GB2386737A - Interactive role playing question and answer system. - Google Patents

Abstract

An interactive role playing learning environment comprises an input means 12, an output means 13, a dialogue script 15 comprising questions and a server 14 for processing the dialogue scripts, characterised in that the questions are tagged with attributes. The attributes of selected questions are preferably logged, aggregated and the resulting scores presented to users. The system may be in the form of a web-based shell that supports the execution and scoring of case study role play scripts.

Description

1 Shell of Web-Based Case Studies 3 This invention relates to role playing

learning 4 environments, in particular the scoring of the choice of 5 multiple questions.

7 In the field of computer based learning, multi-media

8 based learning environments allow students to gain 9 experience in simulated role plays. Computer based 10 simulations allow real time recording of scoring data and 11 interactive behaviour in response to student input, both 12 giving immediate feedback to students.

14 Interactive case games are known that follow a decision 15 tree model, with the student being asked to select from a 16 number of answers at each stage. Each of the question 17 choices illicits a different response. United States 18 Patent No 5,340,317 granted to Michael J Freeman 19 discloses a real time interactive conversational 20 apparatus that plays a pre-recorded conversation stored 21 on a multi-track media, such as magnetic tape. The 22 system conversations are programmed according to decision 23 tree logic which allows complex conversations to be

1 developed, branching between the various tracks of the 2 media which contains interrogatory messages and 3 associated multiple choice responsive messages, 4 informational messages, and combinations thereof.

6 A problem with known role playing solutions is that 7 scoring systems are constructed to count the number of 8 correct and incorrect answers. In contrast, in a role 9 play for a case study the important information in 10 assessing the student is the choice of questions asked.

11 Furthermore, the choice of questions presented to the 12 student must itself depend on previously made choices of 13 questions. The known prior art does not count the

14 attributes of questions where the number of questions 15 varies depending on the route though the tree of 16 questions.

18 A further problem with the known solutions is that the 19 decision tree and questions are encoded during the 20 authoring phase, and so are not easy to adapt.

22 It would be advantageous to provide a system to count the 23 attributes of chosen questions where the number of 24 questions varies, depending on the route though the tree 25 of questions 27 It would be further advantageous to provide logging of a 28 student's performance during execution of a case study 29 and scoring of that performance.

31 It would be further advantageous to provide a system that 32 makes the addition of new case studies and editing of 33 existing case studies a quick and easy process.

2 It is an object of the present invention to provide a 3 system for scoring students based on attributes of 4 questions chosen by them during a role playing session.

6 It is a further object of the present invention to 7 provide a case study shell where background information,

8 questions and answers can be entered by users with 9 limited knowledge of multi-media authoring tools.

11 According to a first aspect of the present invention, 12 there is provided a system for executing interactive role 13 playing sessions, comprising: 15 À an input means; 16 À an output means; 17 À dialogue scripts comprising questions; and 18 À a server for processing said dialogue scripts, 20 characterized in that said questions are tagged with 21 attributes.

23 Preferably said input means comprises a computer mouse.

25 Alternatively, said input means comprises a computer 26 keyboard.

28 Preferably said output means comprises a computer screen.

30 More preferably said output means further comprises a 31 computer audio speaker.

1 Preferably said server processes said dialogue scripts in 2 response to said input means.

4 Preferably said dialogue scripts further comprise answers 5 associated with said questions.

7 Preferably said answers comprise references to image 8 files.

10 More preferably said answers further comprise references 11 to sound files.

13 Optionally said answers comprise text.

15 Preferably said questions further comprise an identifier.

17 Preferably said questions further comprise a reference to 18 another question identifier.

20 Preferably said attributes relate to the type of 21 question.

23 Typically said dialogue script is an XML (extensible 24 Markup Language) document.

26 Typically said dialogue script further comprises a 27 document type definition.

29 Typically said server is a servlet.

31 Preferably said system further comprises a logging means 32 for recording the questions chosen by users.

1 Preferably said system further comprises a scoring means 2 for aggregating said attribute tags associated with said 3 logged questions.

5 According to a second aspect of the present invention, 6 there is provided a method for executing interactive role 7 playing sessions, comprising the steps of: 9 À storing a dialogue script comprising questions; 10 À processing said dialogue script; 11 À presenting a plurality of questions to a user; 12 said user selecting one question; 13 À presenting a response to said user 15 characterized in that said questions are tagged with 16 attributes.

18 Preferably said step of said user selecting a question 19 further comprises the step of logging the selected 20 question.

22 Preferably said steps of presenting a plurality of 23 questions to a user, said user selecting one question and 24 presenting a response to said user are repeated.

26 Preferably said method further comprises the step of 27 aggregating said question attributes over said logged 28 selected questions.

30 Preferably said method further comprises the step of 31 presenting said aggregated data to said user.

1 Optionally said data is presented to a different user.

3 According to a third aspect of the present invention, 4 there is provided a computer program comprising program 5 instructions which, when loaded into a computer, comprise 6 the server of the system according to the first aspect.

8 According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, 9 there is provided a computer program comprising program 10 instructions for causing a computer to perform the 11 process according to the second aspect.

13 In order to provide a better understanding of the present 14 invention, an embodiment will now be described by way of 15 example only, and with reference to the accompanying 16 Figures, in which: 18 Figure 1 illustrates in schematic form a system in 19 accordance with the invention; 21 Figure 2 illustrates a set of questions and response with 22 associated question attributes; 24 Figure 3 illustrates a flow diagram of a case study role 25 play; 27 Figure 4 illustrates a list of tags representing question 28 attributes; and 30 Figure 5 illustrates the contents of a dialogue script in 31 an XML format.

1 The invention is a web-based shell that supports the 2 execution and scoring of case study role play scripts.

4 Although the embodiments of the invention described with 5 reference to the drawings comprise computer apparatus and 6 processes performed in computer apparatus, the invention 7 also extends to computer programs, particularly computer 8 programs on or in a carrier, adapted for putting the 9 invention into practice. The program may be in the form 10 of source code, object code, a code of intermediate 11 source and object code such as in partially compiled form 12 suitable for use in the implementation of the processes 13 according to the invention. The carrier may be any 14 entity or device capable of carrying the program.

16 For example, the carrier may comprise a storage medium, 17 such as ROM, for example a CD ROM or a semiconductor ROM, 18 or a magnetic recording medium, for example, floppy disc 19 or hard disc. Further, the carrier may be a 20 transmissible carrier such as an electrical or optical 21 signal which may be conveyed via electrical or optical 22 cable or by radio or other means.

24 When the program is embodied in a signal which may be 25 conveyed directly by a cable or other device or means, 26 the carrier may be constituted by such cable or other 27 device or means.

29 Alternatively, the carrier may be an integrated circuit 30 in which the program is embedded, the integrated circuit 31 being adapted for performing, or for use in the 32 performance of, the relevant processes.

1 In the embodiment described herein the shell, called 2 SHOWcase, is implemented as a servlet and runs on a web 3 server. Naval Servlet technology provides web developers 4 with a simple, consistent mechanism for extending the 5 functionality of a web server and for accessing existing 6 business systems. A servlet can almost be thought of as 7 an apples that runs on the server side but without a 8 face. The setup of SHOWcase on a web server depends on 9 the way in which the web server supports servlets. The 10 details of how to set up servlets on a particular web 11 server are normally described in the documentation of the 12 web server.

14 In the embodiment described below, we first describe 15 briefly how to support SHOWcase with Microsoft Internet 16 Information Server.

18 The behavior of SHOWcase is determined by the script in 19 the file dialogue.xml. This XML file contains the 20 structure of the case study. Next we describe this text 21 file, which can be edited using a text editor, such as 22 Notepad, Emacs or Microsoft XML Notepad.

24 We describe how to mark up a new case study then finally 25 we describe a run-through of a case study role play in 26 accordance with the present invention.

28 With reference to Figure 1, a system 10 for executing 29 interactive role playing sessions is illustrated.

31 The system includes a desktop Personal Computer (PC) 11 32 with an input device 12 which is a computer mouse and an 33 optional computer keyboard. A screen with speakers 13 is

1 provided for output. The PC runs a web browser program 2 and is connected through an internet connection to a 3 server 14.

5 A store of dialogue scripts 15 are accessed and processed 6 by the server. The dialogue scripts comprise user 7 questions that are tagged with attributes. The server 8 processes the dialogue scripts in response to user input 9 using the mouse and optionally the keyboard.

11 The system allows editing and storing a dialogue script 12 comprising user questions. The server processes the 13 dialogue script, presenting a plurality of questions to a 14 student. The student selects one question and is 15 presented with a response.

17 When the student selects a question, the system logs the 18 selected question.

20 The steps of presenting a question, selecting a question 21 and presenting a response are repeated.

23 At the end of the question and response session, the 24 system aggregates the question attributes over the logged 25 selected questions and the aggregated data is fed back 26 graphically to the student or a supervisor.

28 First we describe setting up SHOWcase on the web server 29 14. SHOWcase is implemented as a servlet. To use servlets 30 on a web server the web server must have a Virtual 31 Machine that can support the language of the servlet, in 32 this case Java, and the server must also support the Java 33 Servlet API (Application Programming Interface). We have

1 run SHOWcase inside Jakarta-Tomcat, a servlet context 2 from Apache. We now describe setting up SHOWcase under 3 Windows98 and Windows NT.

5 Tomcat can run as a stand-alone servlet context and also 6 in integration with a web server. Briefly, the 7 installation of Tomcat the requires the following steps: 8 À Install Java on the computer.

9 À Download the tomcat compressed (e.g. zip) file.

10 À Uncompress (e.g. unzip) the files. If you keep the path 11 information the file will be uncompressed into one 12 directory called Jakarta-tomcat.

13 À Set the two environment variables Java_Home and 14 Tomcat_Home.

15 À On Windows 95 or Windows 98 set: SHELL=command.com 16 /e:32786 /p 17 as the first line in the config.sys file.

18 À Start Tomcat using startup.bat in the bin subdirectory 19 under the Tomcat root 21 Now point your web browser to localhost:8080 and Tomcat 22 should respond.

24 With reference to Figurers 2 and 3, in order to create an 25 interview for a case study we need the following: 26 - The interview questions 20 and responses 21 in 27 electronic form.

28 - The question attributes 22.

29 - A flow diagram of the case study role play 30.

30 - An XML Editor such as Microsoft XML Notepad.

31 - An Interview Template File (e.g. with a name 32 temple te. xml).

1 The flow diagram of the case study role play 30 contains 2 links 23 from a node 31. Each node represents a set of 3 questions and responses. If the student selects question 4 1.1Q, they are presented with the answer l.lA and the 5 next node to be processed is referenced by link to the 6 next node.

8 With reference to Figure 4, each question can be tagged 9 with an attribute selected from a list question 10 attributes. Each attribute describes the type of 11 question and is used in assessing the personal skills of 12 the student, via the aggregated scoring performed by the 13 system.

15 With reference to Figure 5, the first part of a dialogue 16 script in XML format is shown.

18 The XML script contains a Document Type Definition 51 19 that defines the syntax of the script. The dialogue 20 script contains questions and associated responses. Each 21 node is identified by a node identifier 52. Each question 22 53 is tagged with an attribute, e.g. "=courteous" that 23 relates to the type of question.

25 Responses, that are presented as answers to questions 26 chosen by the student, comprise references to image files 27 54 that are displayed to the student and sound files 55 28 that are played to the student.

30 A node identifier 56 is also included as a reference to 31 the next node to be processed.

1 When the server processes the script in response to 2 student inputs, it logs the questions chosen by the 3 student at each node. At the end of the session, the 4 question attribute tags associated with the logged 5 questions are aggregated and displayed graphically as bar 6 charts to the user.

8 We describe how this script is created. First, open the 9 XML Editor and load the template file. Open up the 10 interview questions in a Word processing package. As you 11 will be cutting and pasting from the Word processor 12 document to the XML editor, you may find it easiest to 13 work with the screen split between the two applications.

15 Cut and paste elements into template file as follows: 17 Node: A node represents a question set. Although the 18 standard number of questions provided in the template 19 file is three, a node may be made up of any number of 20 questions.

22 ID 52: The Node ID. Nodes have to be identified by a 23 whole number. It may be necessary to insert new Nodes in 24 the case study as it progresses and this should be 25 allowed for in the ID numbering system.

26 Although each node/question set has an ID number, the 27 individual questions are not tagged with an ID.

29 Question 53: The question text - cut and paste from the 30 Word processor file.

32 Type 53: Question attribute (eg: courteous, focussed).

i

1 answerstillname 54: Insert the name of the relevant image 2 file that accompanies the answer to the question. Eg: 3 image. jpg 5 answersoundbitename 55: Insert the name of the audio file 6 containing the spoken answer to the question choice.

7 Note: It is helpful to devise a simple file naming system 8 relating to the Node ID for the audio and image files.

9 e.g. ansl-l.wav, ansl-2.wav, ansl-3.wav.

11 nextNode 56: Enter the ID of the Node to which the user 12 should be taken as a result of choosing this question.

13 The user can be taken to any of the available nodes. If 14 you wish the user to end the interview at this point 15 enter: end instead of an ID.

17 Cut and paste other elements into template file as 18 follows: 20 welcome: Text introducing the student to the dialogue 21 e.g.: "You are now in the Managing Director's Office".

23 Popup: A popup will present the user with a pop-up box 24 offering a Yes/No option to receiving documentation or 25 some other extra information.

26 To add a popup to a question element: insert a new 27 element before the nextNode element and label it popup.

28 Enter the name of the document/information file into the 29 popup value column. e.g. document.html.

31 gobacktotext: Text for a link at the end of a dialogue 32 (appears on the feedback page). The link can be used 33 either to take the student out of SHOWcase altogether, or

1 to a linking page and thereby to another dialogue or case 2 study.

4 gobacktolink: The URL for the link.

6 Inserting and Deleting Nodes can be performed using the 7 Microsoft XML Editor. For example, to insert a new node, 8 select the node above the point at which you wish to 9 insert a new node and choose the Edit, Duplicate menu 10 option. This will create a new node containing all the 11 elements of the node duplicated. A new node can also be 12 created using the Tools, Replicate menu option. This 13 method offers the option to choose how many nodes you 14 wish to add and if you wish to replicate the node's 15 subtree and the values. To delete a node Select the node 16 and choose the Edit, Clear menu option. To delete a 17 question, select the Question and choose the Edit, Clear 18 menu option. Repeat to clear the remaining elements.

19 Microsoft XML Editor has a help section that gives more 20 details on editing and manipulating nodes and elements.

22 We next describe how to populate the SHOWcase prototype 23 with different dialogues. It is assumed that the 24 dialogues have been created according to the instructions 25 given above.

27 In order to set up SHOWcase it is necessary to set up a 28 context for each case study. Contexts are created in, 29 e.g. a webapps subdirectory under the Tomcat root. It 30 involves the following steps: 31 À Create a new subdirectory in webapps.

32 À Copy existing case studies into this directory.

1 À Alter the web.xml file in the web-inf subdirectory of 2 your new context. The web. Al document contains 3 information about the following context dependent 4 variables: 5 - The location of the html subdirectory (for parameter 6 name htmlDir) 7 - The location of the config subdirectory (for 8 parameter name configDir) 9 - The location of the pictures subdirectory (for 10 parameter name picDir) 11 - The location of the soundbites subdirectory (for 12 parameter name soundDir) 13 Alter the <param-value> fields according to the set-up on

14 your server so that the values indicate the path to the 15 subdirectories Note: the path to the config subdirectory 16 should be set using the file protocol, e.g. c: 17 \tomcat\web-apps\mycontext\config whereas all the other 18 subdirectories should be accessed using the htCp 19 protocol, e.g. http://myserver:8080/SHOWcase/html. Change 20 the DNS name to the one of your server in the <param 21 value> field of the Servlet Address.

23 À Point a web page at your servlet. The Servlet should be 24 called using the html form tag in a similar way as 25 follows: <form 26 action="htCp://myserver.myorg.ac.uk:8080/mycontext/servle 27 t/SHOWcaseServlet" method="GET"> 28 <td align=justify> 29 <p>Enter your Matriculation number below:<BR> 30 <INPUT type="text" name="user" value="enter metric no 31 here" size="20"> 32 </p> 33 </td>

1 <td align=center> 2 <h3> 3 <input type="image" src="images/doorway.gif" alt="Enter 4 the Managing Director's office here" name="EnterOffice" 5 value="Start SHOWcase Sound" width="32" height="32"> 6 <INPUT type="hidden" name="hashId" value="l:-1:-1"> 7 <INPUT type="hidden" name="part" value="Q"> 8 <BR>

9 Enter the Managing Director's office </h3> 10 </td> 11 </form> 13 All the hidden parameters should be included.

15 We now describe a run-through of a case study role play.

16 Firstly the user is presented with an "Introduction

17 Screen" to introduce the case study and give some initial 18 instruction.

20 The user is presented with a "Reception Screen" in which 21 the receptionist greets the user and directs them to the 22 Managing Director's office. Before entering the Managing 23 Director's office, the user enters their ID number into 24 an input box. This is then used to create an 25 identifiable log file of the user's progress. Next the 26 user is presented with a "Welcome Screen". The user is 27 told that they have now entered the Managing Director's 28 office by means of a <welcome> tag. They are presented 29 with a choice of questions to ask the Managing Director.

30 Each question has a hidden <question type> tag that 31 describes its style (e.g., "closed", "untargeted"). The 32 user selects a question and a record of the <question

1 type> chosen and the possible <question type> choices 2 available on the screen is made in the log file.

4 Depending on the question chosen, the user is presented 5 with one of a number of possible "Response Screens".

6 Each "Response Screen" is made up of a still photo of the 7 Managing Director and a sound clip giving the Managing 8 Director's spoken response to the question. The still 9 photo gives an indication of the Managing Director's 10 reaction and changes from screen to screen. The user has 11 the option of listening to the sound clip for a second 12 time, after which the Listen Again button will disappear 13 from the screen. When the user is ready, they click the 14 Next Question button and are taken to the next "Question 15 Screen".

17 The user is presented with the next "Question Screen" (or 18 Node). Each question has a hidden <answerstillname> and 19 <answersoundbitename> tag. If the question is selected, 20 the tags inform the SHOWcase engine which picture file 21 and sound clip to use in the triggered "Response Screen".

22 The selected question also has a hidden <nextNode> tag 23 that identifies the next "Question Screen" (Node) to 24 display. The user's route through the case study 25 therefore depends on which questions they choose to ask 26 and each case study can be represented by a flow diagram.

27 The user's path through the interview is recorded in the 28 log file.

30 The user is now presented with the "Feedback Screen".

31 After the user has worked through the case study, they 32 are given feedback on their interviewing style in the 33 form of histograms. The data collected in the log files

1 is used to give a breakdown of the question types chosen 2 by the user. It also gives information on how many of 3 each question types they were presented with, e.g. 4 courteous: 2 chosen out of a possible 5 questions.

6 Further modifications and improvements may be added 7 without departing from the scope of the invention herein 8 described.

Claims (1)

1 CLAIMS

3 1. A system for executing interactive role playing 4 sessions, comprising: 5 À an input means; 6 À an output means) 7 À dialogue scripts comprising questions) and 8 À a server for processing said dialogue scripts, 9 characterized in that said questions are tagged with 10 attributes. 12 2. The system of any previous claim wherein said server 13 processes said dialogue scripts in response to said 14 input means.

16 3. The system of any previous claim wherein said dialogue 17 scripts further comprise answers associated with said 18 questions.

20 4. The system of claim 3 wherein said answers comprise 21 references to image files.

23 5. The system of any of claims 3 to 4 wherein said answers 24 comprise references to sound files.

26 6. The system of any of claims 3 to 5 wherein said answers 27 comprise text.

29 7. The system of any of claims 3 to 6 wherein said 30 questions comprise an identifier.

1 8. The system of any of claims 3 to 7 wherein said 2 questions further comprise a reference to another 3 question identifier.

5 9. The system of any previous claim wherein said 6 attributes relate to the type of question.

8 10. The system of any previous claim wherein said 9 dialogue script is an XML (extensible Markup Language) 10 document.

12 11. The system of any previous claim wherein said 13 dialogue script further comprises a document type 14 definition.

16 12. The system of any previous claim wherein said server 17 is a servlet.

19 13. The system of any previous claim wherein said system 20 further comprises a logging means for recording the 21 questions chosen by users.

23 14. The system of any previous claim wherein said system 24 further comprises a scoring means for aggregating said 25 attribute tags associated with said logged questions.

27 15. A method for executing interactive role playing 28 sessions, comprising the steps of: 29 À storing a dialogue script comprising questions) 30 e processing said dialogue script; 31 e presenting a plurality of questions to a user; 32 e said user selecting a question;

1 À presenting a response to said user, 2 characterized in that said questions are tagged with 3 attributes. 5 16. The method of claim 15 wherein said step of said 6 user selecting a question further comprises the step of 7 logging the selected question.

9 17. The method of any of claims 15 to 16 wherein said 10 steps of presenting a plurality of questions to a user, 11 said user selecting a question and presenting a 12 response to said user are repeated.

13 -I

14 18. The method of any of claims 16 to 17 wherein said 15 method further comprises the step of aggregating said 16 question attributes over said logged selected 17 questions. 19 19. The method of claim 18 wherein said method further 20 comprises the step of presenting said aggregated 21 question attributes to said user.

23 20. The method of claim 18 wherein said method further 24 comprises the step of presenting said aggregated 25 question attributes to a different user.

27 21. A computer program comprising program instructions 28 which, when loaded into a computer, comprise the server 29 of any of claims 1 to 14.

31 22. A computer program comprising program instructions 32 for causing a computer to perform the method of any of 33 any of claims 15 to 20.