Instructional system for improving communication skills

Claim 1

Apparatus for teaching communication skills utilizing language constructs comprising: a computer including processing means, memory means, input means, and output means, and a program stored in the memory means of said computer for (a) evaluating a student's communication skills using computer-generated stimuli requiring the student to respond thereto and the student's previous response data from the memory means, wherein the stimuli and the student's response thereto utilize touch, movement, sight, sound, or speech, or combinations of touch, movement, sight, sound, or speech; (b) selecting a target instructional objective for mastering a language construct, wherein the target instructional objective is selected from the group consisting of (1) a plurality of hierarchically ranked objectives stored in the memory means of said computer, the target instructional objective sequentially following from an objective previously mastered by the student or (2) by a teacher supervising use of said computer; (c) using at least one of the evaluated results to prepare an optimal cognitive strategy to achieve the target objective, wherein the optimal strategy employs touch, movement, sight, sound, or speech, or combinations of touch, movement, sight, sound, or speech as the student progressively encounters subsequent objectives to develop proficiency; (d) testing the student's ability, wherein the ability is to reproduce, recognize, write, type, hand sign, speak, spell, use, or translate the target instructional objective, by using decision rules stored in the memory means of said computer for comparing the results of the testing to a first predetermined performance criterion stored in the memory means of said computer, whereby said computer presents test stimuli and receives the response of the student to the stimuli; (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) if the test results do not exceed the first predetermined performance criterion; (f) when the first predetermined performance criterion has been exceeded, repeating steps (b) through (e) with the next higher hierarchically ranked objective; and (g) repeating steps (b) through (f) until the student exceeds a second predetermined performance criterion for the next higher hierarchically ranked target instructional objective.