Methods and systems for user-interface-assisted composition construction

Abstract

Disclosed herein are methods and systems for user-interface-assisted composition construction. In an embodiment, a plurality of input fields, each having an argument-element type, is presented via a client-side user interface, initially arranged according to a predefined sequence. Textual inputs are received via the input fields, and corresponding argument-building-block elements are responsively presented via the client-side user interface according to a current arrangement on the client-side user interface of the input fields. Each presented argument-building-block element has the same argument-element type and the received textual input of the corresponding user-interface input field. Argument-building selections of one or more of the presented argument-building-block elements are received via the client-side user interface, and a composition is responsively generated in a displayed text editor at least in part by populating the textual inputs into the displayed text editor according to the received argument-building selections. The generated composition is submitted for evaluation.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 presenting, via a client-side user interface of an educational platform, a plurality of user-interface input fields initially arranged on the client-side user interface according to a predefined sequence, wherein each of the user-interface input fields has a respective argument-element type from among a plurality of argument-element types;   receiving textual inputs via the respective user-interface input fields, and responsively presenting corresponding argument-building-block elements via the client-side user interface according to a current arrangement on the client-side user interface of the user-interface input fields, wherein each presented argument-building-block element (i) has the same argument-element type as the corresponding user-interface input field and (ii) comprises the textual input received via the corresponding user-interface input field;   receiving, via the client-side user interface, argument-building selections of one or more of the presented argument-building-block elements, and responsively generating a composition in a displayed text editor at least in part by populating the textual inputs into the displayed text editor according to the received argument-building selections; and   submitting the generated composition for evaluation.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the plurality of argument-element types comprises claim, reasoning, evidence, reason, and counterargument; and   the predefined sequence is claim, reason, evidence, reasoning, counterargument.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the generated composition pertains to a source-material selection, the method further comprising:
 presenting, via the client-side user interface, the source-material selection in juxtaposition with the presented plurality of user-interface input fields.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 receiving annotation input with respect to the presented source-material selection, and responsively updating the presented source-material selection to reflect the received annotation input.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the presented argument-building-block elements have the appearance of respective index cards. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein presenting the corresponding argument-building-block elements via the client-side user interface comprises presenting the corresponding argument-building-block elements in a designated staging area on the client-side user interface. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, via the client-side user interface, reordering input with respect to the user-interface input fields, and responsively reordering both the user-interface input fields and the corresponding argument-building-block elements in accordance with the received reordering input.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, via the client-side user interface, reordering input with respect to the argument-building-block elements, and responsively reordering both the user-interface input fields and the corresponding argument-building-block elements in accordance with the received reordering input.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the client-side user interface includes a dedicated content-display pane and a dedicated working pane. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the client-side user interface further includes:
 a first control panel for selecting what is displayed in the dedicated content-display pane from among a plurality of content-display options; and   a second control panel for selecting what is displayed in the dedicated working pane from among a plurality of working-pane options.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of content-display options comprises two or more of a source-material selection on which the composition is to be based, an overview of the source-material selection, a selection of vocabulary pertaining to the source-material selection, a rubric pertaining to the composition, a set of user annotations of the source-material selection, and a designated staging area for user work product pertaining to the source-material selection. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of working-pane options comprises an ordered series of predefined different types of user-input stages for producing the composition based on the source-material selection. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of working-pane options comprises an ordered series of predefined different types of user-input stages for producing the composition based on a source-material selection. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving text-modification input via the displayed text editor with respect to the populated textual inputs,   wherein generating the composition further comprises modifying the populated textual inputs in the displayed text editor according to the received text-modification input prior to submitting the generated composition for evaluation.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , carried out at least in part by a web browser executing on a processor-based computing-and-communication system. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , carried out at least in part by runtime execution of JavaScript code. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , carried out at least in part by a JavaScript argument-builder studentResponse model. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the JavaScript argument-builder studentResponse model is a child model of a JavaScript studentAssignment model. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the JavaScript studentAssignment model comprises at least one additional child JavaScript studentResponse model other than the JavaScript argument-builder studentResponse model, wherein the at least one additional child JavaScript studentResponse model has a different student-input format than that of the JavaScript argument-builder studentResponse model. 
     
     
         20 . A client-side computing device comprising:
 a client-device communication interface;   a client-device user interface;   a client-device processor; and   client-device data storage containing client-device instructions executable by the client-device processor for causing the client-side computing device to carry out a set of functions, wherein the set of functions includes:
 presenting, via a client-side user interface of an educational platform via the client-device user interface, a plurality of user-interface input fields initially arranged on the client-side user interface according to a predefined sequence, wherein each of the user-interface input fields has a respective argument-element type from among a plurality of argument-element types; 
 receiving textual inputs via the respective user-interface input fields, and responsively presenting corresponding argument-building-block elements via the client-side user interface according to a current arrangement on the client-side user interface of the user-interface input fields, wherein each presented argument-building-block element (i) has the same argument-element type as the corresponding user-interface input field and (ii) comprises the textual input received via the corresponding user-interface input field; 
 receiving, via the client-side user interface, argument-building selections of one or more of the presented argument-building-block elements, and responsively generating a composition in a displayed text editor at least in part by populating the textual inputs into the displayed text editor according to the received argument-building selections; and 
 submitting, via the communication interface, the generated composition for evaluation.