System and Method for Evaluating Reading Comprehension

Abstract
A method for evaluating reading comprehension is provided. The method includes the steps of providing at least one printed passage of text; providing a test subject, the test subject wearing a device for measuring brain frontal lobe usage; requiring the test subject to read the printed passage; providing a question based on the printed passage for the test subject to answer; and determining whether the device measures brain frontal lobe usage. A system for performing the method is also provided.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system and method for evaluating reading comprehension in students, and, in particular, to a system and method for validating text dependent questions of reading passages during validity and reliability stages of test development as well as validating the types of answers to provide teachers with student information.


Description of the Related Art

Some current methods of instruction require a teacher to test the student one-on-one. Such methods do not allow for data collection and coding of incorrect answers to draw conclusions about students' areas of need. Such methods also do not allow for teacher to see growth over a short period of time and do not allow a teacher to individually test each student for 30-40 minutes every week. Few materials exist that assess reading comprehension at the secondary level and progress monitoring tools that are available do not assess reading comprehension in a way that would help teachers adapt instruction. There is a need in secondary schools for product and method that can assist teachers in this area.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.


In one embodiment, the present invention is a system and method for evaluating reading comprehension.


In an alternative embodiment, the present invention is a system and method for validating test questions to be used for evaluating reading comprehension.





BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claims, and the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals identify similar or identical elements.



FIG. 1A is a graph of measured oxygen levels on the left and right sides of test subjects' brain frontal lobe when incorrectly answering a first text-based literal question;



FIG. 1B is a graph is a graph of measured oxygen levels on the left and right sides of test subjects' brain frontal lobe when correctly answering the first text-based literal question;



FIG. 1C is a graph is a graph of measured oxygen levels on the left and right sides of test subjects' brain frontal lobe when incorrectly answering a second text-based literal question;



FIG. 1D is a graph is a graph of measured oxygen levels on the left and right sides of test subjects' brain frontal lobe when incorrectly answering the second text-based literal question;



FIG. 2A is a graph of measured oxygen levels on the left and right sides of test subjects' brain frontal lobe when incorrectly answering a first text-based inferential question;



FIG. 2B is a graph is a graph of measured oxygen levels on the left and right sides of test subjects' brain frontal lobe when correctly answering the first text-based inferential question;



FIG. 2C is a graph is a graph of measured oxygen levels on the left and right sides of test subjects' brain frontal lobe when incorrectly answering a second text-based inferential question;



FIG. 2D is a graph is a graph of measured oxygen levels on the left and right sides of test subjects' brain frontal lobe when incorrectly answering the second text-based inferential question;



FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an fNIRS system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;



FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing of a method for assessing reading comprehension according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;



FIGS. 5A-5D are graphs showing Maximum Oxy-Hb obtained through fNIRS vs. behavioral response time obtained through the inventive system for each subject and passage, separately;



FIG. 6A is average response times for correct and incorrect answers; and



FIG. 6B is average Oxy-Hb values for correct and incorrect answers.





DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the drawings, like numerals indicate like elements throughout. Certain terminology is used herein for convenience only and is not to be taken as a limitation on the present invention. The terminology includes the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words of similar import. As used herein, the term “test subject” can be used to mean a student in a classroom environment, and/or a person used to help a test developer determine whether a question on a test accurately reflects whether the question is suitable to meet the test developer's desired outcome.


The embodiments illustrated below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. These embodiments are chosen and described to best explain the principle of the invention and its application and practical use and to enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention.


Reference herein to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments necessarily mutually exclusive of other embodiments. The same applies to the term “implementation.”


As used in this application, the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the word exemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion.


Additionally, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form.


Although the subject matter described herein may be described in the context of illustrative implementations to process one or more computing application features/operations for a computing application having user-interactive components the subject matter is not limited to these particular embodiments. Rather, the techniques described herein can be applied to any suitable type of user-interactive component execution management methods, systems, platforms, and/or apparatus.


Unless explicitly stated otherwise, each numerical value and range should be interpreted as being approximate as if the word “about” or “approximately” preceded the value of the value or range.


The use of figure numbers and/or figure reference labels in the claims is intended to identify one or more possible embodiments of the claimed subject matter in order to facilitate the interpretation of the claims. Such use is not to be construed as necessarily limiting the scope of those claims to the embodiments shown in the corresponding figures.


It should be understood that the steps of the exemplary methods set forth herein are not necessarily required to be performed in the order described, and the order of the steps of such methods should be understood to be merely exemplary. Likewise, additional steps may be included in such methods, and certain steps may be omitted or combined, in methods consistent with various embodiments of the present invention.


Although the elements in the following method claims, if any, are recited in a particular sequence with corresponding labeling, unless the claim recitations otherwise imply a particular sequence for implementing some or all of those elements, those elements are not necessarily intended to be limited to being implemented in that particular sequence.


Referring to the Figures in general, a system 100 for evaluating reading comprehension according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown. System 100 is specifically developed for comprehension evaluation of students in secondary school, and can be used for other educational levels as well. System 100 contains age and grade appropriate reading passages and a plurality of related questions to each passage with multiple choice answers. Students can be tested several times during a school year with system 100 using each time a different passage and its related questions. Students can also be monitored for progress on a regular basis, such as, for example, weekly. System 100 can be downloaded and used in computers, tablets and mobile phones. System 100 has the capability to record in its log file several different pieces of information such as, for example: the date, participant information, the timings of passage reading, questions and answers, selected answers and passage reviewing times during the examination. All such information can be used for a better and more comprehensive evaluation of student's performance which is not currently possible with paper and pencil tests where only right or wrong answers and total examination time can be recorded.


In an exemplary embodiment, the 100 is reading assessment for 6th-12th grade, although those skilled in the art will recognize that system 100 can be developed for different grade levels as well. System 100 is intended to be a single piece of assessment for student data and is not meant to be the only assessment of a student's ability. System 100 is developed to assess multiple students at the same time, with test results being immediately sent to the students' teacher.


System 100 requires a test developer to develop a test with a plurality of answers including a single correct answer and a remainder of incorrect answers, or “distractors” (i.e., a multiple-choice test). The questions are developed from a particular text that a test subject will be required to read or listen to. The remainder of this disclosure, however, will be directed toward text that a test subject will be required to read.


System 100 can be used to assess one or more test subjects at the same time and can be used to provide immediate feedback on the test subjects' results. Additionally, the test subjects will be able to see graphs that explain the results in the progress that they are making. Additionally, system 100 can be used to assess validity and reliability of test questions during test development.


During test development, when developing the test questions, if, for example, four potential answers are provided, only one answer is the correct answer, with the remaining three answers being distractors. The three distractors, however, can have different levels of incorrectness. A series of tables of different types of questions and three different types of distractors (Answer Construct) for each type of question, and the goal of each distractor, is provided below. For a ten-question test based on a passage to be read, the questions include two literal questions and two inferential questions, while the remaining questions vary depending on subject matter, grade level, etc. The order of the types of questions can be shuffled for each subject based on a particular text.

















Choice for





Literal





Questions

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Text-based literal fact,
Attract students who struggle




but with incomplete
with reading the question;




information/somewhat
students who struggle locating




related to the question
and/or retrieving info from text


Distractor 2
1
Text-based literal fact,
Attract students who struggle




not related to question
with reading the question;





students who struggle





locating and/or retrieving





info from text


Distractor 3
0
Common background
Attract students who over rely




knowledge not in text
on prior knowledge or who do





not read the text





Choice for





Inferential





Questions

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Inference not supported
Attract students who are




by text
capable of inferential thinking,





but need to attend to text clues





(close reading)


Distractor 2
1
Text-based literal fact
Attract students who struggle





with reading the question or





making inferences


Distractor 3
0
Common background
Attract students who over rely




knowledge not in text
on prior knowledge or who do





not read the text






















Choice for





Character/





Narrator





POV (First





Person,





Third

Answer



Person . . . )

Construct
Goal







Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Incorrect answer,
Attract students who can identify




POV of different
point of view, but who not read




character/narrator
the prompt correctly


Distractor 2
1
Reasonable answer
Attract students who understand




related to question,
the point of view, but who did not




not a text-based fact
read or comprehend text


Distractor 3
0
Text-based fact
Attract students who may




related to character
comprehend the story, but cannot




in prompt, not
related identify point of view;




to point of view
attract students who do not read





the prompt






















Choice for





Evidence





for develop-





ing POV

Answer Construct
Goal







Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Evidence supports
Attract students who recognize




POV in general, but
point of view, but are not yet




weak evidence from
adept at identifying best evidence




unrelated part of text



Distractor 2
1
Evidence supports
Attract students who recognize




POV, but is not in
point of view, but who did not read




text
or comprehend text


Distractor 3
0
Evidence from text,
Attract students who may




does not support
comprehend the story, but cannot




POV
identify point of view; attract





students who do not read the





prompt





















Choice for




Vocabulary




Questions
Answer Construct
Goal







Key
Correct answer



Distractor
Definition of a word closely
Attract students who rely


1
related to the key; synonym
on semantic cues



OR alternate meaning of




vocabulary word not used




in this sentence



Distractor
Definition of a word with a
Attract students who rely


2
simpler meaning
on semantic cues, but lack




sophisticated vocabulary


Distractor
Definition of a word that
Attract students who rely


3
would fit syntactically in
on syntax over semantics or



the sentence OR literal
rely on literal word mean-



interpretation of figurative
ings and do not recognize



language
figurative language
























Choice for Figurative





Language Questions

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Meaning that is either
Attract students who recognize




too strong or weak for
the figurative language and its




the phrase (i.e.
context, but fail to accurately




“raining cats and
interpret it.




dogs” means





“drizzling”)



Distractor 2
1
Meaning that is
Attract students who over rely




possible in the story,
on context.




but doesn't align with





that exact phrase.



Distractor 3
0
Reasonable literal
Attract students who only read




meaning of the phrase
the question or who cannot use





context to determine meaning.





Choice for





Summary or Main





Idea

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Main idea of one
Attract students who read portion




paragraph/portion
of text; attract students who can





only synthesize sections of section





of text


Distractor 2
1
Correct author's
Attract students who over confuse




purpose: inform,
main idea with author's purpose




persuade, entertain



Distractor 3
0
Text-based literal fact
Attract students who can read for





detail but not synthesize





information





Choice for Part to





the Whole

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Correct connection, but
Attract students who can make




with incorrect evidence
connections from part to whole,





but need to select better evidence


Distractor 2
1
Incorrect connection
Attract students who can recall




supported with a text-
details, but fail to connect part to




based fact
the whole


Distractor 3
0
Reasonable answer to
Attract students who understand




the question, but not
the structure element in the




related to the overall
prompt, but who did not read or




structure of this text
comprehend text





Choice for Best





Evidence

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Related fact from text
Attract students who are capable




that does not provide
identifying evidentiary facts, but




“best” evidence
not able to evaluate strongest





choice


Distractor 2
1
Text-based literal fact,
Attract students who can read for




not related to the
detail but can't identify evidence




question
that supports a specific conclusion


Distractor 3
0
Supportive, evidentiary
Attract students who over rely on




fact not in text
prior knowledge or who do not





read the text





Choice for Author's





Purpose

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Incorrect author's
Attract students who can not




purpose
distinguish between/among





purposes


Distractor 2
1
Correct main idea
Attract students who over confuse





main idea with author's purpose


Distractor 3
0
Text-based literal fact
Attract students who can read for





detail but not synthesize





information





Choice for Text





Type or Genre

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Incorrect answer but
Attract students who understand




text-based
the genre, but can not recall or




fact/inferences, related
infer enough information to make




to correct text type
correct selection


Distractor 2
1
Text-based
Attract students who may




fact/inference, incorrect
comprehend the story, but




text type
cannot distinguish among text





types; attract students who do





not read the prompt


Distractor 3
0
Reasonable answer
Attract students who can dis-




related to question, not
tinguish among text types, but




a text-based fact
who did not read or comprehend





text





Choice for





Relationships between





Story Elements

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Both facts are in the
Attract students who are capable




text, but one does
identifying evidentiary facts, but




not relate to the
not able to make causal




other
connections.


Distractor 2
1
Text-based literal
Attract students who can read for




fact related to one of
detail but can't identify evidence




the elements but not
that supports a specific




the other
connection.


Distractor 3
0
Supportive,
Attract students who over rely on




evidentiary facts not
prior knowledge or who do not




in text
read the text





Choice for Key Idea

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Related example from
Attract students who are capable




text that does not
identifying evidentiary examples,




provide “best” support
but not able to evaluate strongest




for stated key idea
choice


Distractor 2
1
Text-based literal
Attract students who can read for




example, not related to
detail but can't identify evidence




the question
that supports a key idea


Distractor 3
0
Supportive, evidentiary
Attract students who over rely on




fact not in text
prior knowledge or who do not read





the text





Choice for Author's





Purpose

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Incorrect author's
Attract students who cannot




purpose
distinguish between/among





purposes


Distractor 2
1
Correct main idea
Attract students who over confuse





main idea with author's purpose


Distractor 3
0
Text-based literal fact
Attract students who can read for





detail but not synthesize information





Choice for Text





Structure (Problem-





solution, description,





explanatory cause-





effect, enumeration,





categorization,





sequence,





comparison-contrast,





narrative)

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Incorrect answer
Attract students who understand




but text-based,
that part of structure, but cannot




correct structure
recall or infer enough information





to make correct selection


Distractor 2
1
Text-based fact,
Attract students who may




incorrect structure
comprehend the story, but cannot





identify correct text structure form





question; attract students who do





not read the prompt


Distractor 3
0
Reasonable answer
Attract students who understand




related to question,
the structure element in the prompt,




not a text-based
but who did not read or




fact
comprehend text





Choice for Text





Features (captions,





graphics, charts,





diagrams, graphs)

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Incorrect answer
Attract students who identify the




but text-based
correct feature, but cannot recall or




fact/inferences,
infer enough information to make




related to correct
correct selection




feature



Distractor 2
1
Text-based
Attract students who may recall the




fact/inference,
text, but cannot distinguish among




incorrect text
text features; attract students who




feature
do not read the prompt


Distractor 3
0
Reasonable answer
Attract students who can distinguish




related to question,
among text features, but who did




not a text-based
not read or comprehend text




fact





Choice for Word





Choice and Tone

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Words can connote stated
Attract students who understand




mood, but mood is not
how word choice can suggest




the correct one for the
mood, but who need to integrate




text
that knowledge with the story





context


Distractor 2
1
Words do not connote the
Attract students who recall details




stated mood, but are
from the text, but do not connect




words from the text
word choice to mood of the text


Distractor 3
0
Words can connote stated
Attract students who over rely on




mood, those words are
prior knowledge or who do not




not from text
read the text





Choice for Theme

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Theme of one part
Attract students who read portion




of the text, but not
of text; attract students who can




the text in its
only synthesize sections of section




entirety
of text


Distractor 2
1
Correct mail idea
Attract students who over confuse





theme with main idea


Distractor 3
0
Text-based literal
Attract students who can read for




fact
detail but not synthesize





information





Choice for





Compare/Contrast

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Incorrect similarity or
Attract students who can recall




difference based on
facts, but not accurately




some text-based facts
compare/contrast


Distractor 2
1
Statement that supports
Attract students who cannot




opposite of the prompt
distinguish between compare and





contrast


Distractor 3
0
Similarity or difference
Attract students who over rely on




based on common
prior knowledge or who do not




background knowledge
read the text




not in text





Choice for





Compare/Contrast





with Core Texts

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Incorrect similarity or
Attract students who can recall




difference based on
facts, but not accurately




some text-based
compare/contrast




facts



Distractor 2
1
Statement that
Attract students who cannot




supports opposite of
distinguish between compare and




the prompt
contrast


Distractor 3
0
Similarity or
Attract students who over rely on




difference based on
prior knowledge or who do not




common background
read the text




knowledge not in text





Choice for Text





Structure





(how parts contribute





to the whole)

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Part that does
Attract students who can identify




not support the
the structure, but not correctly




stated whole
identify how the part supports





the whole


Distractor 2
1
Text-based part,
Attract students who recall text




incorrect
facts, but did not understand text




structure
structure


Distractor 3
0
Reasonable
Attract students who understand




answer related
the structure element in the




to question, not
prompt, but who did not read or




based on text
comprehend text





Choice for





Compare/Contrast





with Outside





Texts/Events

Answer Construct
Goal





Key
3
Correct answer



Distractor 1
2
Statement that supports
Attract students who cannot




opposite of the prompt
distinguish between compare





and contrast


Distractor 2
1
Similarity or difference
Attract students who over rely




based on common
on prior knowledge or who do




background knowledge
not read the text




not in text



Distractor 3
0
Incorrect similarity or
Attract students who can recall




difference based on some
facts, but not accurately




text-based facts
compare/contrast









Questions 1 and 2 of each passage are literal questions. Literal question answers can be found directly in the text. In functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) analysis, literal questions required more oxygenation on the left frontal lobe when students answered the question correctly. The left side of the frontal lobe has been associated with working memory. In answering literal questions, subjects need to use their working memory in order to answer the question correctly. Working memory includes holding the information for a short time in order to manipulate or otherwise do something with the information. In this case, subjects read a passage and the first two questions asked about the passage are literal questions that refer directly to the passage and what was just read (in working memory).


Referring to FIGS. 1A-1D, for two literal based questions, the average HbO found on the left frontal lobe=0.148448399 (Question 1) and 0.163853076 (Question 2). The negative numbers shown in FIGS. 1A, 1C, and 1D indicate no activation of that brain frontal lobe section. The high positive numbers for the left lobe shown in FIGS. 1B and 1D indicate that the left frontal lobe (working memory) was activated in arriving at the correct answer. The negative values for the right frontal lobe in FIGS. 1A, 1C, and 1D, as well as the low positive value in FIG. 1B, indicates little or no use of the right frontal lobe in answering the question either correctly or incorrectly.


Referring now to FIGS. 2A-2D, questions 3 and 4 in each passage are inferential questions. In order for a subject to correctly answer an inferential question, the subject needs to use partly what is in the text and partly what the subject knows from experience or background knowledge. Background knowledge is likely stored in long term memory and would activate a different part of the brain than the frontal lobe. Using fNIRS, data analysis results show positive oxygenation in the right frontal lobe which is associated with attention. While activation was present on both the left and right frontal lobe, the oxygenation was higher on the right frontal lobe.


For the two exemplary inferential questions whose results are shown in FIGS. 2A-2D, the average Hb) found on the right frontal lobe=0.282245616 (Question 3) and 0.229836028 (Question 4). The negative values in FIGS. 2A and 2C indicate no brain frontal lobe activity when answering incorrectly, while the positive values in FIGS. 2B and 2D indicate both left frontal lobe activity (working memory) and right frontal lobe activity (attention) to correctly answer the questions.


In a paired T test of channel 6 & 12 of Q4 (with Channel 6 being the left frontal lobe and channel 12 the right frontal lobe) statistical significance (p=0.053) was nearly approached with n=9.


For example, a first distractor can be a text-based literal fact that is not related to the question and is designed to attract students who struggle with reading the question and students who struggle locating and/or retrieving information from the text. A second distractor is a text-based literal fact with incomplete information that is somewhat related to the question and is designed to attract students who struggle with reading the question and students who struggle locating and/or retrieving information from the text. The third distractor relates to common background knowledge not in the text, and is designed to attract students who over rely on prior knowledge or who do not read the text.


In an exemplary embodiment, when grading a test, the grading scale can be set such that the different answers have different score values. For example, the correct answer is worth 3 points, the first distractor can be worth 2 points, the second distractor can be worth 1 point, and the third distractor can be worth 0 points. With this scoring scheme, if, for example, a test has 10 questions, then the highest score would be 30 points. Subsequent testing (using different passages) may be used to determine if a test subject is doing a better job of reading and evaluating the text, but still getting incorrect answers. For example, if, during the first round of testing, the test subject got questions wrong and selected the second or third distractor in an amount of the questions, but if, during a second round of testing, the test subject, while still selecting incorrect answers, selected the first distractors in an amount of the questions, it may be able to be determined that, even though the test subject is still selecting incorrect answers, the test subject is doing a better job at reading and comprehending the text, which may correlate with a change in the test subject's brain function over time.


During test development and validation, to assist the test developer in determining whether the test subject is answering the question based on his/her recent reading of the text, fNIRS can be used. It is known that fNIRS can be used to measure brain frontal lobe usage. It is also known that the frontal lobe is, among other functions (e.g., working memory, executive functions, decision making, problem solving, attention, conflict resolution, etc.), the source of short-term memory in humans. Therefore, fNIRS can be used to determine whether or not a test subject uses his/her frontal lobe to answer a question based on a recently read passage.


By applying fNIRS hardware to a test subject to validate the test questions, if fNIRS results indicate that the test subject used his/her prefrontal cortex (where short-term memory is located) to answer the question, it can be determined that the test subject is basing his/her answer on recently read material, as desired by the test developer. The test subject would typically use brain frontal lobe to select either the correct answer or one of the first two distractors and does not use the brain frontal lobe to answer the third distractor.


Additionally, while the examples provided herein are text passages with words that comprise stories, it is within the scope of the present invention that the text can be numerals as well, requiring the test subject to perform mathematical calculations, with numerical answers as the correct answer and the distractors. For example, the multiplication text problem of 8×7 will have the correct answer of 56, a first distractor of 54 (which may indicate that the test subject tried to multiply the numbers and simply arrived at the wrong answer), a second distractor of 15 (which may indicate that the test subject added the numbers instead of multiplied the numbers), and a third distractor of 87 (which may indicate that the test subject merely put the 8 and the 7 together to form 87.


A schematic drawing of an exemplary fNIRS system 110 for use with system 100 is shown FIG. 3. The fNIRS system 110 used was a 4-channel fNIRS spectroscopy system produced by fNIR Device, LLC. The fNIRS system 110 included a head band type sensor assembly 120, data collection box 140 and a computer 150. The sensor assembly 120 is composed of two identical sensors 122, 124, each containing one light source with built in LEDs at 730 and 850 nm wavelength and 2 light detectors on each side of the light source approximately 2.5 cm away from the light source. The sensors 122, 124 were placed symmetrically on the forehead 52 of the test subject 50, one sensor 122 on the right hemisphere 54 above the right eyebrow 56 and the other sensor 124 on the left hemisphere 58 right above the left eyebrow 60, mapping the middle frontal cortex at four channel locations, where channel 1 was imaging the left most frontal area; channel 2 was on the left middle; channel 3 was on the right middle; and channel 4 was imaging the right most area on the frontal cortex. Data collection box 140 and the computer 150 are used to collect and store the data. fNIRS data is collected while students were subjected to system 100 simultaneously where time synchronization is achieved through markers.


If the fNIRS system 110 determines that the test subject used his/her brain frontal lobe to answer the question, but selected a distractor instead of the correct answer, the question can still be determined to be a question that requires brain frontal lobe usage to answer and, therefore, is a valid question based on the text. It can be noted, however, that, if many or all of the test subjects incorrectly answer the question, even if the fNIRS results indicate that the test subjects used their brain frontal lobe to answer the question, the question may need to be reworded or dropped entirely.


If, however, the fNIRS results indicate that the test subject did not use his/her brain frontal lobe to answer the question, it can be determined that the test subject may not have read the passage and that the question may not be suitable to determine the test subject's comprehension of the recently read text.


Additionally, if the test subject selected one of the distractors, the test subject can be directed to re-read the passage and answer the question again. If the answer is still wrong, but is “less” wrong than the first wrong answer (i.e., the first wrong answer was the third distractor and the second wrong answer was the second distractor), then it can be determined that the test subject appears to be making progress in comprehending the text.


An exemplary reading passage, along with a correct answer and three different types of distractors, is provided below.


A Liger's Tale

    • What do you get when you cross a lion with a tiger? A liger, of course! There are not a lot of ligers in the world, but one, named Hercules, made a big splash recently at Miami's Parrot Jungle Island. “It's not something you see every day,” the animal's owner, Bhagavan Antle, told New York's Daily News.
    • How did Hercules, who weighs 900 pounds, come to be? Three years ago [2002], his father, a lion, and his mother, a tiger, spotted each other at Antle's South Carolina animal preserve. It was love at first roar. “We have a big free-roaming area at the preserve,” Antle told the New York Post. “Sometimes lions and tigers are allowed to go out there and, lo and behold, one particular lion fell in love with one particular tiger and we had babies.” Four, to be exact: Hercules has three brothers—Vulcan, Zeus, and Sinbad.
    • What do ligers look like? A liger has a thick mane like that of a lion and stripes like those of a tiger. Hercules can consume 100 pounds of raw meat a day. He is able to run as fast as 50 miles per hour. At 3 years old, he's only a baby.
    • Does Hercules roar like a tiger or a lion? He has his dad's voice, although he swims like his mom. Like most lions, his dad doesn't enjoy the water. Hercules is special because there are no ligers in the wild. Several have been born in captivity, including one last year in a zoo in Russia. That liger's name is Zita. Ligers are rare because tigers and lions don't usually get along. “Normally the lion will kill the tiger,” Antle said.


Question:


1. Why are ligers rare?

    • A. Lions and tigers don't usually get along (correct answer).
    • B. The lion and tiger fell in love (Text-based literal fact, not related to question; Attract students who struggle with reading the question; students who struggle locating and/or retrieving info from text).
    • C. There are no ligers in the wild (Text-based literal fact, but with incomplete information/somewhat related to the question, Attract students who struggle with reading the question; students who struggle locating and/or retrieving info from text).
    • D. Ligers are unfamiliar to many people (Common background knowledge not in text, Attract students who over rely on prior knowledge or who do not read the text).


It may be desired to use original text passages and not use prior written text passages that the test subject may have had an opportunity to previously read. This will ensure that the text passage is brand new to the test subject.


An exemplary use of the system 100 and method according to the present invention is shown in flowchart 200, shown FIG. 4. In step 202, the test developer provides a passage for a test subject to read and develops a question based on the passage. In step 204, the test subject reads the passage. In step 206, the test subject wears an fNIRS device and answers a question based on the passage. In an exemplary embodiment, only frontal lobe usage is measured.


In step 208, if the fNIRS device measures frontal lobe brain activity, which is indicative of the usage of short-term memory to answer the question, the question is validated for that test subject. In step 210, however, if the fNIRS device does not measure frontal brain lobe activity, the question is invalid for that test subject.


Steps 204-210 can be repeated for a plurality of test subjects and for a plurality of text passages. In an exemplary embodiment, the plurality of students can be at least 20 students. After the plurality of test subjects have perform steps 204-210, if a significant number, such as, for example, over 75%, of the test subjects used brain frontal lobe to answer the question, the question is validated for the test. If, however, less than the significant number of the test subjects used brain frontal lobe to answer the question, the test developer can make the decision that the question is invalid and discard the question as relates to the passage.


A plurality of questions can be developed for the passage using steps 204-210. After the test has been developed for the particular passage, steps 202-210 can be repeated, with a different passage being selected in step 202.


An exemplary use of system 100 is provided in the following example:


Example 1

Participants and Task: 3 middle school students (age=12(mean)-males) had taken part in a preliminary study using system 100. Students performed 4 sessions using system 100 with 5 minutes to 1 hour in between sessions. In each session students were given a different passage and 10 questions to be answered related to the passage. Students and their corresponding passages in the order they have received them are given in Table 1 below.









TABLE 1







Students and the passages they had performed


in the order they had performed it










Session
Student #10
Student #15
Student #20





1
Phantom Tollbooth
Hatchet
Liger's Tale*


2
Liger's Tale*
Dynamic Duo
Hatchet


3
Dynamic Duo
Liger's Tale*
Dynamic Duo


4
Hatchet
Phantom Tollbooth
Front of the Bus





*Passages where simultaneous recordings from system 100 incorporating fNIRS were collected






Results:


Behavioral Outcomes (from System 100):


Two types of analyses were performed in order to show the additional capabilities of system 100 in student performance evaluation in comparison to paper and pencil test methods. First, only the gross outcomes, such as overall testing time and correct/incorrect answers, were analyzed where it could have been accessed when paper and pencil tests were used. Then, the detailed results from system 100, such as individual question response times, number of viewing the essay during the examination, etc., were analyzed to show the efficacy of the 100 in providing valuable information in addition to the gross measurements.


Table 2 below reports on the overall timing of the test and the number of correct answers (out of 10 questions) for each passage and students as shown in Table 2. Note that if there are multiple answers given for an individual question, the last answer is taken as the answer for that question.









TABLE 2







Overall test completion time and correct answers given for each subject


and passage












Correct Answers
Test Completion


Subject
Passages
Given (out of 10)
time (s)





#10
Phantom Tollbooth
5
370


#10
Liger's Tale*
7
259


#10
Dynamic Duo
8
858


#10
Hatchet
6
425


#15
Hatchet
6
510


#15
Dynamic Duo
7
645


#15
Liger's Tale*
7
292


#15
Phantom Tollbooth
4
707


#20
Liger's Tale*
7
381


#20
Hatchet
7
257


#20
Dynamic Duo
8
858


#20
Front of the Bus*
8
572





*the passages where simultaneous recordings from system 100 and fNIRS are collected






From these overall measures, no improvement (due to practice) or deterioration (due to fatigue) is found in terms of correct answers given, although the results indicate that it appears to take more time for the students to perform the overall test in the later sessions as compared to the former ones. This increase in time in test completion is not reflected in the number of correct answers given (correlation coefficient R=0.17). Another observation here is, overall, the “tiger's Tale” passage took the least time to complete and the “Dynamic Duo” passage took the most time, which may be due to the difficulty levels of these passages. Overall, subject #20 performed the best and subject #15 performed the worst out of the three students.


Additional detailed measurements from system 100: An example use log for system 100 is given in Table 3 below. From this log, the time it took for the student to read the passage, number and timing of going back to the passage, timing of each question and the corresponding answer, response type in terms of which multiple choice is selected and if it is correct or wrong can be extracted which can provide the teacher a rich amount of information to better evaluate the student's performance.









TABLE 3







An example log for subject 15, passage “Hatchet”
















Re-
Correct


Event
Time(abs)
Time
Question
sponse
Answer





Started Reading
1408541449
 0





Question Start
1408541722
273





Response
14085411728
279
1
3
0


Next Question
1408541730
281





Response
1408541736
287
2
1
1


Response
1408541736
287
2
1
1


Next Question
1408541738
289





Response
1408541761
312
3
2
0


Go To Essay
1408541766
317





Question start
1408541787
338





Response
1408541788
339
3
4
0


Response
1408541789
340
3
4
0


Next Question
1408541790
341





Go To Essay
1408541802
353





Question Start
1408541809
360





Response
1408541810
361
4
1
1


Response
1408541811
362
4
1
1


Next Question
1408541812
363





Response
1408541837
388
5
2
0


Response
1808541837
388
5
2
0


Response
1408541838
389
5
2
0


Next Question
1408541839
390





Response
1408541902
453
6
1
1


Next Question
1408541903
454





Response
1408541913
464
7
2
0


Response
1408541914
465
7
1
1


Next Question
1408541922
473





Response
1408541930
481
8
3
0


Response
1408541937
488
8
4
0


Response
1408541938
489
8
1
1


Next Question
1408541939
490





Response
1408541952
503
9
3
0


Next Question
1408541953
504





Response
1408541956
507
 10
1
1


Complete
1408541959
510









Here, as an example for additional behavioral measure analysis using system 100 logs, individual passage reading times, total number of answers given (including multiple answers for a single question), overall additional passage viewing times during the testing, the average response times for the 10 questions together with the answer types (correct answers) and overall testing time were extracted and summarized in Table 4 below.









TABLE 4







10 Question averaged values for each subject, session and passage


















Pas-


Re-

Over-





sage
# of
# of
sponse

all


Sub-
Ses-

Time
An-
Go
Time
Correct
Time


ject
sion
Passage
(s)
swers
Essay
(s)
Answer
(s)


















10
1
Phantom
180
14
0
16.7
5
370




Tollbooth








10
2
Liger's
123
11
0
12
7
259




Tale*








10
3
Dynamic
181
12
1
19
8
858




Duo








10
4
Hatchet
219
11
2
12.2
6
425


15
1
Hatchet
273
19
1
19.7
6
510


15
2
Dynamic
125
19
1
17.8
7
645




Duo








15
3
Liger's
108
13
1
12.6
7
292




Tale*








15
4
Phantom
359
14
2
24.3
4
707




Tollbooth








20
1
Liger's
142
10
2
15.5
7
381




Tale*








20
2
Hatchet
 26
10
0
20.4
7
257


20
3
Dynamic
255
11
6
11.2
8
858




Duo








20
4
Front of
252
12
1
12.6
8
572




the Bus*















From these additional measures, some observations suggested that there was a negative correlation between the passage reading time and number of correct answers given (R=−0.4) and a positive correlation between passage reading time and the number of going back to the passage (R=0.45). These may mean that as the students read the passages longer (harder passages to comprehend) their number of correct answers drops and they feel the need to go back to the passage more. There was a positive correlation between the session numbers and the passage reading time (R=0.42) and overall testing time (R=0.38) which may mean that students needed more time as they took the next tests during the day that may be related with a fatigue effect. There was a negative correlation between number of correct answers given and the question response time (R=−0.54) which may mean that students answer questions correctly in shorter time.


Averages in terms of students, sessions and passages can also be obtained. Averages over students are summarized in Table 5 below. It can be seen that student #20, read the passages the quickest, visited the passages the most times, answered the questions in shortest time and given the most number of correct answers with less number of tries as compared to the others. Subject #15 took the longest time to read the passages, visited the passages in intermediate levels, took the most time to answer the questions and tried several times to provide an answer, though had given the less number of correct answers on the average.









TABLE 5







Averaged values for each subject















Average

Average
Average



Sub-
Passage
# of
Average #
Correct
Response
Overall


ject
Time (s)
Answers
of GoEssay
Time (s)
Answers
Time (s)
















10
175.75
12
3
6.5
14.98
478


15
216.25
16.25
5
6
18.6
538.5


20
168.75
10.75
9
7.5
14.94
517









If averages in terms of sessions (1 through 4) are carried out the detailed results of system 100 provide more correlations on certain fields. Table 6 summarizes the subject averaged measures of system 100 in terms of sessions. With this grouping, the correlation between the number of correct answers given and the average response time becomes R=−0.80.









TABLE 6







Subject averaged values for each session















Average
Average
Average
Average



Sub-
Passage
# of
# of
Correct
Response
Overall


ject
Time (s)
Answers
GoEssay
Answers
Time (s)
Time (s)
















1
198.33
14.33
1.00
6.00
17.30
420.33


1
91.33
13.33
0.33
7.00
16.73
387.00


3
181.33
12.00
2.67
7.67
14.27
669.33


4
276.67
12.33
1.67
6.00
16.39
568.00









If averages in terms of passages are carried out to eliminate the effects of difficulty levels of passages are carried out, the results become as given in Table 7. With this grouping, between the number of correct answers given and the average response time becomes R=−0.88.









TABLE 7







Subject averaged values for each passage


















Average
Over-




Average
Average
Average
Re-
all



Passage
# of
# of
Correct
sponse
Time


Passage
Time (s)
Answers
GoEssay
Answers
Time (s)
(s)





Liger's Tale
124.33
11.33
1.00
7.00
13.37
310.67


Dynamic Duo
187.00
14.00
2.67
7.67
16.00
787.00


Hatchet
172.67
13.33
1.00
6.33
17.43
397.33


Front of the Bus
252.00
12.00
1.00
8.00
12.66
572.00


Phantom
269.50
14.00
1.00
4.50
20.50
538.50


Tollbooth









These preliminary analyses on the behavioral outcomes as measured by system 100 are carried out to provide examples on how system 100 can be used to obtain more detailed and elaborate evaluation of student performances on reading comprehension tests. Each individual student can be evaluated on certain measures within themselves over various testing time points or across each other at a given time point or over time in terms of improvement/decline. Additional analysis can also be carried out at various grade levels. All the detailed information that system 100 provides in terms of passage viewing, number of answers given, timings of answers and so forth provide previously unattainable information by the use of paper and pencil tests.


Brain-based measures from fNIRS were recorded in the following manner. Raw intensity measurements at 730 and 850 nm wavelengths are first filtered with a finite impulse response (FIR) filter to eliminate heart pulsation, respiration and high frequency noise signals. Then using the modified Beer-Lambert law, raw intensity measurements are converted into changes in Oxy-Hb and Deoxy-Hb relative to the 10 sec baseline period collected at the beginning of the measurement.


Using the timings of recordings by system 100, data epochs from the questions asked response given is extracted for each student, passage, channel, hemodynamic variables (Oxy- and Deoxy-Hb) and question. The epochs are baseline corrected (mean of pre epoch region is subtracted from the epoch) to eliminate the effects of pre-epoch activities from the epoch region itself for normalization. Then maximum amplitude of each epoch of each hemodynamic variable which is a common feature used in fNIRS studies is extracted. Since Oxy-Hb has been shown to correlate well with cognitive activity and produce comparable results to fMRI findings, in this study analysis was first focused on Oxy-Hb results.


As an initial analysis the maximum Oxy-Hb values of each of the 10 question epochs are correlated with the corresponding behavioral response times for each individual subject and test where fNIRS measures were collected (as given in Table 2), separately. On channel 3 (middle frontal area on the right hemisphere, which corresponds to attentional domains as found out in previous fNIRS and fMRI studies), high correlation values were found, as summarized in Table 8 below. In FIGS. 5A-5D, scatter plot of fNIRS values on channel 3 vs response times for each fNIR recording session is given. These preliminary results indicate that there is a positive correlation between subject's response time and maximum Oxy-Hb values meaning that when subjects spend more time and effort in a question, the oxygenation in a certain area of the brain increases accordingly.









TABLE 8







Correlation values between Oxy-Hb and response times












Subject #10,
Subject #15,
Subject #20,
Subject #20,



passage 1
passage 1
passage 1
passage 4





R
0.829
0.626
0.648
0.642









Average values of maximum Oxy-Hb were calculated in all questions for each subject and passage where there is fNIRS recording. These values are summarized in Table 9 below.









TABLE 9







Correlation values between Oxy-Hb and response times


















Pas-
Over-



Re-





sage
all
# of


sponse


Sub-


Time
Time
An-
# of
Correct
Time


ject
Passage
HbO2
(s)
(s)
swers
GoEssay
Answers
(s)


















10
Liger's
0.141
123
259
11
0
7
12



Tale









15
Liger's
0.050
108
292
13
1
7
12.6



Tale









20
Liger's
0.785
142
381
10
2
7
15.5



Tale









20
Front of
0.423
252
444
11
1
8
12.7



the Bus









It was found that there were positive correlation between the Oxy-Hb values and overall testing time (R=0.67), number of times the passage has been viewed (R=0.79) and the average response time (R=0.89). These results mean that as it takes for certain subjects more time to complete the test and they need more revisiting the passage, they have to put more effort in it and hence their response times and the corresponding Oxy-Hb values increase.


The correct and incorrect responses were separated and calculated the average maximum Oxy-Hb and response times for each subject and passage as summarized in Table 10 below. Similar information is also given in FIGS. 6A and 6B for better visual inspection.









TABLE 10







Correct vs incorrect answers Oxy-Hb and response time values













Oxy-Hb
# of Answers
Response Time (s)














Sub-


In-

In-

In-


ject
Passage
Correct
correct
Correct
correct
Correct
correct

















10
Liger's
0.115
0.200
7
3
10.429
15.667



Tale








15
Liger's
−0.017
0.207
7
3
11.286
15.667



Tale








20
Liger's
0.918
0.474
7
3
16.571
13.000



Tale








20
Front of
0.321
1.236
8
2
10.250
32.000


Av-
the Bus








erage

0.334
0.529
7.25
2.75
12.134
19.083









All cases had more correct answers than incorrect ones. On the average, incorrect answers took more time to respond and more Oxy-Hb. Individually also, incorrect answers took in general more time to answer and more Oxy-Hb. Only in subject 20, passage “tiger's Tale” did it take less time for incorrect answers, but in this case, it corresponded to less Oxy-Hb in incorrect answers as compared to the correct ones.


This example only used readers of native English speaker within the same grade level and compared their behavioral results based on system 100 with their brain measures. Those skilled in the art, however, will recognize that system 100 can be used with individuals with specific learning disabilities in reading, individuals of different age and grade groups, individuals where English is a second language and compare their outcomes using system 100 within and across groups together with their brain measures.


It is expected that system 100 will be able to provide the following information that can be used to inform instruction. Such information can include:


1. How long it took the student to read the passage through to the first question.


2. How long it took the student to answer each question.


3. If the student referred back to the passage while answering a question.


4. If the student got the answer correct or incorrect.


5. Which answer the student chose and why it was the wrong answer (heuristic).


6. Total percentage of answers correct.


7. Types of wrong answers and how many of each.


8. A graph with the data, Lexile® level and score for the student for the school year.


9. How long the entire passage with questions took to read and answer.


10. A warning when a student has not shown progress for three sessions in a row.


11. A signal when student has read three passages at that grade Lexile® level with 75% or more accuracy—which is a signal for the teacher to move the student to the next level.


12. A class roster with student names highlighted in colors such as: green (on target); yellow (just below target); and red (well below target) for graded Lexile level.


13. Strategies for working with students depending on the type of wrong answers selected by the students.


14. Ability for student to read orally into a cloud based system to enable the teacher to hear reading fluency of the students.


15. Ability for an iPad to read passage to a student who may have difficulty decoding and teacher wants to check listening comprehension.


It will be further understood that various changes in the details, materials, and arrangements of the parts which have been described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of this invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the following claims.

Claims
  • 1. A method for developing a reading comprehension test for readers, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing at least one passage of text;(b) providing a question based on the passage; and(c) providing a plurality of potential answers, the potential answers having only a single correct answer and at least three incorrect answers, each answer having a different answer construct;wherein a first of the incorrect answers uses brain frontal lobe activity and wherein a second of the incorrect answers does not use brain frontal lobe activity, wherein the answer construct for the second of the incorrect answers attracts readers who do at least one of the following: (i) rely on prior knowledge; or(ii) do not read or comprehend the passage.
  • 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: (d) providing a test subject wearing a functional near infrared device of the test subject's head;(e) providing the passage, the question, and the plurality of potential answers to a test subject;(f) requiring the test subject to read the passage and answer the question; and(g) determining whether brain frontal lobe usage is measured by the functional near infrared spectroscopy device.
  • 3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of: (h) repeating steps (d)-(g) for a plurality of test subjects.
  • 4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the step of: (i) if more than a predetermined number of the plurality of test subjects did not use brain frontal lobe activity, discarding the question.
  • 5. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the step of: (i) if not more than a predetermined number of the plurality of test subjects did not use brain frontal lobe activity, using the question for subsequent testing.
  • 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein step (c) further comprises attracting readers who do at least one of the following: (iii) do not read a prompt in the question; or(iv) cannot use context to determine a meaning of figurative text.
  • 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the single correct answer requires brain frontal lobe usage.
  • 8. A method for developing a reading comprehension test for readers, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing at least one passage of text;(b) providing a question based on the passage; and(c) providing a plurality of potential answers, the potential answers having only a single correct answer and at least three incorrect answers, each answer having a different answer construct;wherein a first of the incorrect answers uses brain frontal lobe activity and wherein a second of the incorrect answers uses less brain frontal lobe activity than the first of the incorrect answers.
  • 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the answer construct for the second of the incorrect answers relies on supportive, evidentiary facts not in the text.
  • 10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the answer construct for the second of the incorrect answers provides a text-based literal fact.
  • 11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the answer construct for the second of the incorrect answers provides a reasonable answer related to the question, but is not a text-based fact.
  • 12. The method according to claim 8, wherein the answer construct for the second of the incorrect answers relies on common background knowledge not in the text.
  • 13. The method according to claim 8, wherein the answer construct for the second of the incorrect answers provides a text-based fact related to a character in the text, but is not related to a point of view of the character.
  • 14. The method according to claim 8, wherein the answer construct for the second of the incorrect answers provides evidence from the text, but does not support a character point of view.
  • 15. The method according to claim 8, wherein the frontal lobe activity includes both left I and right frontal brain activity.
  • 16. The method according to claim 8, wherein the answer construct for the second of the incorrect answers provides a reasonable literal meaning of a phrase in the text.
  • 17. The method according to claim 8, wherein the answer construct for the second of the incorrect answers provides a reasonable answer to the question, but is not related to an overall structure of the text.
  • 18. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the steps of: (d) providing a test subject wearing a functional near infrared device of the test subject's head;(e) providing the passage, the question, and the plurality of potential answers to a test subject;(f) requiring the test subject to read the passage and answer the question; and(g) determining whether brain frontal lobe usage is measured by the functional near infrared spectroscopy device.
  • 19. A method for developing a reading comprehension test for readers, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing at least one passage of text;(b) providing a question based on the passage; and(c) providing a plurality of potential answers, the potential answers having only a single correct answer and at least three incorrect answers, each answer having a different answer construct, wherein each of the different answer constructs is directed to determining a different goal.
  • 20. The method according to claim 19, wherein a test taker's selection of the single correct answer indicates left brain frontal lobe usage to select the single correct answer.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/884,802, filed on Oct. 16, 2015, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/065,139, filed on Oct. 17, 2014, both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Provisional Applications (1)
Number Date Country
62065139 Oct 2014 US
Continuation in Parts (1)
Number Date Country
Parent 14884802 Oct 2015 US
Child 17324149 US