of students' performance, so that each student will be given more of the types of lessons that work for that student.

[0077] The first embodiment of the invention, when being used to help a student learn a specific language, can include a large number of “class modules”, each of which is essentially a subpart of a class relating to that specific language. Many of the “class modules” will each focus on a specific, defined, topic. For example, the first embodiment should have a class module devoted to each of the Spanish verb tenses.

[0078] Please note that the total number of class modules relating to each language should be enough that the material covered by all the class modules for that language, all added together, would comprise enough material for more than one class in that language. The study of each language, using the invention, should be broken into a large number of individually small class modules related to each language because actual classes in many languages will cover varying topics, that vary depending on the institution or even on the individual instructor. For example, a class entitled “German 1” at Institution A may cover topics 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and “German 2” at Institution A may cover topics 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, while a class entitled “German 1” at Institution B may cover topics 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6, and “German 2” at Institution B may cover topics 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10. The students and instructors at each institution will need to pick the class modules, using the invention, that most apply to their needs. The chances of the students in each class finding a combination of class modules, that fits their specific needs, is therefore higher if there are more class modules that each cover a smaller area.

[0079] For purposes of this application, a “word type” is a kind of word, such as a noun, verb, etc.

[0080] The first embodiment of the invention can be utilized when a grammatical rule is being explained to a student, through the individual interface, and an example of the grammar rule being used is being presented through the individual interface. The example may be included in a sentence. The different parts of the sentence, which are examples of different grammar rules being used, can be shown in different colors.

[0081] For example, if one of the words in the sentence is a verb in the future tense, then that word is an example of the future tense being used. If “blue” indicates the future tense, then the verb in the future tense will be colored blue when displayed.

[0082] Then, in later example sentences and paragraphs that are presented to the student, including those sentences and paragraphs that illustrate different grammar rules, the parts of a sentence that illustrate each rule are shown in the same color as that rule. For example, if “blue” indicates the future tense in the lesson on the future tense, and later on, the student is being given a lesson on the past tense, and the color “green” indicates the past tense, then if a verb with the future tense is also in one of the example sentences about the past tense, the verb in the future tense will be shown in blue, while the verb in the past tense will be shown in green.

[0083] Each of the grammar rules being utilized is shown on the screen, in the same color as the part of the sentence that illustrates that rule. The grammar rules may be explained in other ways, too, for example, a rule may be spoken, using the display device's audio capability, while it is being shown onscreen.

[0084] Each part of the sentence that uses a particular grammar rule may be highlighted (while being displayed in the color appropriate to a sentence part expressing that particular grammar rule) and the grammar rule displayed on the screen, in addition to the sentence. Or, the parts of the sentence can be highlighted in succession, again while each part is displayed in the color appropriate to a sentence part expressing the particular grammar rule utilized by that sentence part. While each part of the sentence is highlighted, the grammar rule utilized by that sentence part is also shown on the screen of the display device (2).

[0085] Pictures may also be used to illustrate the rule. For example, a video or cartoon of an animal doing something, where the words that describe the animal's actions in the language the student is studying use the grammar rule on which the class module is focused. This can also be shown at the same time as the grammar rule, or without the grammar rule.

[0086] The different colors and illustrations help the user to remember the different grammar rules.

[0087] In the first embodiment, the same color should always illustrate the same grammar rule being used, in the same language, and in each of the class modules relating to that language, for the same student. Otherwise, students will be confused. For example, if the color “green” represents a specific verb tense in Spanish, green should represent that verb tense throughout the class modules related to all verb tenses, and all other class modules, related to Spanish, in exercises where color is used to distinguish between applications of grammatical rules.

[0088] Different colors can illustrate the same grammar rule being used in the same or different class modules relating to the same language for different students, but that is not preferable because it will reduce the students' ability to cooperate and potentially confuse students.

[0089] The combined use of data graphics with words will help people students to learn the language and help the audience (students) to see what is most important (The language's structure and vocabulary).

[0090] Humans' visual systems have their own rules. Humans do not attend to everything they see. This is important in deciding what will be displayed to a student when the student is being taught a grammar rule.

[0091] The first embodiment of the invention will involve a words database in which are stored words for the language the student wishes to learn. It will also involve a grammar rules database, in which are stored grammar rules for that language. There will also be a sentence generator. There will also be an individual complete record.

[0092] The words database (11) for the language will include a very large number of words for the language. The more words are included in the words database, as a general rule, the better. If there are 100,000 or more words in a language, then having 100,000 or more words in a words database will be helpful. The type of word (preposition, noun, verb, adverb, etc.) for each word should also be included as a datum for that word in the words database. Please note that some languages have word-types that English does not have. A words database for a language other than English, that has word-types that are not present in English, would include word-types that are present in that language, but not in English, in the words database. The words database might also include “difficulty levels” for the words, where a difficulty level for a word will be assigned numerical level for the difficulty for that word. In general, longer words would be assigned higher difficulty levels.

[0093] The word database should also include translations for the words, into English and as many other languages as possible. Each word entered into the word database would have a translation into English for the word, and translations into other languages.

[0094] The word database can also have assigned color for each word type. For example, nouns would have one assigned color, pronouns another color, etc.

[0095] The words database can also be updated as time goes on; For example, a words database for a language may start with 10,000 words, and then more words may be added later, so that the words database later has 50,000 words, then 100,000, etc. This may be necessary for some languages.

[0096] Second, the first embodiment of the invention will include a grammar rules module (12) which will include grammar rules for the same language as the words database. The grammar rules will each express how a word needs to be modified to be grammatically correct in a certain context. For example, the grammar rules module for Spanish will include rules that modify a Spanish verb for each Spanish verb tense.

[0097] The sentence generator, in the first embodiment creates sentences out of words in the words database.

[0098] For example, the sentence generator can have multiple formats of sentences. Each sentence will each have a format that will be specified as a sequence of types of words, with one or more specific types of word appropriate for each place in the sentence. For clarity, within this application, each word in one of the generated words will be referred to as having a numbered place in the sentence. The first word in the sentence will have place 1, and the second will have place 2, etc. Hereafter, in this application, when a sentence is explained, the different types of words in that sentence will be placed in parentheses. One example of a sentence in English would be represented as (Definite article) (noun)(verb)(adverb). This is a representation of a sentence where the first word, in place 1, is a definite article, the second word, in place 2, is a noun, the third word, in place 3, is a verb, and the fourth word, in place 4, is an adverb.

[0099] The sentence formats will have varying word lengths, which are compatible with the language the student is trying to learn, and rules of the language. Other sentence formats could be longer or shorter, or the same length, as the example given above. Another example of a sentence format in English accessible by the sentence generator, with a different format, would be represented in this application as (noun)(adjective)(verb)(indefinite pronoun)(definite article)(noun-plural). Here, the word at place 6 has the additional attribute of being “plural”. Within this application, each additional attribute for each of the words in a sentence selected by the sentence generator will be indicated by a hyphen.

[0100] A sentence in another language, would be composed of the word types applicable to that language. For example, a sentence in Spanish might have all nouns with the attributes of masculine or feminine.

[0101] The sentence generator will only generate sentences that conform to the grammar rules grammatical rules relating to the language the student is trying to learn.

[0102] The sentence generator might, for example, be equipped with a large number of sentence structures, where each sentence structure would specify which type of word goes in each place in the sentence. For example, the sentence generator can have one hundred and fifty sentence structures in English, or more, or less. The sentence generator can pick between these sentence structures. It can pick randomly or according to another method. For example, the sentence generator can be designed to pick less difficult sentences in the beginning, and more difficult sentences later.

[0103] The determination of which word type would go with which place in the sentence would be programmed into the sentence generator for each sentence structure in the first embodiment. For example, the sentence structure (noun)(adjective)(verb)(indefinite pronoun)(definite article)(noun-plural) would have a noun at place 1, a plural noun at place 2, etc.

[0104] Note that sentence structures in English can differ from sentence structures in other languages. The sentence structures for each language should be consistent with the rules of that language.

[0105] In some versions of the first embodiment of the invention, once a sentence structure is picked by the sentence generator, the sentence structure is sent by the sentence generator to the Grammar Rules Module. The Grammar Rules Module will select a word for each place in the sentence from the Words Database, and the word selected for each place in the sentence will be a word of the type indicated for that place in the sentence by the sentence generator. As described above, each word in the Words Database will have a datum indicating what type of word it is. So, for example, if place 1 in the sentence is supposed to contain a noun, the Grammar Rules Module will select a noun for place 1 in the sentence. If place 2 in the sentence is supposed to contain a noun, the Grammar Rules Module will select a noun for place 2 in the sentence. The grammar rules module also makes sure that the words in the sentence are all expressed grammatically correctly. For example, if the word at place 3 in a sentence is supposed to be a verb in the future tense, then the Grammar Rules Module will convert the verb from the Words Database at place 3 into the future tense of that verb, using the grammar rules programmed into the Grammar Rules Module. If the word at place 5 is supposed to be a verb in the present participle, then the Grammar Rules Module will convert the verb from the Words Database at place 5 into the present participle of that verb.

[0106] In some versions of the first embodiment, the grammar rules module will also include additional color commands to change the color of each word, when displayed, if the word has certain specific attributes. For example, if a verb has a specific tense, the verb might have a specific shade of green when displayed.

[0107] In some versions of the first embodiment, the grammar rules module will also include additional information to display next to, or with reference to, each word if the word has certain specific attributes. For example, if a verb has a specific tense, the verb might be italicized when displayed.

[0108] The Grammar Rules module will then display the sentence on the display device of the student. In most embodiments, the text of one or more of the grammatical rules applying to the sentence will also be displayed on the display device.

[0109] Preattentive attributes may also be displayed on the display device. because humans learn better when they can fit knowledge into familiar patterns. Preattentive processing is a fast process of recognition. It is not cognitive, and the viewer is not thinking about what the viewer is seeing.

The Problem Generator

[0110] The first embodiment will also have a problem generator. The problem generator operates differently from the sentence generator.

[0111] The problem generator will generate a series of problems such as “apply rule X to the following words”, and will take words from the words database to which the student should apply rule X. The problem generator will then display the problems, and the student will try to complete them. The problem generator will also send these same words from words database to the grammar module, which will apply rule X to the words and create answers, then send the answers to the problem generator. The problem generator will then compare the student's answers to the “correct” answers generated by the words database, and store information about the student's success at inputting the right answers.

[0112] The problem generator may also take a sentence, generated by the sentence generator, with a missing part. The student will have to enter the missing part. The problem generator will then compare the student's answer to the correct answer generated by the problem generator to see if the student has gotten the right answer, and store information about whether the student got it.

[0113] The problem generator can also present the student with problems that force the student to think in a different way, which will help strengthen the student's understanding of the material.

[0114] An example is: The student, an English speaker who is learning Spanish, is presented with a sentence in Spanish. The sentence is missing a word. The student has been given a series of colors that correspond to different tenses of the word. The student will then have to decide which of the colors corresponds to the color of the missing word. In other words, the student will have to determine the tense of the missing word, because tense corresponds to color in the example.

[0115] In some embodiments, the student will be presented with “demonstration” exercises, to complete, in a language that the student is learning. The student may also be presented with examples of sentences that have been correctly completed. In the example sentences, each verb tense will have its own color. When the student needs to write a response, each tense for the words used in the response will be programmed with its own color. Therefore, the student will be able to quickly see which tense the answer is in, and to modify the answer, to get the tense desired by the student. The student will learn visually, by seeing the colors, along with paying attention to the words on the screen, and the combination will be more effective than if the student were learning the words alone.

[0116] For example, for “estar”, a word in Spanish, the words “estoy”, the first-person tense, and “estas”, the familiar second-person tense, will have different colors.

[0117] By visually learning the colors, the student will have a better idea of the structure of a language.

[0118] This will also be effective for students trying to “keep up” their knowledge of a language when they are taking a “break” from formally studying the language.

[0119] The present invention will also utilize analytics to determine where a student has the most “trouble” learning a language, by charting the types of errors the student makes most often. For example, in romance languages, the invention may chart what types of questions the student gets wrong most often, or the types of grammatical errors the student makes most while writing compositions. A version of the invention will then seek to help the student correct these errors, by informing the student of the types of errors he or she is making most often, and giving the student more exercises that test the principles the student is violating by making the errors. For example, if the student is studying Spanish and makes the largest number of mistakes in using “ser” when he or she should be using “estar”, or vice versa, then the invention will explain the 15 difference between the two words, and give the student more exercises where he or she is supposed to choose between “ser” and “estar”.

[0120] The first embodiment will also attempt to help students see the relationships between words in other ways. One way is through, in class modules, showing a language as a type of network diagram, with words as the “nodes” and the relationships between the words as “edges”.

[0121] Another example of using a node-and-edge system to help the student, which will also be part of the first embodiment, would be as follows: The student would be asked to form a sentence, with a specific structure. The student would be presented with a series of words to start the sentence. The student would pick one, and it would be shown as a node. Then the student would be given a group of other words for position 2. Some of these could follow the first word but not in a way that would complete the sentence using the desired structure. Others could follow the first word in a way that would complete the sentence using the desired structure. The student will pick one of these words, and it would be shown as another node. An edge will be between the two nodes. Then other words will be presented to the student that could be at position 3 while still being grammatically correct. The student will pick one of these, and will keep picking words in the same manner until the student reaches the number of words in the sentence. However, this exercise will not be marked correct unless the structure of the sentence the student has created matches the desired sentence structure. The student will have to change the order of words, and pick other words, if the student's sentence has the wrong structure.

[0122] In the second embodiment, the invention will also have the following capability: A language, such as Spanish, will be charted in terms of relationships between words. An example is the word “ser” in Spanish. In one embodiment, the invention will include a large database of words in Spanish. Words that can precede “ser”, in a grammatically correct Spanish sentence, will have edges going to “ser”, and words that “ser” can precede will have edges going from “ser” to those words. The network will be displayed for the user to see, when the user is introduced to a new word. The user will also be able to trace the “edges”, to see how many words are connected to “ser”. If the edges that link to “ser” are highlighted, and shown against the entire network, then this will show the user that a large amount of the network connects to “ser”. This will help the user to understand how some words are more “central” to a language than others, in that some words are used more than others. For example, in English, a large portion of the words are prepositions. They are “central” to the English language, in that they are used more than other words.

[0123] If a student learning English is shown a visual representation of the relationships of other words in the database to “is”, for example, then this will help to impress upon the student that the word “is” can be used in a lot of ways, and help the student to remember the word “is” and how to use it. The word being inspected would be “is”, in this case.

[0124] In some embodiments of the invention, the user will be able to trace the words on the “other end” of the edges connected to the word being inspected. The user will be able to “click” on one of those edges, and each of the words connected to that edge will be displayed. The user will therefore be able to expand his or her vocabulary and command of the language that he or she is learning, by learning which words “go with” another, specific word, in a sentence. In some embodiments of the invention, the user may be presented with a network view of the words in the database, and the words that have been shown in lessons the student has experienced so far will be highlighted, along with the edges leading from those words. This will help the student to understand where the words he or she has encountered “fit in” to the overall language. This will help the user to learn more words, and how to use them, in the future, Multimedia learning theory: The way people construct knowledge from words and pictures.

[0125] Visualizations work best when they display information as patterns that are both familiar and easy to spot.

[0126] Memory plays an important role in human cognition, but working memory is limited.

[0127] When highlight is easier to see information, therefore we can highlight all the word parts of a certain type.

[0128] Analysis of structure: seeing what words are placed together. Then making network graphs about these words, and using them to decide what words to show an individual, to practice, to get maximum benefit.

Use of Voice

[0129] In another embodiment of the invention, a voice speaks the paragraph, and the parts of each word are highlighted as the voice speaks them.

[0130] In another embodiment, the user speaks, and the computer renders what the answer sounds like, so it can be compared to the real answer.

[0131] Color does not need to be the distinguishing feature between parts of a sentence that illustrate use of different grammatical rules. The parts of a sentence that illustrate use of different grammatical rules could also be distinguished on the basis of font, size, or in any other way that 1. Can allow for easy visual distinguishing of application of different grammar rules and 2. Is consistent between class modules relating to the same language, that rely on easy visual distinguishing of application of different grammar rules.

Use of the Statistical Results of the Efforts of Students

[0132] Analysis of structure: seeing what words are placed together. Then making network graphs about these words, and using them to decide what words to show an individual, to practice, to get maximum benefit.

[0133] The programs within the invention can be divided into class modules, by which each class module includes a specific point. For example, in Spanish, there can be a class module for the past tense, and a class module for the future tense. This way, an instructor can track which class modules the instructor's students have completed, and determine the progress of the students. An instructor can also determine the progress of students who have previously taken another class in the same language, before becoming students of that instructor. The instructor can look at the class modules that a student has completed so far, and then decide, based on this, whether the student is qualified for the first course in a sequence, the second course, etc. A dashboard is a type of graphical user interface which often provides at-a-glance views of key performance indicators (KPIs) relevant to a particular objective or business process. Dashboards can be used by individual students to measure their progress, and by instructors and administrators to measure progress of groups. The students' results can be shown on a dashboard.

[0134] The group achievement display will display statistical information about the amount of time that a cohort of students spent on each module of the program. Averages and standard deviations of the amount of time that a cohort The information can be available Then, if an

[0135] Some potential uses of this information are if an instructor, for example, notices that the amount of time that is being spent on one of the modules is 5.5 hours, and

[0136] Data can be broken down by institution.

[0137] A virtue of this system is that it is dynamic; If the characteristics of the students at an institution change within one semester, for example, the group achievement display will show this.

[0138] Students can also figure out whether they are spending enough time on a module. For example, if a student knows that in his cohort, people spend an average of 6 hours on a certain module, and he has spent 4 hours on that module, he should consider spending more time on this.

[0139] Social changes of all kinds can affect the ability of students to study. For example,

[0140] One advantage of the present invention is that it creates a single, centralized resource for monitoring the amount of effort that students have made, and the results of that effort.

[0141] Summary statistics, that go to instructor, about how the amount students study, and what they did, changes.

[0142] Chart about types of words that person learns and types of sentences they do.

[0143] Get data from students to improve system at first, and make initial recommendations, and then continue to get more data.

[0144] Teachers maybe can use it individually to find out whether groups of students are having trouble with a specific thing and trying to find that thing.

[0145] Ability to export stuff on csvs and excel files.

[0146] Idea: People add words for a language and a curator organizes it.

[0147] Push notifications in Spanish

[0148] ESL learning

[0149] One standard progress methods so can compare college to high school.

[0150] Note how long since last use of the platform to discuss review.

[0151] This can also help students from areas without AP classes to practice for APs.

[0152] Possibility of showing videos of animals when the user answers some questions correctly-similar to how the inventor's mother, Arabella Persaud, used Fluffy, their cat, to illustrate the names of body parts such as eyes and ears.

[0153] Difference between interaction and animation: Interaction data output is changed depending on what user wants.

Use for Educational Administration

[0154] The invention will also include a centralized listing which will describe the amount of effort that students with certain characteristics put forth, to master specific modules of the program.

[0155] The characteristics will include, for example, students in a certain geographic area, or students at a specific school. An instructor will be able to view this information and find out the mount of effort required to achieve certain milestones, and advise students accordingly. For example, an instructor might advise students that reaching a certain milestone within a month has taken students in that instructor's class ten hours, spent on the program. An individual student who has spent 8 hours using the program during that month will therefore be able to conclude that he or she needs to spend more time on the program, and perhaps needs to rearrange his or her schedule to do it.

[0156] The listing will be useful for an instructor to quickly recognize changes in the characteristics of the student body that the instructor is teaching, and to quantify such changes more easily. For example, if the average length of time that the students in an instructor's class take to reach a certain milestone is 20% higher this semester than it was last semester, the instructor will notice this quickly, and be able to take measures to help the students, instead of gradually learning about changes in the student body anecdotally.

[0157] The instructor will also be able to quantify the difference in effectiveness between that instructor teaching in person and teaching remotely, which is important during the COVID-19 crisis.

[0158] In some embodiments, the instructor may be able to correlate student's grades to some measure such as length of time spent on the program, using linear regression or another statistical technique. The instructor can then make this information known to students so they can make better decisions about the amount of time they should spend studying.

[0159] The instructor can do this by entering the performance level that is required for each grade into the program. The program keeps track of the amount of effort required to reach each performance level, for students in the city, school, etc. The program can therefore create an average of the amount of effort required to reach each performance level, for students in a city. This is a greater number of data points than an instructor will have access to. The program can then use the different levels of amount of effort, for each performance level to create a graph of effort vs. performance level, and the slope of this graph should be the rate of increase of performance for each increment of effort.

[0160] “Effort” can also be defined in multiple ways, and the performance level, as a function of effort, can be shown for each of these ways. For example, “Effort” can be defined as hours spent using the program, number of page views, number of page views over a certain size, or in other ways.

[0161] The invention can also be used to show why or why not a change in a university's classes should happen, by examining the change in students' performance when similar changes were made at other universities. For example, if University 1 reduces the number of class sessions in a Chinese class, per week, from 3 to 2, and then the average amount of effort that students from University 1 take to reach a milestone, which is part of the required objectives for that Chinese class, increases, then this is an indication that University 2 should not reduce the number of class sessions in an equivalent class from 3 to 2 per week.

Density Plot of Learners.

[0162] It can also provide data for the administration about what the right moves re: cutting classes are.

[0163] Analysis of structure: seeing what words are placed together. Then making network graphs about these words, and using them to decide what words to show an individual, to practice, to get maximum benefit.

[0164] The invention can be used as a guidepost to standardize MOOCs.

Use as Continuing Research Tool about how People Learn Languages.

[0165] The invention can be used to analyze language structure and changes in language structure.

Use for Tutoring and Use by Facilitators

[0166] Facilitators can use it to figure out where people in the group are.

[0167] The inventor recommends against any instructor basing a student's grade upon a student's performance in class modules that weren't specifically assigned by that instructor. That is because a student may have previously tried to learn a language on his or her own, before enrolling in the instructor's course, and may simply not have been paying attention when the student attempted some of the previous class modules. Therefore the student's performance on these class modules might not have indicated the student's true level of ability or commitment when taking a class from the instructor. If students are graded by an instructor based on their performance in class modules that weren't specifically assigned by that instructor, this will also discourage “casual” language learners, which is undesirable and counterproductive. Casual learners should not be discouraged, and one of the reasons for the creation of this invention is to help people who are casual learners to learn languages.

Words and the Links Between them Based on Statistics

Adding Words to a Database on a Language

[0168] A feature of the invention will allow users to “add” words to the central database of a language, as follows. A user can suggest a word for inclusion in the central database related to a language, and suggest a definition for that word. The central database will keep track of the number of times that this word is suggested. Then, when the number of suggestions reaches a certain number, a curator will examine whether the word should be added to the database for that language, and, if appropriate, will add that word to the database, and give that word a definition. The word will also be placed as a node within the network diagram, relating to that language.

[0169] Useful for rare languages, to make sure they don't die.

ADDITIONAL EMBODIMENTS

[0170] The embodiments of the invention can also be used to monitor changes in the effectiveness of different learning techniques within a student body.

THE SECOND EMBODIMENT

An Embodiment of the Invention in Action

[0171] The discussion included in this patent is intended to serve as a basic description. The reader should be aware that the specific discussion may not explicitly describe all embodiments possible, and alternatives are implicit, or obvious to those skilled in the art. Also, this discussion may not fully explain the generic nature of the invention and may not explicitly show how each feature or element can actually represent equivalent elements. Again, these are implicitly included in this disclosure. Where the invention is described in device-oriented terminology, each element of the device implicitly performs a function. It should also be understood that a variety of changes may be made to the embodiments that have been described, without departing from the essence of the invention. Such changes are implicitly included in the description. These changes still fall within the scope of this invention.

[0172] Idea of using stochastic optimization and simulation to determine how a person is likely to do on a test, by using the person's scores on certain types of questions, and randomization of the types of results they might experience, and weighting of the types of questions, to determine the scores that the person is likely to get. Also randomizing the weights of the types of questions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0173] FIG. 1 describes a version of the first embodiment of the invention in action. The sentence generator picks a sentence to generate, and then

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0174] FIG. 1 describes a version of the first embodiment of the invention in action.