Patent Application
20150104764
The present invention relates to teaching natural language punctuation conventions, and, more specifically, to an adaptive grammar teaching system configured to train users on identifying and correcting punctuation errors within natural language sentences.
Natural languages are spoken languages (such as American English), which have grammar rules governing the composition of the natural language. There are stylistic conventions that apply to the written form of a natural language, which, unlike natural language per se, must be taught. When a person has not learned the proper stylistic conventions for written language, the student may encounter difficulty in communicating in writing, particularly in formal documents. For example, it may be particularly difficult for a person who does not understand the punctuation rules of American English to write an error-free research paper or formal letter, which limits that person's ability to communicate effectively through writing.
Grammar checkers, e.g., Grammerly.com, Thelma Thistleblossom, and grammar checkers included with document editors such as Microsoft Word, identify certain types of grammatical and punctuation errors in written documents. However, grammar and punctuation error identification/correction is not the same as teaching grammar and punctuation rules, even when the grammar checker indicates why each identified error is an error. Grammar checkers generally do not teach either prescriptive or descriptive rules of grammar, nor do grammar checkers target particular problems that users have with grammatical or stylistic rules. At times, the grammar checkers identify “errors” that are not errors at all, and rely on the user's knowledge to ultimately determine whether an error exists. Thus, grammar checkers are generally ineffective at teaching a user the conventions of formal written language.
Some English courses, e.g., in secondary and higher education, attempt to teach prescriptive grammar rules, largely using face-to-face teaching techniques, quizzes, and other activities. At times, automation is used in such traditional English courses. However, this automation generally consists of providing a student with multiple-choice questions and giving the student feedback on the student's selected answers. It can be difficult for an English teacher to identify and aid each student with the student's individual grammar or stylistic misconceptions, especially since classes tend to be large and students tend to have a wide range of skill gaps with respect to mastery of prescriptive grammar rules. At least the above mentioned deficiencies can allow students to complete English courses without learning all of the prescriptive grammar rules that they need to produce error-free communications.
Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide an automated grammar teaching system that is configured to teach prescriptive stylistic conventions targeted to the needs of students.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
In the drawings:
In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.
An automated grammar teaching system delivers highly personalized, differentiated instruction to users. The automated grammar teaching system provides lessons and adaptive practice to build each student's skills for the rules of natural language grammar with respect to commas. Comma problems, constructed to address each students' continuous learning needs with respect to granular grammar skills relating to commas, are automatically presented to students by the automated grammar teaching system.
In an initial phase, focused sections of problems are presented to the user in a user interface. The problems are formatted using contrasting sentence sets that are designed to emphasize the correct application of comma rules in different sentence contexts and scenarios. The user is asked to identify whether each of the set of sentences is correct with respect to comma usage. Each focused section is based on a particular subset of comma rules, allowing the user to master the various comma rules in a logically separated and manageable fashion.
In a later phase, a capstone section of problems is presented to the user in the user interface. The problems are formatted as subsets of paragraphs with various types of comma errors from the prior focused sections. The user is asked to identify the presence of comma errors, the specific locations of the comma errors, and the necessary corrections.
In an embodiment, if a user incorrectly identifies a particular portion or an entirety of a sentence as having a comma error, then the system displays remediation information to help the user understand why the identification is incorrect. In an embodiment, if a user provides an inaccurate correction to a comma error, the system displays remediation information to explain why the correction that the user specified is inaccurate. Further, the automated grammar teaching system records, as historical data, a user's actions within the system. The system uses this historical data to identify what sentences, with what kinds of comma errors, the system should provide to the user.
Techniques are described hereafter for adaptively instructing a user on grammar rules governing comma usage in sentences.
With respect to
Client device 110 may be implemented by any type of computing device that is communicatively connected to network 130. Example implementations of client device 110 include, without limitation, workstations, personal computers, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, cellular telephony devices such as smart phones, and any other type of computing device.
In network arrangement 100, client device 110 is configured with a grammar client 112 and a browser 114 that displays web page 116. Grammar client 112 may be implemented in any number of ways, including as a plug-in to browser 114, as an application running in connection with web page 116, as a stand-alone application running on client device 110, etc. Grammar client 112 may be implemented by one or more logical modules, and is described in further detail below. Browser 114 is configured to interpret and display web pages that are received over network 130 (e.g., web page 116), such as Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) pages, and eXtensible Markup Language (XML) pages, etc. Client device 110 may be configured with other mechanisms, processes and functionalities, depending upon a particular implementation.
Further, client device 110 is communicatively coupled to a display device (not shown in
Network 130 may be implemented with any type of medium and/or mechanism that facilitates the exchange of information between client device 110 and server device 120. Furthermore, network 130 may facilitate use of any type of communications protocol, and may be secured or unsecured, depending upon the requirements of a particular embodiment.
Server device 120 may be implemented by any type of computing device that is capable of communicating with client device 110 over network 130. In network arrangement 100, server device 120 is configured with a grammar service 122, an error location service 124, an error correction service 126, and a remediation service 128. One or more of services 122-128 may be part of a cloud computing service. Functionality attributed to one or more of services 122-128 may be performed by grammar client 112, according to embodiments. Services 122-128 may be implemented by one or more logical modules, and are described in further detail below. Server device 120 may be configured with other mechanisms, processes and functionalities, depending upon a particular implementation.
Server device 120 is communicatively coupled to database 140. Database 140 may reside in any type of storage, including volatile and non-volatile storage (e.g., random access memory (RAM), one or more hard or floppy disks, main memory, etc.), and may be implemented by multiple logical databases. The storage on which database 140 resides may be external or internal to server device 120.
Any of grammar client 112 and services 122-128 may receive and respond to Application Programming Interface (API) calls, Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) messages, requests via HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), or any other kind of communication, e.g., from one of the other services 122-128 or grammar client 112. Further, any of grammar client 112 and services 122-128 may send one or more of the following over network 130 to one of the other entities: information via HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP, etc.; XML data; SOAP messages; API calls; and other communications according to embodiments.
In an embodiment, each of the processes described in connection with one or more of grammar client 112 and services 122-128 are performed automatically and may be implemented using one or more computer programs, other software elements, and/or digital logic in any of a general-purpose computer or a special-purpose computer, while performing data retrieval, transformation, and storage operations that involve interacting with and transforming the physical state of memory of the computer.
According to embodiments, a comma problem includes either (a) a sentence list of two or more sentences, such as a pair of sentences illustrated in GUI 300 of
In some embodiments, some of the above metadata may not be explicitly specified by the problem writer. For example, if a compound sentence joining two independent clauses only contains correction options that indicate placed or missing commas correct as-is, then the sentence may automatically be categorized into sentence type 12, or a sentence with no error, without the problem writer having to explicitly specify as such in the metadata. The metadata may further categorize the sentence as sentence type 1, or a compound sentence joining two independent clauses, and identify the correct usage of the placed or missing commas in the sentence. In another example, the specific word offsets and/or pointers for the relationships between the commas and structural elements may also be calculated programmatically, rather than being explicitly specified by the problem writer. In yet another example, structural elements may be identified by using a parser or language analyzer.
To illustrate, database 140 may include, in connection with a particular set of problem data, metadata embedded into the following marked-up sentence:
The embedded variables (“$Moreover”, and “$developLeadership”) facilitate creating alternate wordings for the marked-up sentence. For example, database 140 also includes the following definitions of the embedded variables:
According to an embodiment, the variables are resolved before the sentence is stored at database 140.
In another embodiment, database 140 may include, in connection with a particular set of problem data, metadata embedded into the following marked-up sentence:
Database 140 may also include the following definitions of the embedded variables:
Thus, as illustrated above, the problems may be written with metadata to allow multiple alternative wordings. For example, different conjunctions, such as “and,” “or,” or “but” may be substituted as alternatives, commas may be placed or not placed according to random selection, different phrases may be selected at random, and structural elements may be rearranged into different orders within the sentence, allowing a wide range of possible problem sentences and sentence types to be generated from a small amount of metadata and/or variable definitions.
According to an embodiment, metadata for a sentence includes tags that grammar service 122 may use for remediation information. Such metadata identifies one or more portions of a sentence that are correct. For example, a particular marked-up sentence includes the metadata tag [_CorrectCommaIntroPhrase/], which indicates to grammar service 122 that a comma is located where the tag is positioned, and that the comma is correctly used to set off an introductory phrase. As described in further detail below, remediation service 128 may use such metadata to identify particular remediation information to display to a user. For example, if a user identifies the introductory phrase comma in a particular displayed sentence as an extraneous comma that should be removed, then remediation service 128 uses the tag that marks that comma to identify remediation text to display to the user. For example, the remediation text may indicate that the comma is being used correctly to set off an introductory phrase and should therefore remain.
According to an embodiment, comma errors in database 140 are authored to present one of the following two categories: (a) a sentence list of two or more sentences that may each include zero or more comma errors; and (b) a paragraph of one or more sentences with zero or more comma errors. By presenting contrasting sentences in the (a) category, for example by using similar or contrasting sentence structures, the application of comma rules may become easier to understand for the user. The sentence sets may be written such that the subject matter or topic of each sentence is the same, with differences only in the grammatical structure affected by comma rules, thereby directing the user's focus. In one embodiment, the (a) category may be divided based on whether (1) a comma sets off a coordinating conjunction or (2) a comma only precedes or follows clauses and phrases. Further, the (a) category can be divided into discrete sections based on specific comma rules, providing logical separation for gradual mastery of comma rules, one subset of rules at a time.
Once a certain level of mastery is reached, then the user may move to questions in the (b) category, which presents a paragraph that may contain comma errors from multiple (a) sections. While the user moves from the (a) category to the (b) category in this particular example, alternative embodiments may change the ordering of question categories. In the (b) category, the paragraph may correspond to a subset of a longer paragraph, and the subset may be selected to respect sentence dependencies within the longer paragraph. For example, if the second sentence in the longer paragraph refers to the first sentence, such as by using a phrase similar to “as discussed above”, then the subset is selected such that the first and second sentences are either selected or omitted together.
The (b) category may demand more detailed answers from the user compared to the (a) category, which only asked the user to identify the presence or absence of comma errors. For example, for each sentence in the paragraph, the user may be asked to complete up to three tasks: 1) identify whether there is a comma error or not, 2) if there is a comma error, identify what the relevant correction is by identifying the specific comma to be removed or indicating the specific location to add a comma, and 3) in a sentence with a coordinating conjunction, determine whether the conjunction joins two independent clauses. For example, for each task, a list of possible alternatives with radio buttons may be presented, and the user may select the correct selection by clicking on the appropriate radio button. Other problem structures for comma errors may also be presented to users within embodiments. As the user progress through the above tasks, instructions 510 as shown in
To identify the comma error in step 2) above, the user may for example click on a comma to be removed or click on a space between words to add a comma. In some embodiments, selections may be made by highlighting rather than single clicking, for example by clicking and dragging the desired selection. Grammar service 122 may utilize error location service 124 to identify the specific locations in the sentences that require the removal or addition of a comma, which may proceed similarly to the processes described in
Grammar service 122 sends information for GUI 300, via network 130, to grammar client 112. Grammar client 112 makes GUI 300 available to browser 114 executing on client device 110, and browser 114 displays GUI 300, e.g., in web page 116. According to another embodiment, grammar client 112 causes GUI 300 to be displayed outside of a browser, e.g., as part of a stand-alone application.
At step 204 of flowchart 200, a set of natural language sentences is depicted, wherein each sentence may include zero or more comma errors. To illustrate, GUI 300 depicts natural language sentences 302A and 302B that, according to an embodiment, include comma errors. According to another embodiment, sentences 302A and 302B may or may not contain a comma error, and grammar client 112 instructs users to determine whether each sentence includes a comma error, as shown by the “Correct” and “Incorrect” radio buttons.
As shown in
According to an embodiment, a comma error may be categorized as one of the following two types: a missing comma error, or an extraneous comma error. For example, sentence 302A may have an extraneous comma error with an extraneous comma prior to the conjunction “and”, since the clause after the conjunction is only a phrase. On the other hand, since sentence 302B includes the conjunction “but” that joins two independent clauses, sentence 302B may have a missing comma error where a comma should be inserted prior to the conjunction “but”. However, embodiments are not limited to these two types of comma errors.
While the embodiment shown in
At step 206, input information is received, from a user, which indicates whether the user believes that one of the set of natural language sentences includes a comma error. For example, grammar client 112 receives information, input by the user via GUI 300 that indicates whether natural language sentence 302A is “Correct” or “Incorrect”. A user may indicate this in various ways, such as by clicking on the radio buttons as depicted in GUI 300, by entering a particular key stroke (such as ‘C’, or ‘I’), etc.
At step 208, the automated grammar teaching system determines whether the input information received from the user is correct. To illustrate, grammar client 112 sends the information indicating the selected choice of “Correct” or “Incorrect” for sentence 302A to grammar service 122. Grammar service 122 employs error correction service 126 to determine whether the user correctly identified whether comma error(s) are present. For example, error correction service 126 may examine the correction options in the metadata stored in database 140 for sentence 302A. If the correction options indicate required corrections for a sentence, then a user input of “Incorrect” is correct. If the correction options indicate that nothing needs to be corrected, then a user input of “Correct” is correct. Otherwise, if the user answers incorrectly compared to the correction options, then the user input is determined as incorrect. Step 208 may be carried out after the user provides input information for a particular problem step or task, and the user may be prevented from proceeding further until the user answers the particular problem step or task successfully.
Returning to flowchart 200 of
For example, assume that the user has selected “Correct” for sentence 302A and “Incorrect” for sentence 302B. In this case, error correction service 126 receives input information indicating that the user has incorrectly identified that no comma errors exist for sentence 302A, but has correctly identified that comma errors exist for sentence 302B. As discussed above, these indications can be determined by examining the metadata in database 140.
According to an embodiment, in response to the above determination of error correction service 126, grammar client 112 communicates that the indicated input information is incorrect. For example, grammar client 112 displays text that informs the user that the user has not provided the correct selection for sentence 302A. As another example, grammar client 112 displays a symbol or plays a sound to indicate the incorrect selection for sentence 302A. As another example, grammar client 112 highlights instructions 310 within GUI 300 (e.g., with bolded text, font color, highlight color, a displayed symbol, a displayed border, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, portions of sentence 302A in GUI 300 may be highlighted in a similar manner, and grammar elements of sentence 302A may be identified with labels such as “introductory element”, “transitional term”, “conjunction”, and so forth.
According to an embodiment, grammar client 112 displays hint information in response to detecting a user request for a hint, such as by the selection of hint button 312 (in GUI 300 of
An initial hint may, for example, provide the general rule that “a comma is used when a coordinating conjunction joins two independent clauses”, without referring to the specific problem itself. A later hint may be focused on more specific concepts as applied to the problem. As illustrated in hint window 314, the clauses of sentence 302A and/or sentence 302B are underlined and identified for the user, providing a hint that the types of clauses in the sentence are important. A final hint may apply the general rule directly to sentence 302A and/or sentence 302B, providing an explicit explanation of the steps and concepts as applied. Thus, multi-level hints are provided with hints proceeding from general to specific.
To provide another example, for the sentence “After this our family will have only one car payment left”, hint information may be provided as follows:
Hints are presented in a contextually aware fashion, tailored according to the specific portion or step of the problem that the user is working with.
Additionally, in some embodiments, grammar client 112 may provide a just-in-time hint intervention after the user provides an incorrect response. The just-in-time hint may provide advice and guidance that targets common misconceptions related to the error that the user made. For example, if the user removes a correctly placed comma, then an explanation may be given as to why the comma should remain in the sentence. Similarly, if the user adds a comma to an incorrect location, then an explanation may be given as to why adding a comma would be inappropriate for that location.
At step 404 of flowchart 400, a natural language sentence is depicted, which includes a comma error that occurs at a particular location within the natural language sentence. For example, GUI 500 depicts natural language sentence 504 that includes a comma error at location 530. While flowchart 400 concerns a natural language sentence with a single comma error, other embodiments may include natural language sentences with zero comma errors or multiple comma errors.
At step 406, the automated grammar teaching system maintains data for identifying one or more accurate corrections for the particular comma error. For example, database 140 includes a set of one or more accurate correction options for the particular comma error. Note that for a misplaced comma, two correction options may be present: one correction indicating an extraneous comma to be removed at the incorrect location, and another correction indicating a comma to be added at the correct location. To illustrate in the context of sentence 504, database 140 has information indicating that the following correction options are accurate for the comma error in sentence 302:
At step 408, a control is provided, in the graphical user interface, for receiving correction information for the particular comma error. For example, grammar client 112 allows the user to click on a particular word corresponding to the conjunction relevant to the comma error.
At step 410, information indicating a particular correction is received via the control from a user. For example, as a part of identifying the comma error, the user may click on a particular word of sentence 504 shown in GUI 500 of
At step 412, it is determined, based on the data, whether the particular correction is one of the one or more accurate corrections for the particular comma error. For example, grammar service 122 employs error correction service 126 to determine whether word 532 corresponds to a conjunction that has an associated comma error for sentence 504. Error correction service 126 examines the set of correction options, stored at database 140, that are accurate for the comma error in sentence 504.
Error correction service 126 compares word 532 to each of the accurate correction options stored at database 140 in turn. In most cases, there will only be one accurate correction option, but in some cases, for example in the case where an optional comma is indicated, multiple correct answers may be available. Since the metadata in database 140 may indicate that the conjunction with the comma error is the “and” located after the word “opportunities”, error correction service 126 determines that selecting word 532 is not an accurate correction. As a result, remediation information 520 may be presented to the user, as shown in
At step 414, in response to determining that the particular correction is one of the one or more accurate corrections for the particular comma error, it is communicated, via the graphical user interface, that the particular correction was successful. Thus, assume that the user has backtracked and correctly selected “and” as the conjunction relevant to the comma error. Further, as previously discussed above, the user may be asked to justify the answer by selecting the correct comma rule that is being applied. In response, grammar client 112 may display text that informs the user that the user has accurately corrected the comma error in sentence 504. As another example, grammar client 112 displays a symbol, such as a green checkmark, or plays a sound to indicate to the user that the user has accurately corrected the comma error within sentence 504. As yet another example, grammar client 112 simply moves on to another problem or another portion of the present problem, such as another comma error within sentence 504, if any, or to a comma error in sentence 506, which communicates to the user that the user has accurately corrected any comma errors within sentence 504. Additionally, instructions 510 may be updated to reflect the successful correction and provide directions for sentence 506.
While the above example utilizes a sequential ordering for corrections, in some embodiments the user can choose any desired ordering for correcting multiple comma errors within the same sentence. Similarly, in some embodiments the user can choose any desired ordering for correcting multiple incorrect sentences within the same paragraph.
Rule explanations and/or teaching comments may be provided after a user has successfully solved sentence list problems. Rule explanations may be provided in the form of an on-screen character or avatar that coaches the user in a conversational style. After the user correctly answers a problem, the correct sentences may be displayed with the on-screen character commenting on how to apply the appropriate comma rule or rules for the displayed sentences.
For example, with a first sentence reading “After this, our family will have only one car payment left” and a second sentence reading “Our family will have only one car payment left after this”, an on-screen character may comment “Notice how moving the introductory phrase to a different part of the sentence means it no longer needs a comma”. Note that the teaching comment may not necessarily recite a specific grammar rule. This post-problem teaching comment or rule explanation may be recorded as part of the problem metadata, as discussed above, and may be specifically tailored to integrate the particular problem sentences, rather than providing a generic statement. Additionally, for each sentence the structure elements relevant to the rules may be highlighted (e.g., with bolded text, font color, highlight color, underlining, etc.) and labeled to facilitate identification by the user.
In some embodiments, these teaching comments rule explanations may be explained using informal rather than formal grammar terminology. For example, the formal rule that “a comma is used when a coordinating conjunction joins two independent clauses” may be difficult to understand if the user is unfamiliar with the grammar terminology used, such as “coordinating conjunction” or “independent clause”. In this case, a less formalized explanation may be provided in the hints, such as the informal explanation that “a comma joins clauses if each clause can stand alone as separate sentences.” A more detailed explanation might suggest to the user to “Try separating each clause before and after the ‘but’. If the clauses are readable as complete sentences, then a comma should be added before the ‘but’.”
According to yet another embodiment, in response to the above determination of error correction service 126, grammar client 112 displays “remediation information” for the incorrectly indicated sentence. For example, remediation service 128 may use the metadata stored in database 140 to identify whether the insertion or deletion of a particular comma by the user is incorrect and to determine whether associated remediation information is available. In an embodiment, grammar client 112 presents a user with targeted remediation information about mistakes made by the user in identifying comma errors. Information on why the identified sentence is incorrectly indicated educates the user on proper comma usage, and therefore reinforces the user's knowledge of how to properly form sentences using commas.
Remediation information includes information that explains to a user why a particular sentence is incorrectly identified as having or not having a punctuation or comma error. According to an embodiment, database 140 stores remediation information, including text to be displayed, for each stored sentence. According to another embodiment, database 140 stores a collection of remediation information display text indexed by unique identifiers. In this embodiment, remediation information for a particular sentence references unique identifiers of remediation information stored in the collection, rather than directly embedding the remediation information with each stored sentence. In this manner, remediation information can be readily updated for all relevant problems, since only the text in the collection needs to be modified, rather than the embedded remediation information for each sentence.
Remediation information is created based on one or more of (a) academic literature about what students know and the mistakes that students make, (b) what subject matter experts and/or cognitive scientists know about how students learn, and (c) analysis of historical data gathered by grammar service 122. For example, grammar service 122 records, in historical data for a user, the mistakes that the user makes in identifying and correcting comma errors, and what, if any, remediation information grammar client 112 was presented to the user in response to detecting the mistake. Trends in the historical data may be identified at the individual user level and/or at larger group levels, e.g., by cognitive scientists, to determine what remediation information should be added to database 140.
Grammar client 112 displays remediation information when the user incorrectly identifies the presence or absence of a comma error for any of the sentences. As discussed above, this may be determined by examining metadata within database 140 for a sentence in question. Remediation information may be shown in a pop-up window, similar to remediation information 406 in GUI component 412 of
As discussed above, a just-in-time hint intervention may also be provided to remediate common misconceptions after the user submits an incorrect response. For example, a sentence may include a series of commas that are correctly used to separate items in a list. If the user attempts to remove any of these commas, then a just-in-time hint may appear, advising the user that “Commas are required between items in a list.”
According to this embodiment, database 140 contains remediation information for one or more of the following:
According to an embodiment, grammar client 112 may present a problem as a sentence list—i.e., a set of two or more sentences. The sentence list may include comma problems with conjunctions and/or comma problems with phrases and clauses. After reviewing the problems, the user may proceed to identify whether each sentence in the set of sentences is correct (no comma errors) or incorrect (has comma errors). As discussed above, if the user selects incorrectly, then remediation information or a just-in-time hint intervention may appear to teach the user the relevant comma-related rule. In some embodiments, the user may solve the sentences in any desired order. After all of the sentences are correctly identified, remediation information may be shown to explain to the user why the selections are correct. As discussed above, this explanation may include highlighting and labelling the relevant sentence structures in each sentence that pertain to the associated comma rules. Finally, the user may click the “I'm done” button to move onto the next problem.
According to an embodiment, grammar client 112 may present a problem as a paragraph, where one or more sentences are shown in paragraph form. The paragraph may include sentences with conjunctions and/or sentences with phrases and clauses, but not every sentence necessarily includes a comma error. In the case of sentences with phrases and clauses, the user may be asked to identify whether a particular sentence has a comma error or no comma error. In the case of comma problems with conjunctions, the user may be asked to identify whether a particular sentence has a necessary comma that is missing, an incorrect comma that is present, or is correct as-is. If there is an error, the user may select a location within the particular sentence to remove an extraneous comma or to add a required comma. As discussed above, a misplaced comma may require correction at two locations: one correction to remove the misplaced comma and one correction to add the comma at the correct location. If the user submits an incorrect response, remediation information or just-in-time hint interventions may be provided. Grammar client 112 may also display auto-help information showing the correct location of a comma error once the user has selected a threshold number of incorrect locations, within a displayed sentence, that do not substantially match the correct location of a comma error within the sentence. After correcting all of the comma errors in the particular sentence, the user may then work on correcting comma errors in a different sentence. This process is then repeated until all comma errors are corrected in the paragraph. After each of the sentences is corrected, remediation information may be shown to explain to the user why the corrections are correct. As discussed above, this explanation may include highlighting and labelling the relevant sentence structures in each sentence that pertain to the associated comma rules. Finally, the user may click the “I'm done” button to move on to the next problem.
Grammar service 122 identifies which problem to display to a user based, at least in part, on user information stored at database 140. According to an embodiment, the automated grammar teaching system in
Based, at least in part, on the historical data, grammar service 122 identifies problems, to present to the user, that target concepts within the grammar rules governing sentence types with which the user has not demonstrated mastery. The way that grammar service 122 interprets the data is configurable by an administrator of the system. For example, an administrator sets a rule in grammar service 122 that presents a specific set of problems until the user reaches a certain level of mastery, for example by mastering a certain percentage of skills tested in the set, or by attempting some maximum number of problems. Additional rules may present different sets of problems with similar criteria, allowing a lesson to be divided into several phases with different rules. For example, an initial phase may prefer to select problems that present a large number of skills that are not yet mastered by the user, whereas a later phase may prefer to focus on a smaller number of skills that need improvement.
According to embodiments:
In connection with sentences with comma errors, grammar service 122 may track grammar skills that are used in various ways by the sentence types listed above in the metadata stored in database 140.
According to an embodiment, at least some of the problems in database 140 include data for multiple sentences that are configured to be presented all together to a user, i.e., in paragraph form. For example,
For example, after sentence 504 is highlighted, the user may be given a choice to select 1) a comma should be inserted into sentence 504, 2) a comma should be deleted from sentence 504, or 3) sentence 504 is correct as-is. If the user correctly determines that there is not a comma error and chooses selection (3), then grammar client 112 highlights the next sentence, if there is one, and continues as with the first highlighted sentence. However, if a comma error does exist, then the user must select either selection (1) or (2) depending on the appropriate correction. If the user chooses selection (1), instructions 510 direct the user to identify the location to insert the comma, or more specifically to choose the conjunction relevant to the comma error.
As shown in
Providing the user multiple sentences in the form of a paragraph gives the user a more realistic simulation of applying comma rules in the real-world setting of drafting and editing a paragraph. Users must be able to apply comma rules in the context of a multiple-sentence paragraph, as displayed in GUI 500. These problems may contain multiple sentence types, multiple comma errors, and complex sentences with multiple potential locations for comma errors. Thus, completing paragraph-style problems as in GUI 500 can help better prepare such users to correctly apply comma rules in prose-style writing assignments and other writing opportunities.
According to an embodiment, grammar service 122 and/or grammar client 112 is implemented as part of an intelligent tutoring system, such as the cognitive tutor described in Koedinger, K. R., Anderson, J. R., Hadley, W. H., & Mark, M. A. (1997), Intelligent tutoring goes to school in the big city, International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 8, 30-43, and Anderson, J. R., Corbett, A. T., Koedinger, K. R., & Pelletier, R. (1995), Cognitive Tutors: Lessons Learned, The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 4(2), 167-207, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
According to one embodiment, the techniques described herein are implemented by one or more special-purpose computing devices. The special-purpose computing devices may be hard-wired to perform the techniques, or may include digital electronic devices such as one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) that are persistently programmed to perform the techniques, or may include one or more general purpose hardware processors programmed to perform the techniques pursuant to program instructions in firmware, memory, other storage, or a combination. Such special-purpose computing devices may also combine custom hard-wired logic, ASICs, or FPGAs with custom programming to accomplish the techniques. The special-purpose computing devices may be desktop computer systems, portable computer systems, handheld devices, networking devices or any other device that incorporates hard-wired and/or program logic to implement the techniques.
For example,
Computer system 600 also includes a main memory 606, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled to bus 602 for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 604. Main memory 606 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor 604. Such instructions, when stored in non-transitory storage media accessible to processor 604, render computer system 600 into a special-purpose machine that is customized to perform the operations specified in the instructions.
Computer system 600 further includes a read only memory (ROM) 608 or other static storage device coupled to bus 602 for storing static information and instructions for processor 604. A storage device 610, such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, or solid-state drive is provided and coupled to bus 602 for storing information and instructions.
Computer system 600 may be coupled via bus 602 to a display 612, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), for displaying information to a computer user. An input device 614, including alphanumeric and other keys, is coupled to bus 602 for communicating information and command selections to processor 604. Another type of user input device is cursor control 616, such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicating direction information and command selections to processor 604 and for controlling cursor movement on display 612. This input device typically has two degrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis (e.g., x) and a second axis (e.g., y), that allows the device to specify positions in a plane.
Computer system 600 may implement the techniques described herein using customized hard-wired logic, one or more ASICs or FPGAs, firmware and/or program logic which in combination with the computer system causes or programs computer system 600 to be a special-purpose machine. According to one embodiment, the techniques herein are performed by computer system 600 in response to processor 604 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 606. Such instructions may be read into main memory 606 from another storage medium, such as storage device 610. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in main memory 606 causes processor 604 to perform the process steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions.
The term “storage media” as used herein refers to any non-transitory media that store data and/or instructions that cause a machine to operate in a specific fashion. Such storage media may comprise non-volatile media and/or volatile media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical disks, magnetic disks, or solid-state drives, such as storage device 610. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as main memory 606. Common forms of storage media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, solid-state drive, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic data storage medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical data storage medium, any physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, NVRAM, any other memory chip or cartridge.
Storage media is distinct from but may be used in conjunction with transmission media. Transmission media participates in transferring information between storage media. For example, transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus 602. Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications.
Various forms of media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 604 for execution. For example, the instructions may initially be carried on a magnetic disk or solid-state drive of a remote computer. The remote computer can load the instructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over a telephone line using a modem. A modem local to computer system 600 can receive the data on the telephone line and use an infra-red transmitter to convert the data to an infra-red signal. An infra-red detector can receive the data carried in the infra-red signal and appropriate circuitry can place the data on bus 602. Bus 602 carries the data to main memory 606, from which processor 604 retrieves and executes the instructions. The instructions received by main memory 606 may optionally be stored on storage device 610 either before or after execution by processor 604.
Computer system 600 also includes a communication interface 618 coupled to bus 602. Communication interface 618 provides a two-way data communication coupling to a network link 620 that is connected to a local network 622. For example, communication interface 618 may be an integrated services digital network (ISDN) card, cable modem, satellite modem, or a modem to provide a data communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line. As another example, communication interface 618 may be a local area network (LAN) card to provide a data communication connection to a compatible LAN. Wireless links may also be implemented. In any such implementation, communication interface 618 sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams representing various types of information.
Network link 620 typically provides data communication through one or more networks to other data devices. For example, network link 620 may provide a connection through local network 622 to a host computer 624 or to data equipment operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 626. ISP 626 in turn provides data communication services through the world wide packet data communication network now commonly referred to as the “Internet” 628. Local network 622 and Internet 628 both use electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams. The signals through the various networks and the signals on network link 620 and through communication interface 618, which carry the digital data to and from computer system 600, are example forms of transmission media.
Computer system 600 can send messages and receive data, including program code, through the network(s), network link 620 and communication interface 618. In the Internet example, a server 630 might transmit a requested code for an application program through Internet 628, ISP 626, local network 622 and communication interface 618.
The received code may be executed by processor 604 as it is received, and/or stored in storage device 610, or other non-volatile storage for later execution.
In the foregoing specification, embodiments of the invention have been described with reference to numerous specific details that may vary from implementation to implementation. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The sole and exclusive indicator of the scope of the invention, and what is intended by the applicants to be the scope of the invention, is the literal and equivalent scope of the set of claims that issue from this application, in the specific form in which such claims issue, including any subsequent correction.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/890,875, filed Oct. 15, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61890875 | Oct 2013 | US |
