US6773266B1 — Method for implementing collaborative training an…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 222 words

A method of learning implemented in a learning system wherein at least one or more student users are coupled to the learning system over a computer network and at least one test administrator who is not a student user of the system is coupled to the learning system, the method comprising: submitting to the learning system one or more questions, each of the one or more questions authored by a student user of the learning system, wherein each of the one or more questions are directed to a subject about which the student user wishes to learn; combining at least some of the one or more questions authored by the one or more student users to provide a test having test questions; administering the test to a group of student users via the computer network coupled to the learning system; computing an item validity value for each test question to determine valid questions from among the test questions, wherein the item validity value comprises a value provided from a combination of a power score and a consensus score, wherein the consensus score is a value which corresponds to a percentage of the one or more student users having answers which agree with an answer suggested by a question author; and scoring the group of student users in association with the valid questions.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 222 words

A method of learning implemented in a learning system wherein at least one or more student users are coupled to the learning system over a computer network and at least one test administrator who is not a student user of the system is coupled to the learning system, the method comprising: submitting to the learning system one or more questions, each of the one or more questions authored by a student user of the learning system, wherein each of the one or more questions are directed to a subject about which the student user wishes to learn; combining at least some of the one or more questions authored by the one or more student users to provide a test having test questions; administering the test to a group of student users via the computer network coupled to the learning system; computing an item validity value for each test question to determine valid questions from among the test questions, wherein the item validity value comprises a value provided from a combination of a power score and a consensus score, wherein the consensus score is a value which corresponds to a percentage of the one or more student users having answers which agree with an answer suggested by a question author; and scoring the group of student users in association with the valid questions.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 125 words

The method of claim 1 , further including computing the power score for a question, wherein the computing the power score comprises: computing the power score as (HR*LW)/(N*N) in which N corresponds to a number which is less than half the total number of student users of the learning system; HR corresponds to the number of student users in a high scoring group who answered the question correctly wherein student users in the high scoring group correspond to the N students with the top N highest quiz scores; and LW corresponds to the number of students in a low scoring group who answered the question incorrectly wherein student users in the low scoring group correspond to the N students with the N lowest quiz scores.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 41 words

The method of claim 2 wherein the value of N ranges from about 27% of the total number of the student users of the learning system to about 50% of the total number of the student users of the learning system.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 124 words

The method of claim 1 further including computing the power score for a question, wherein the computing the power score comprises: computing the power score as 0.5(HR/N)+0.5(1−(LR/N)) in which N corresponds to a number which is less than half the total number of student users of the learning system; HR corresponds to the number of student users in a high scoring group who answered the question correctly wherein student users in the high scoring group correspond to the N students with the top N highest quiz scores; and LR corresponds to the number of students in a low scoring group who answered the question correctly wherein student users in the low scoring group correspond to the N students with the N lowest quiz scores.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 41 words

The method of claim 4 wherein the value of N ranges from about 27% of the total number of the student users of the learning system to about 50% of the total number of the student users of the learning system.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 33 words

The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of making the test questions generated by application of the learning system available for re-use in the learning system and available to other systems.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 54 words

The method of claim 6 wherein the step of making the test questions available to other systems comprises: collecting all the valid questions generated by an application of the learning system; and indexing all the valid questions generated by an application of the learning system for simplified search and retrieval for ad-hoc problem solving.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 34 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the item validity value further comprises a value determined by a subject matter expert prior to the combining at least some of the one or more questions.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 38 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the item validity value further comprises a value determined by a subject matter expert in association with review of comments provided by the group of student users after taking the test.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 34 words

The method of claim 1 , further including allowing selected ones of the one or more student users to provide comments to the learning system on selected ones of the one or more questions.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 24 words

The method of claim 10 , wherein the comments are accessible to others of the selected ones of the one or more student users.

Claim 13

Independent Claim 188 words

A method comprising: prompting a plurality of remote student users to enroll in a course associated with a learning system; logging each of the student users who reply to the prompt into the course; forming a plurality of learning teams, each of the learning teams including a plurality of student users; making course material available to each of the plurality of student users on each of the learning teams; allowing each of the student users on each of the learning teams to generate one or more questions; and allowing each of the student users on the same learning team to provide comments to the learning system on each of the questions generated by each of the other student users on their learning team; and computing an item validity value for each question in a test, wherein the item validity value is provided from a combination of a power score and a consensus score associated with a question, wherein the consensus score is a value which corresponds to a percentage of the one or more student users having answers which agree with an answer suggested by a question author.

Claim 14

Independent Claim 188 words

A method comprising: prompting a plurality of remote student users to enroll in a course associated with a learning system; logging each of the student users who reply to the prompt into the course; forming a plurality of learning teams, each of the learning teams including a plurality of student users; making course material available to each of the plurality of student users on each of the learning teams; allowing each of the student users on each of the learning teams to generate one or more questions; and allowing each of the student users on the same learning team to provide comments to the learning system on each of the questions generated by each of the other student users on their learning team; and computing an item validity value for each question in a test, wherein the item validity value is provided from a combination of a power score and a consensus score associated with a question, wherein the consensus score is a value which corresponds to a percentage of the one or more student users having answers which agree with an answer suggested by a question author.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 53 words

The method of claim 12 further comprising, on each learning team, forming a test which includes questions generated from the student users on the learning team wherein each question on the test includes a question body, several possible correct answers to the question, and an indicator identifying the best answer to the question.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method of claim 13 wherein each question comprises the author's rationale for selecting a particular answer and a means of providing reference information about the item.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 33 words

The method of claim 13 further comprising: each user modifying and updating their own test questions; and each user providing comments to the learning system on the test questions of other team members.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 35 words

The method of claim 12 further comprising rating, by a first student user of the system, a test question of other student users who are members of the same team as the first student user.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 38 words

The method of claim 12 further comprising: forming a test which includes the student user authored questions in a test; and administering the test over the computer network to student user members of a plurality of different teams.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 25 words

The method of claim 12 , wherein the item validity value is also determined by a subject matter expert prior to formation of the test.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 36 words

The method of claim 12 , wherein the item validity value is also determined by a subject matter expert in association with review of comments provided by the group of student users after taking the test.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 20 words

The method of claim 12 , wherein the comments are accessible to the other student users on their learning team.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2007-08-10	2008-02-09	2008-08-10	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2011-08-10	2012-02-09	2012-08-10	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2015-08-10	2016-02-09	2016-08-10	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Method for implementing collaborative training and online learning over a computer network and related techniques

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