Educational methods and devices

Claim 1

In an educational system for facilitating the learning through discovery and inductive reasoning provess a plurality of sets of expression means for enabling a student to learn a plurality of applications of the discovery and inductive reasoning process as applied to the learning of a plurality of sets of interrelated concepts, the respective subject matters of said plurality of sets of interrelated concepts being substantially different and being such that a student learns that the discovery and inductive reasoning process is applicable to a variety of fields of interest from learning of its application to said plurality of subject matters, said expression means of each of said sets having a multiplicity of expressions thereof divided into first and second groups and being physically manipulatable to dispose any expression of said first group into adjacent relation to any expression of said second group, each expression of said first group being combinable with a plurality of expressions of said second group to form a plurality of different correct examples of similar expressions and to establish for the corresponding set of interrelated concepts a plurality of different correct examples of combinations of expressions and a plurality of incorrect examples of combinations of expressions,, interengagement means on said expression means of each of said sets having physical configurations and interchangability such that a physically non-mating relationship exists when each incorrect example is established and such that a physically mating relationship exists when each correct example is established so as to reward the student and so as to increase his confidence as each new correct example is established, said multiplicity of expressions on said expression means of each of said sets and the numbers of said correct and incorrect examples being sufficient to enable the student to learn said interrelated concepts solely from the discovery and inductive reasoning process during trial and error manipulation of said expression means and to facilitate learning through the discovery and inductive reasoning process itself irrespective of the subject matter of said one set of interrelated concepts, each of said sets of expression means being such as to provide at least on the order of 100 different possible complete and correct examples and being such that at least eight simultaneously visible different correct examples can be formed, said expression means including mating projection and recess means so constructed and arranged that both the existence and non-existence of said physical mating relation is readily determined tactilely without visual observation.