Learning method and system based on questioning

Abstract

An apparatus and a system to teach a user a subject based on his questions. The system allows the user to control his learning process, and helps to fill in gaps of misunderstanding in the subject. In one embodiment, the system, including a database, presents study materials on the subject to the user. After working on the presented materials, the user enters his question into the system, which generates an answer to the question, and presents it to him. Then the system compares the question with one or more questions previously entered by the user to determine his understanding level in the subject. Based on the determination, the system may present to the user appropriate study materials. The user typically asks more than one question, and the process of answering his question by the system repeats.

1 . A method of teaching a user a subject depending on the user asking a computer system questions, the method comprising the steps of: 
 retrieving a question entered by the user into the system;    generating an answer to the question;    presenting the answer to the user so as to teach the user the subject; and    comparing the question with one or more questions previously entered by the user to determine the user's understanding level in the subject.    
     
     
         2 . A method as recited in  claim 1  wherein: 
 the system includes a database;  
 the question is a natural-language question; and  
 the step of generating an answer to the question includes the steps of: 
 analyzing, by the system, the grammatical structure of the natural-language question for parsing the question into its grammatical components based on a pre-defined context-free grammatical structure, using the database and one or more grammatical rules; and  
 transforming, by the system, at least one component into one or more instructions, using one or more semantic rules and the database, for generating the answer to the natural-language question.  
 
 
     
     
         3 . A method as recited in  claim 1  wherein after the step of comparing, the method further comprises the step of repeating from the step of retrieving so as to answer another question entered by the user on the subject.  
     
     
         4 . A method as recited in  claim 2  wherein the step of analyzing includes the steps of: 
 scanning the question to extract each word in the question; and  
 parsing the question by applying the grammatical rules and the database on each of the extracted word to identify its grammatical meaning and to match the question with the pre-defined grammatical structure.  
 
     
     
         5 . A method as recited in  claim 4  wherein the step of comparing includes comparing the grammatical components of the question with the components of one or more questions previously entered by the user to determine the user's understanding level in the subject.  
     
     
         6 . A method as recited in  claim 5  wherein the grammatical components of the question entered by the users are stored in the database.  
     
     
         7 . A method as recited in  claim 1  wherein: 
 the system includes a database; and  
 the questions previously entered are stored in the database.  
 
     
     
         8 . A method as recited in  claim 1  wherein before the step of retrieving the method further comprises the steps of: 
 retrieving study materials on the subject; and  
 presenting the study materials to the user.  
 
     
     
         9 . A method as recited in  claim 1  wherein based on the user's understanding level, the method further comprises the steps of: 
 retrieving additional study materials; and  
 presenting additional study materials for the user.  
 
     
     
         10 . A method as recited in  claim 1  wherein: 
 other users have entered questions into the system;  
 the system includes a database which stores the questions asked by those users; and  
 before the step of retrieving a question, the system: 
 retrieves study materials that answer the commonly-used question by those users; and  
 presents the retrieved study materials to the user.  
 
 
     
     
         11 . A method as recited in  claim 1  wherein the step of comparing includes the step of considering the time each question was entered to take into account the user's degree of forgetfulness.  
     
     
         12 . A method as recited in  claim 2  wherein: 
 grammatical components are separated into essential and non-essential components; and  
 the step of comparing includes the step of comparing the essential components of the questions.  
 
     
     
         13 . A method as recited in  claim 12  wherein the step of comparing takes into account the time a question was entered so as to consider the user's degree of forgetfulness.  
     
     
         14 . A method as recited in  claim 2  wherein: 
 the system includes a word-significance table, which maps every word in the database with its corresponding significance factor; and  
 the step of comparing includes the step of reducing the emphasis on words with low significance factor.  
 
     
     
         15 . A method of teaching a user a subject depending on the user asking a computer system questions, the method comprising the steps of: 
 retrieving study materials on the subject;    presenting the study materials to the user;    retrieving a question entered by the user;    generating an answer to the question;    presenting to the user the answer; and    repeating from the step of generating study materials.    
     
     
         16 . A method as recited in  claim 15  wherein: 
 the system has a database;  
 the question is a natural-language question; and  
 the step of generating an answer to the question includes the steps of: 
 analyzing, by the system, the grammatical structure of the natural-language question for parsing the question into its grammatical components based on a pre-defined context-free grammatical structure, using the database and one or more grammatical rules; and  
 transforming, by the system, at least one component into one or more instructions, using one or more semantic rules and the database, for generating the answer to the natural-language question.  
 
 
     
     
         17 . A method of teaching a user a subject depending on the user asking a computer system questions, the system having a database, the method comprising the steps of: 
 retrieving study materials on the subject;    presenting the study materials to the user;    retrieving a natural-language question entered by the user into the system;    analyzing, by the system, the grammatical structure of the natural-language question for parsing the question into its grammatical components based on a pre-defined context-free grammatical structure, using the database and one or more grammatical rules;    transforming, by the system, at least one component into one or more instructions, using one or more semantic rules and the database, for generating the answer to the natural-language question;    executing, by the system, the one or more instructions to at least access data from the database for generating the answer to the natural-language question;    presenting the answer to the user;    storing the grammatical components of the question in the database;    comparing the grammatical components of the question with the components of one or more questions previously entered by the user to determine the user's is understanding level in the subject;    presenting additional study materials to the user based on the user's understanding level; and    repeating from the step of retrieving to answer another question entered by the user on the subject.    
     
     
         18 . An apparatus for teaching a user a subject based on the user asking questions, the apparatus comprising: 
 an answer generator for generating an answer to a question entered by the user;    a presenter for presenting the answer to the user so as to teach the user the subject; and    a comparator for comparing the question with one or more questions previously entered by the user to determine the user's understanding level in the subject.    
     
     
         19 . An apparatus as recited in  claim 18  wherein: 
 the question is a natural-language question;  
 the system includes a database; and  
 the answer generator includes: 
 a grammatical structure analyzer for analyzing the natural-language question to parse the question into its grammatical components based on a pre-defined context-free grammatical structure, using the database and one or more grammatical rules;  
 a programming-steps generator for transforming at least one component of the question into one or more instructions, using one or more semantic rules and the database;  
 a programming-steps executor for executing the instructions to at least access data from the database for generating an answer to the natural-language question.  
 
 
     
     
         20 . An apparatus as recited in  claim 18  further comprising a study-materials generator to retrieve study materials on the subject to be presented by the presenter to the user for the user to learn the subject.