JP4894195B2 - Teaching material processing apparatus, teaching material processing method, and teaching material processing program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a teaching material processing apparatus, a teaching material processing method, and a teaching material processing program that handle teaching materials used in educational institutions (hereinafter referred to as “educational teaching materials”), and in particular, teaching material processing for scoring the educational teaching materials. The present invention relates to an apparatus, a teaching material processing method, and a teaching material processing program.

  In general, in educational institutions such as schools and cram schools, educational materials such as test answer sheets and practice question sheets are often used. And, it is widely used that the teaching material including the question and the answer column is used to make the student fill in the answer on the educational material (paper), and the teacher grades the written answer. Has been done.

  By the way, for educational materials, there is a strong demand for labor saving in scoring. In order to respond to this requirement, for example, to save labor in scoring processing, for example, a scoring stand and a scoring pen are connected to a personal computer (hereinafter simply referred to as “PC”), and an educational tool is provided at a predetermined position on the scoring stand. By placing XX with a scoring pen with the teaching material placed, it is possible to input the position information of the answer written on the educational teaching material and its correctness information to the PC. There has been proposed a system configured to perform automatic scoring of answers on educational materials (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-6-266278

  However, in the above prior art, the scoring process for educational materials requires dedicated components such as a scoring table and a scoring pen, which causes a complicated system configuration and high costs. It is not preferable. In addition, the necessity of dedicated component devices limits the educational materials that can be supported, which may limit the versatility of the educational materials.

  Also, pattern recognition of check symbols such as “○” and “×” is performed by determining which scoring column the center point of the check symbol is included in, so the center point is There is a problem that it is not possible to respond when it does not enter the scoring field.

  Accordingly, the present invention can sufficiently ensure the versatility of educational materials without requiring a dedicated component for scoring the educational materials used in educational institutions. An object of the present invention is to provide a teaching material processing apparatus, a teaching material processing method, and a teaching material processing program that can cope with a case where the center point does not enter the scoring field in the pattern recognition of check symbols such as “” and “x”.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, electronic data on educational materials including an answer column is stored and stored in a database means, while an answer is entered in the answer column and a correct / incorrect determination figure for the answer is entered. The reading means performs image reading on the educational teaching material, obtains image data from the educational teaching material, and based on the comparison result between the electronic data held by the database means and the image data obtained by the reading means, The correct and incorrect judgment recognizing means recognizes the shape and entry position of the judgment figure, and the answer column included in the electronic data held and accumulated by the database means shows the correct and incorrect judgment figure shape and entry position recognized by the correctness and error judgment recognizing means. Corresponding to the position information and scoring information of the correct / wrong judgment based on the recognition result by the right / wrong judgment recognition means In the teaching material processing apparatus that performs the series of processing, the teaching material processing method that performs the series of processes, or the teaching material processing program that causes the computer connected to the image reading device to function as each of the above means, the correctness determination recognized by the correctness determination recognition means When associating the figure with the answer column included in the educational material, the correct / incorrect determination figure is divided into a plurality of areas by the area dividing process and is associated with the answer box included in the divided area.

  In the teaching material processing apparatus, teaching material processing method, or teaching material processing program adopting the above configuration, when the correct / incorrect determination graphic and the answer column are associated with each other, the extracted correct / incorrect determination graphic is subjected to region division processing and included in the divided region. By associating it with the answer column, it is possible to ensure that the correct / incorrect determination graphic and the answer column are associated with each other even when there are many questions (questions) crowded and the position of the handwritten correct / incorrect determination graphic is likely to shift. be able to.

  According to the present invention, since the correct / incorrect determination figure and the answer column can be associated with each other reliably, a highly reliable scoring process can be performed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a teaching material processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the teaching material processing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a database unit 1, an image reading unit 2, an image data analysis unit 3, a teaching material determination unit 4, a distortion correction unit 5, and a difference extraction unit. 6, answerer extraction unit 7, correct / incorrect determination extraction unit 8, discontinuity correction unit 9, graphic shape recognition unit 10, entry position calculation unit 11, scoring totaling unit 12, and totaling result output unit 13 It is the composition which has.

  In such teaching material processing apparatus, the database unit 1 corresponds to the database means in the present invention, and stores and accumulates electronic data regarding educational materials.

  Here, the educational material will be briefly described. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of educational materials. As shown in FIG. 2, the educational material 20 is a test answer sheet, a practice question sheet, or the like used in an educational institution, and a question and its answer column 21 are described therein. However, in the educational material 20, it is sufficient that at least the answer column 21 is described, and the question sentence is not necessarily described.

  The educational material 20 includes an identification information field 22 in which information for identifying and specifying the educational material 20 is described, and an answerer information field in which information about an answer entry person in the answer field 21 is described. 23. In the identification information column 22, for example, information such as a subject, a title, and an applicable grade of the educational material 20 is described in advance. On the other hand, in the answerer information column 23, the class, attendance number, name, etc. of the answerer can be entered.

  The identification information column 22 may be embedded with code information for identifying the educational material 20 in addition to or in addition to the description of information such as the subject, title, and applicable grade. . The embedding of the code information may be realized using a known technique. As one specific example, for example, by changing the form (position, shape, etc.) of the pixels constituting the line screen or the dot screen as a gradation expression like what is called “iTone (registered trademark)”. It is conceivable to use a technique such as embedding digital information in a halftone image.

  Regarding the electronic data about the educational material 20, the layout of the answer column 21 and the identification information column 22 in the educational material 20 can be specified, and can be held and accumulated in the database unit 1. Any data format can be used. For example, it may be image data or application document data created by document creation software.

  However, it is assumed that the electronic data of the educational material 20 includes scoring information for each answer column 21 in the educational material 20. The scoring information is information for specifying the number of points to be assigned to the answer column 21 at which position for each answer column 21 on the educational material 20. The score may be different for each answer column 21 or may be uniform.

  Returning to FIG. The image reading unit 2 corresponds to the reading means in the present invention, and fills in the answer column 21, fills in the name of the answerer information column 23, etc., and a check symbol for determining whether the answer is correct (specifically, for example, Image data is obtained from the educational teaching material 20 by performing image reading using a known optical image reading technique on the educational teaching material 20 in which “○” or “x” graphic) is entered. .

  The image data analysis unit 3 performs an analysis process on the image data obtained by the image reading unit 2. Examples of the analysis processing include region division, character / graphic separation, character recognition, code information recognition, graphic processing, color component recognition, and the like, and any of these may be realized using known image processing techniques. Detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The teaching material discrimination unit 4 is configured by at least one of the title analysis unit 41 and the code information analysis unit 42, and as a result of the analysis processing in the image data analysis unit 3, particularly the title analysis by the title analysis unit 41 for the identification information column 22 Alternatively, the educational teaching material 20 that is the basis of the image data obtained by the image reading unit 2 is identified and specified based on at least one analysis result of the code analysis by the code information analysis unit 42.

  At this time, the learning material discriminating unit 4 compares the electronic data of the educational material 20 held and accumulated in the database unit 1 and if the corresponding electronic data is not held and accumulated in the database unit 1, Judgment is made as an identification specific error. That is, the teaching material determination unit 4 specifies electronic data to be compared with the image data obtained by the image reading unit 2 from the analysis result of the image data analysis unit 3.

  The distortion correction unit 5 performs image distortion correction on the image data obtained by the image reading unit 2. Examples of image distortion correction include tilt correction and enlargement / reduction correction in the main scanning direction or sub-scanning direction. Since these distortion corrections may be realized by using a known image processing technique, detailed description thereof is omitted here. Alternatively, the image data obtained by the image reading unit 2 and the electronic data in the database unit 1 to be compared may be compared and collated to correct the image distortion (inclination, scaling, etc.).

  The difference extraction unit 6 is obtained by the image reading unit 2 on the basis of the identification and identification result of the educational material 20 by the educational material determination unit 4, and is compared with the image data after the distortion correction processing by the distortion correction unit 5. The electronic data in the target database unit 1 is compared, and the difference between them is extracted. Note that the difference extraction processing method itself may be realized by using a known image processing technique, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

  The answerer extraction unit 7 is composed of at least one of the attendance number information cutout unit 71 and the handwritten OCR (Optical Character Reader) unit 72, preferably both, and based on the result of the analysis processing in the image data analysis unit 3 Of the differences extracted by the difference extraction unit 6, for the difference in the answerer information field 23, through character information extraction by the attendance number information cutout unit 71 from the difference, character recognition processing by the handwritten OCR unit 72, etc. The answerer information in the educational material that is read by the image reading unit 2 is extracted. The answerer information includes information for identifying the answerer such as the class of the answerer, attendance number, name, and the like.

  The correctness determination extraction unit 8 further extracts the correctness determination entry contents from the difference extracted by the difference extraction unit 6 based on the result of the analysis process in the image data analysis unit 3. What is necessary is just to extract the content regarding a predetermined color component through the color component recognition process with respect to the extraction result in the difference extraction part 6, for example, extraction of the entry content of correct / incorrect determination. This is because the correct / wrong entry is generally performed in red.

  The discontinuity correction unit 9 performs discontinuity correction processing on the extraction result from the correctness / error determination extraction unit 8. Here, the interruption correction process is a process for connecting the extracted line segments and eliminating the interruption between the extracted line segments.

  The figure shape recognizing unit 10 recognizes the entry contents of the correct / incorrect determination by performing shape recognition on the entry contents of the correct / incorrect determination extracted by the correctness / error determination extracting unit 8 and corrected by the discontinuity correcting unit 9. . The shape recognition may be performed by pattern matching with a check symbol for correctness determination, for example, a graphic shape such as “◯” or “x”. In other words, the graphic shape recognition unit 10 recognizes whether the content of the correct / incorrect determination entry is “correct answer (◯)” or “incorrect answer (×)”. Alternatively, the feature amount of the recognition target figure may be calculated and the shape may be recognized from the feature amount. Examples of the feature amount include the number of holes and the area ratio of the target graphic occupying the circumscribed rectangle.

  The entry position calculation unit 11 calculates the entry position on the educational material 20 for the entry contents of the correct / incorrect determination whose shape has been recognized by the figure shape recognition unit 10. The entry position may be calculated by, for example, coordinate analysis on the educational material 20. The figure shape recognition unit 10 and the entry position calculation unit 11 constitute a correct / incorrect determination recognition unit in the present invention.

  The scoring tabulation unit 12 corresponds to scoring tabulation means in the present invention, the recognition result of the correctness determination entry content by the graphic shape recognition unit 10, the calculation result of the correctness determination entry position by the entry position calculation unit 11, and the database unit Educational teaching material that the image reading unit 2 has read an image based on the scoring information about each answer column 21 of the educational teaching material 20 included in the electronic data of the educational teaching material 20 that 1 holds and accumulates For 20, the correctness / incorrectness scoring score entered in the educational material 20 is counted.

  When this scoring is performed, the scoring unit 12 performs a process of associating a correct / incorrect determination figure (check symbol) such as “◯” or “×” with each answer column 21 of the educational material 20. The specific processing of this association is a feature of the present invention and will be described in detail later.

  The totaling result output unit 13 outputs the result of scoring totaling by the scoring totaling unit 12 in association with the answerer information extracted by the answerer extracting unit 7. Examples of the output destination by the totalization result output unit 13 include those that manage the scoring totalization results for the educational material 20 such as the database device 31 or the file server device 32 connected to the educational material processing apparatus.

  Of the constituent elements described above, that is, the database unit 1 to the totaling result output unit 13, the image reading unit 2 uses a copier, a multifunction device, or a scanner device having a function as an image reading device. It can be realized. In that case, if an automatic document feeder (ADF) is attached, it is possible to continuously perform image reading for a plurality of educational materials.

  Further, for each of the other components excluding the image reading unit 2, that is, the database unit 1, the image data analysis unit 3 to the aggregation result output unit 13, an information storage processing function is executed by executing a predetermined program like a PC, for example. It can be realized by using a computer device that realizes an image processing function, an arithmetic processing function, and the like.

  In this case, it is conceivable that a predetermined program necessary for realizing the database unit 1, the image data analysis unit 3 to the total result output unit 13 is installed in the PC in advance. However, it may be provided by being stored in a computer-readable storage medium instead of being installed in advance, or distributed via wired or wireless communication means. . That is, the learning material processing apparatus having the above-described configuration can be realized by a learning material processing program that causes a computer connected to the image reading apparatus to function as a learning material processing apparatus.

(Processing procedure of teaching material processing method)
Next, with respect to the processing operation in the teaching material processing apparatus (including the case where the teaching material processing program is also realized) according to the present embodiment configured as described above, that is, an example of the processing procedure of the teaching material processing method according to the present invention, This will be described with reference to the explanatory diagram of FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an example of processing operation in the teaching material processing apparatus according to the present invention.

  When using the teaching material processing apparatus, first, an answerer such as a student enters information such as a name in the answerer information field 23 and an answer in the answer field 21, and each answer field is filled by a teacher or the like. The image reading unit 2 reads an image of the teaching material 20 in which a check symbol (correction determination figure) such as “O” or “×” for the answer written in 21 is entered. Image data from the educational material 20 is obtained (step S101).

  At this time, if ADF is used, for example, a plurality of educational teaching materials 20 to be processed in one group such as the same class are read in a batch, and images are continuously acquired from the educational teaching materials 20. Data can be obtained. The image data obtained by reading the image is once stored in a memory or the like used as a work area.

  Thereafter, the following automatic scoring process is sequentially performed on each image data obtained from each educational material 20 (step S102).

  That is, the image data analysis unit 3 performs an analysis process on image data obtained from a single educational material 20, and the educational material determination unit 4 identifies and specifies the educational material 20 based on the result of the analysis process. Do. This identification and specification may be performed through title analysis such as “science”, “five years”, “1. change in weather and temperature” or code analysis of code information embedded in the identification information column 22. Through this identification specification, the teaching material determination unit 4 can specify electronic data to be compared with the image data obtained by the image reading unit 2.

  This identification and identification may be performed sequentially for each of the plurality of educational materials 20 from which the image reading unit 2 has read the image, but all the educational materials 20 that are generally processed in one group are all included. Since they are the same, it is only necessary to perform the educational material 20 that is processed first during the batch processing.

  When the teaching material discriminating unit 4 specifies the electronic data, the database unit 1 takes out the corresponding electronic data from the stored and stored according to the specifying result, and transfers it to the difference extracting unit 6.

  For image data obtained from a single educational material 20, the distortion correction unit 5 corrects image distortion in the image data. This image distortion correction is performed in order to correct image distortion that may occur when the image reading unit 2 reads an image for the purpose of improving accuracy such as comparison with electronic data and subsequent difference extraction. Is called.

  The difference extraction unit 6 compares the electronic data delivered from the database unit 1 with the image data obtained by the image reading unit 2 and corrected for image distortion by the distortion correction unit 5, respectively. The difference is extracted. By this difference extraction, the contents entered in the answerer information field 23 and each answer field 21 and the contents entered for correct / incorrect determination for each answer field 21 are extracted.

  When the difference extraction unit 6 extracts the difference, the answerer extraction unit 7 thereafter extracts the answerer information in the educational material read by the image reading unit 2 through character recognition processing or the like for the difference. As a result, it is possible to specify the class, attendance number, name, etc. of the person who entered the answer in one educational material 20 for education.

  Further, for the difference extraction result by the difference extraction unit 6, in order to extract the contents of correct / incorrect determination entry in each answer column 21, the correct / incorrect determination extraction unit 8 further extracts a result for the predetermined color component from the difference extraction result. Specifically, for example, a red component is extracted. The extraction of the predetermined color component can be performed by paying attention to the color component data constituting the pixel data, for example, when the difference extraction result is composed of pixel data.

  However, in general, entry of correct / incorrect determination figures such as “O” and “X” on the educational material 20 is based on a question sentence, a frame for identifying each answer column 21, an answer entry content in each answer column 21, etc. Often done in layers. Therefore, the extraction result of the predetermined color component by the correctness / error determination extraction unit 8 may be a result of removing the overlapped portion, that is, a discontinuity portion in the correctness / incorrectness determination graphic such as “◯” or “×”. . Therefore, the interruption correction unit 9 performs the interruption correction process on the extraction result of the predetermined color component by the correctness / error determination extraction unit 8.

(Example of interruption correction)
Here, the interruption correction processing by the interruption correction unit 9 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure for interruption correction.

  In the interruption correction process, the thinning process is performed on the extraction result of the predetermined color component by the correctness / error determination extraction unit 8, that is, the extraction result of the eyelid that is a correctness / incorrectness determination figure such as “◯” or “×” (step S201). ) Further, end point extraction processing is executed (step S202). As a result, when there is a discontinuity in the correctness / incorrectness determination graphic such as “◯” or “×”, the end points at the discontinuity are extracted. Note that the thinning process and the end point extraction process performed at this time may be performed using a known technique, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  When the endpoints are extracted, the following processing is executed until it is determined that the connection processing has been completed for all the extracted endpoints (step S203). That is, first, an unprocessed end point is selected (step S204), within a predetermined distance set in advance from the selected end point (hereinafter referred to as “first end point”), and The nearest unprocessed end point (hereinafter referred to as “second end point”) is further selected (step S205).

  Then, it is determined whether or not there is a corresponding end point (second end point) (step S206). If there is a corresponding end point, the first end point and the second end point are connected to each other (step S207), and then The one end point and the second end point are both processed (step S208). On the other hand, if the corresponding end point is not the second end point, the connection between the end points is not performed, and the first end point is processed (step S209).

  Such processing is performed for all end points until there are no unprocessed end points (steps S203 to S209). Thereby, for example, when the figure shown in FIG. 5 is extracted, even if the end points B and C exist within a predetermined distance with respect to the end point A, the nearest end point B among them is the end point A. The connected portion is corrected for a discontinuous portion in the figure of “◯”.

(Other examples of interruption correction)
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing another example of the processing procedure of the interruption correction by the interruption correction unit 9. In another example of the interruption correction process, in addition to the extraction result of the predetermined color component by the correctness / error determination extraction unit 8, the image data after the image distortion correction by the distortion correction unit 5 is also used to improve the accuracy of the interruption correction process. ing.

  That is, in another example of the interruption correction process, the binarization process is performed on the image data after the image distortion correction by the distortion correction unit 5 (step S301). However, if binarization processing is performed at the time of difference extraction by the difference extraction unit 6 or extraction of a predetermined color component by the correctness determination extraction unit 8, the image data after the binarization processing may be used. .

  Further, a thinning process is executed for the extraction result of the predetermined color component by the correctness / error determination extraction unit 8 (step S302), and an end point extraction process is further executed (step S303). When the end points are extracted, the following processing is executed until it is determined that the connection processing has been completed for all the extracted end points (step S304).

  First, one unprocessed end point is selected (step S305), and an unprocessed end point that is within a predetermined distance from the selected first end point and is closest to the second end point is selected as the second end point. It is selected as an end point (step S306). Next, it is determined whether or not there is a corresponding end point (second end point) (step S307).

  If there is a corresponding end point, it is determined whether a pixel group that connects the first end point and the second end point is present in the image data after the binarization processing (step S308). That is, it is determined whether or not there is an overlapping portion of the images that causes the interruption. As a result, if there is an overlapping portion, the first end point and the second end point are connected to each other (step S309), and then both the first end point and the second end point are processed (step S310).

  On the other hand, if there is no overlapping portion, the process returns to step S306, and an end point that is within a predetermined distance from the first end point and is next to the nearest end point is selected as the second end point. At this time, if there is no end point to be selected, the connection between the end points is not performed, and the first end point is processed (step S311). Such processing is performed for all end points until there are no unprocessed end points (steps S304 to S311).

  Thus, for example, when the graphic shown in FIG. 7 is extracted, if the end points B and C exist within a predetermined distance with respect to the end point A, the nearest end point C is selected among them. Since there is no pixel group connecting the end points A and C in the binarized image data, the end points A and C are not connected. Then, an end point B that is the next closest to the end point C is selected. Since there is a pixel group in the binarized image data between the end point B and the end point A, the end point B is the end point. A will be connected. That is, the discontinuity portion in the graphic “O” is corrected without erroneously connecting “O” and “X”.

  After the interruption correction processing by the interruption correction unit 9 as described above, the figure shape recognition unit 10 performs shape recognition on the entry contents of the correctness determination, that is, pattern matching with the figure shape of “◯” or “×”, It is recognized whether the content of the correct / incorrect determination entry is “correct answer” or “incorrect answer”.

  Since the pattern matching performed at this time may be realized using a known technique, the description thereof is omitted here. Alternatively, the feature amount of the recognition target figure may be calculated and the shape may be recognized from the feature amount. For example, known features such as the number of holes and the area ratio of the target figure occupying the circumscribed rectangle may be used as the feature amount, and the description thereof is omitted here.

  Then, when the shape recognition for the entry contents of the correct / incorrect determination in the figure shape recognition unit 10 is completed, the entry position calculation unit 11 receives the entry position on the educational material 20 for the entry contents of the correct / incorrect determination. calculate.

  In addition, when shape recognition by the figure shape recognition unit 10 is performed, an identifier is assigned to the continuous pixel group in order to collectively handle the continuous pixel group constituting the “◯” or “×” figure. Therefore, a labeling process which is a general image processing technique is performed. For this reason, even when the position is calculated by the entry position recognition unit 11, the result of the labeling process is used to treat a group of consecutive pixels constituting a “◯” or “×” figure as one group.

(Calculation of correct / incorrect judgment entry position)
Here, the calculation processing of the correct / incorrect determination entry position by the entry position calculation unit 11 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for calculating the correct / incorrect determination entry position.

  In the calculation process of the correct / incorrect determination position, since a plurality of correct / incorrect check symbols are entered on the educational material 20, first, the count number K for the check symbol is set to "1" (step 1) S401). Thus, until the count number K exceeds the number of check symbols that can exist on the educational material 20, that is, the number of answer columns 21 (step S 402), check symbols that are detected in a predetermined scanning order (“ The positions of “○” and “x” figures) are calculated in order from the first.

  For example, the position recognition may be performed by calculating circumscribed rectangle information of a graphic of “◯” or “×” (step S403) and further calculating the center coordinates of the circumscribed rectangle (step S404).

Specifically, a circumscribed rectangle is extracted from a figure (continuous pixel group) to be calculated, the xy coordinates of a predetermined point (for example, the upper left vertex) of the circumscribed rectangle, and the width (W of the circumscribed rectangle) ) And height (h). Then, from these calculation results, the center x coordinate = x + w / 2 and the center y coordinate = y + h / 2 are calculated, and the calculation result is used as the calculation result of the position of the continuous pixel group, that is, the check symbol entry position.

  Such processing is repeated until the count number K is incremented (step S405), and all check symbols existing on the educational material 20 are calculated (steps S402 to S405).

  In this way, after the entry position calculation unit 11 calculates the entry position of the check symbol, the scoring calculation unit 12 performs scoring for correct / incorrect determination. At this time, the scoring and summarizing unit 12 retains and accumulates the recognition result of the entry contents of the correct / incorrect determination by the graphic shape recognizing unit 10, the calculation result of the input position of the correct / incorrect determination by the entry position calculating unit 11, and the database unit 1. Based on the scoring information about each answer column 21 of the educational material 20 included in the electronic data of the educational material 20, the score is totaled.

  However, although the check symbol is generally entered corresponding to each answer column 21 on the educational material 20, since it is done by handwriting by a teacher or the like, the entry position in each answer column 21 is not necessarily uniquely determined. I don't mean.

  On the other hand, it is necessary to clarify the correspondence between each answer column 21 and the entry position of the correct / incorrect determination in scoring the correct / incorrect determination. This is because the correct / incorrect judgment scoring is based on the contents of correct / incorrect judgment (correct / incorrect answer) and the scoring for each answer field 21 after clarifying the result of entering the check symbol corresponding to each answer field 21. Because it is done.

(Score calculation of correct / incorrect judgment)
Therefore, the scoring unit 12 performs scoring for correct / incorrect determination according to the processing procedure according to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure for correct / incorrect determination scoring.

  As shown in FIG. 10 (A), the scoring tabulation unit 12 divides the extracted correct / incorrect determination figure into a plurality of regions by the region dividing process, as shown in FIG. Specifically, the pixel values are integrated in the horizontal or vertical direction of the image, and the image is divided into two at the portion where the gap without pixels is the maximum. By repeating this, it is possible to divide into a plurality of areas including the correct / incorrect determination figure. In this area division, since the number of answer columns is known in advance, the division is performed until the number of areas reaches the number of answer columns. Since the number of divided areas is set to the number of answer fields (number of divided areas = number of answer fields), the number of divided areas will not be too much or too little with respect to the number of answer fields. Correspondence between correct / incorrect determination figures such as “◯” and “×” (indicated by a check symbol in FIG. 10) and the answer column 21 can be reliably performed.

  Then, it is determined whether or not division is possible (step S502). If division is impossible (error), the process proceeds to a subroutine of error processing 1 (step S503). Details of specific processing in the error processing 1 will be described later. If division is possible, the scoring and counting unit 12 obtains an overlapping area between the divided area including the correct / incorrect determination figure and the area to be the answer column 21 on the educational material 20 (step S504), and FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the divided area (the divided area by the area dividing process) having the largest overlapping area (the same as the area ratio to the divided area) and the answer column 21 are associated with each other (step S505). As another example, as shown in FIG. 10 (C), an overlapping divided area is associated with the center of the answer column (black dot in the figure).

  Then, it is determined whether or not the association is possible (step S506). Here, it is determined that the association is possible when the ratio of the overlapping area to the answer column 21 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value. When the ratio is less than the predetermined threshold value, the overlapping portion is small, and thus the association is impossible (error). And the process proceeds to a subroutine of error processing 2 (step S507). Details of specific processing in the error processing 2 will be described later.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the association is possible, the correct / incorrect determination graphic included in the associated divided area and the answer column are associated with each other (step S508).

  Then, the correct / incorrect determination figure associated with the answer column 21 is set as the correct / incorrect determination result entered in the answer column 21 (step S509). Specifically, if the correct / incorrect determination graphic is “◯”, the point addition specified from the scoring information for the corresponding answer column 21 is executed, and if the correct / incorrect determination graphic is “×”, this The score addition for the answer column 21 corresponding to is not performed. Such scoring is performed for all answer columns 21 on the educational material 20.

  In addition, the area which becomes the answer column 21 on the educational material 20 is the answer field position area information included in the electronic data of the educational material 20 as the score information for each answer field 21 or in the same manner as the score information. Shall be specified.

  By the way, in order to correlate the correct / incorrect judgment figures such as “○” and “×” with the answer column, it is necessary to strictly align the two, especially when there are many questions (problems) crowded. In the handwritten correct / incorrect determination figure, the position is easily shifted with respect to the answer column 21. If the correct / incorrect determination figure and the answer column are associated with each other by simple distance determination, a plurality of correct / incorrect determination figures are included in one answer column. May be associated.

  On the other hand, as described above, when the correct / incorrect determination figure and the answer column are associated with each other, the extracted correct / incorrect determination figure is divided by the region dividing process and is associated with the answer column 21 included in the divided region. By doing so, it is possible to reliably associate the correct / incorrect determination graphic with the answer column 21 even in the case where many questions are particularly crowded and the position of the handwritten correct / incorrect determination graphic is likely to shift.

(Error handling 1)
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of the error processing 1. In this error process 1, first, it is determined whether or not the area can be divided up to the number of answer fields by the area division process (step S601). If the area can be divided up to the number of answer fields, each divided area has a predetermined area. It is determined whether there is no area below the threshold (step S602), and if there is no area below the threshold, it is determined whether the distance between the correct / incorrect determination figures when dividing is not less than the predetermined threshold (step S602). S603) If the distance between figures is not equal to or less than the threshold value, it is determined that the area division process has been completed, and the process proceeds to step S504 in FIG.

  If it is determined in step S601 that the area could not be divided up to the number of answer columns, if it is determined in step S602 that there is an area that is equal to or smaller than the threshold value, or if it is determined in step S603 that the distance between figures is equal to or smaller than the threshold value, The process is stopped and a warning is issued to the user (step S604). At this time, the user who has received the warning performs correction input for the area division. Then, the correction is accepted (step S605), and then the process proceeds to step S504 in FIG.

  Here, “there is a region where each divided area is equal to or smaller than the threshold” in step S602 means that there may be an answer column in which the correct / incorrect determination graphic is not filled in, for example. That is, even if there is an answer field in which a correct / incorrect determination figure is not entered, by continuing the area division up to the number of answer fields, each divided area becomes an extremely small area. Therefore, in order to prevent the divided area from becoming an extremely small area, when there is an area where the divided individual areas are equal to or less than the threshold value, for example, it is determined that there is a possibility that there is an answer column in which a correct / incorrect graphic is not filled. By stopping and issuing a warning, it is possible to prevent erroneous area division by area division processing.

  Further, “the distance between figures is equal to or less than the threshold” in step S603 means that, for example, when the discontinuity correction processing (deletion interpolation processing) in the discontinuity correction unit 9 is insufficient, specifically, as shown in FIG. In addition, when the figure of “◯” is broken, the broken “o” figure is recognized as two figures and divided into two areas. Therefore, when the distance between figures is less than or equal to the threshold value, for example, it is judged that there is a possibility that the figure is broken, and the division is stopped and a warning is issued, thereby preventing erroneous area division by the area division processing. it can.

  On the other hand, correction input by a user who has received a warning can be performed as follows. For example, it can be performed using a correction program (correction means) stored in advance in the database unit 1. The following examples can be considered as specific examples of the correction input. However, the specific example illustrated below is only an example and is not limited thereto.

  If it is determined in step S601 that the area could not be divided up to the number of answer columns, for example, there is a possibility that the preset number of answer columns may be incorrect, so that the number of answer columns is corrected and input. If it is determined in step S602 that there is an area that is equal to or smaller than the threshold value, for example, there is a possibility that there is an answer column in which the correct / incorrect determination graphic is not entered. Enter the correct number. If it is determined in step S603 that the distance between figures is equal to or less than the threshold value, for example, the correct / incorrect figure may be interrupted. The graphic shape recognition is instructed again.

(Error handling 2)
FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing procedure of the error processing 2. In this error process 2, it is first determined whether or not there is an area that is not associated with the answer field (step S611). If there is no area that is not associated with the answer field, the process of step S508 in FIG. Migrate to

  If it is determined in step S611 that there is an area that is not associated with the answer field, it is determined whether there is an answer field that overlaps with the area of interest as much as possible (step S612), and overlaps with the area of interest as much as possible. If there is an answer field to be checked, it is next determined whether or not the corresponding answer field is associated with another area (step S613). If it is not associated with another region, the region of interest and the corresponding answer column are associated (step S614), and then the process proceeds to step S508 in FIG.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S612 that there is no answer column that overlaps with the region of interest as much as possible, as shown in FIG. Search (step S615). Then, as shown in FIG. 14 (B), the distance between the center of gravity of the region of interest and the answer field center of the adjacent region is calculated and the closest one is selected (step S616), and then step S613 is executed. Transition to processing. If the corresponding answer column is associated with another area in step S613, the process proceeds to step S616.

(Answer field position area information)
FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of answer column position area information. The answer column position area information includes the number of the question existing on the educational material 20, the score for the answer of the question, and a predetermined point (for example, the upper left vertex) of the area treated as the answer column 21 for entering the answer of the question ) And xy coordinates and the width (W) and height (h) of the circumscribed rectangle, and are stored and stored in advance in the database unit 1 in a table format associating them with each other as shown in the figure. ing.

(Scoring results by problem)
FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of the problem-specific scoring results. The question-specific scoring result is information including the number of the question existing on the educational material 20, the correctness / incorrectness determination for the answer of the question, and the score based on the correctness / incorrectness determination. It is output from the scoring tabulation unit 12 in a table format.

  When the scoring result by question is output from the scoring and summarizing unit 12, the summarizing result output unit 13 then extracts the scoring result by question, that is, the result of scoring and summarizing by the scoring and summing unit 12, by the answerer extracting unit 7. In association with the answerer information, the information is output to the database device 31 or the file server device 32 connected to the teaching material processing device (processing in step S103 in FIG. 3). As a result, the database device 31 or the file server device 32 can manage or use the score totaling result for the educational material 20 in a list format, for example.

  As described above, in the teaching material processing apparatus, the teaching material processing method, or the teaching material processing program, the image data read from the educational teaching material 20 in which the correct / incorrect determination is entered, and the electronic data, that is, the answer column for the educational teaching material 20 Comparing the answer entry to 21 and the data for which the answer is not entered for the answer, recognizing the entry contents of the correct / incorrect judgment from the difference between them, and scoring the correct / incorrect judgment Thus, if an image is read for the educational material 20 in which the correctness / incorrectness determination is entered, the scoring results can be automatically counted for the entered correctness / incorrectness determination. Labor saving can be achieved.

  Moreover, since the image data read from the educational material 20 is used as a basis, for example, a scanning function realized by a copying machine, a multifunction peripheral, or a scanner device, an information storage processing function, and an image processing function possessed by a computer device such as a PC In addition, if there is an arithmetic processing function, the apparatus configuration can be realized, and a dedicated component device is not required.

  That is, according to the teaching material processing apparatus, the teaching material processing method, or the teaching material processing program according to the present embodiment, it is possible to realize the labor saving of the scoring process for the educational teaching material 20 used in the educational institution. In addition, the scoring process does not require a dedicated component device, and the versatility of the educational material 20 that can be handled can be sufficiently ensured. Therefore, it becomes very convenient when used in an educational institution, and a highly reliable scoring process can be performed smoothly.

  In addition, the teaching material processing apparatus, teaching material processing method, or teaching material processing program according to the present embodiment recognizes both the figure shape and the entry position of the correct / incorrect determination as input contents of the correct / incorrect determination. The recognition result of the entry figure shape and entry position is associated with the position information and scoring information in the answer column 21 included in the electronic data, and the correctness / incorrectness scoring is performed.

  In other words, since the entry position for correct / incorrect determination is calculated and associated with the position information in the answer field 21, no matter how the answer field 21 is laid out on the educational material 20, the educational material 20 It becomes possible to perform scoring for the correctness / incorrectness judgment entered in. In addition, since not only the position information but also the scoring information is associated, it is possible to perform scoring for correct / wrong judgment even for the educational material 20 whose scoring varies depending on the answer column 21, for example.

  In particular, in the teaching material processing apparatus, the teaching material processing method, or the teaching material processing program according to the present embodiment, each of the correct / incorrect determination graphic (check symbol) such as “O” and “×” and the educational teaching material 20 is used in scoring the correctness determination. When associating the answer column 21 with each other, an area dividing process is performed on the extracted correct / incorrect determination graphic, and the correct / error determination graphic and the answer column 21 are surely associated with each other by associating with the answer column 21 included in the divided area. Since they can be associated with each other, more accurate scoring for correct / incorrect determination, that is, more reliable scoring processing can be performed.

  In the above embodiment, the preferred specific examples of the present invention have been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the contents. For example, a distortion correction process and a break correction process are not necessarily essential.

  Thus, the present invention can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the gist of the configuration of the above embodiment.

1 is a system configuration diagram illustrating a schematic configuration example of a teaching material processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows a specific example of the educational material. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing operation example in the teaching material processing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of interruption correction. It is explanatory drawing of an example of a discontinuation correction process. It is a flowchart which shows the other example of the process sequence of interruption correction. It is explanatory drawing of the other example of a discontinuation correction process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the recognition processing procedure of a correct / incorrect determination entry position. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of a correct / incorrect determination scoring total. It is explanatory drawing of matching with the correct / incorrect determination figure and answer column performed using an area | region division process. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of error processing 1. It is explanatory drawing which shows the division | segmentation result when an interruption correction process is inadequate. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of error processing 2; It is explanatory drawing of a process when it is judged that there is no answer column which overlaps even the region to which attention is paid even a little. It is explanatory drawing which shows a specific example of answer column position area information. It is explanatory drawing which shows one specific example of the scoring result according to a problem.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Database part, 2 ... Image reading part, 3 ... Image data analysis part, 4 ... Teaching material discrimination | determination part, 5 ... Distortion correction part, 6 ... Difference extraction part, 7 ... Answerer extraction part, 8 ... Correct / error determination extraction part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 ... Discontinuation correction | amendment part, 10 ... Graphic shape recognition part, 11 ... Entry position calculation part, 12 ... Score totaling part, 13 ... Counting result output part, 20 ... Educational teaching material, 21 ... Answer column, 22 ... Identification information column, 23 ... Answerer information column, 31 ... Database device, 32 ... File server device, 41 ... Title analysis unit, 42 ... Code information analysis unit, 71 ... Attendance number information cut-out unit, 72 ... Handwritten OCR

Claims (7)

Holding and storing means for holding and storing electronic data about educational materials including answer columns;
Reading means for obtaining image data from the educational material by performing image reading on the educational material in which an answer is entered in the answer column and a correct / incorrect determination figure for the answer is entered;
Obtaining an image obtained by extracting the correct / incorrect determination graphic based on a comparison between the electronic data held by the holding / accumulating means and the image data obtained by the reading means, and determining the correct / incorrect based on the image obtained by extracting the correct / incorrect determination graphic. A correct / incorrect determination recognition means for recognizing the shape and entry position of each figure;
The correct / incorrect determination recognition is performed by associating the shape and the entry position of the correct / incorrect determination figure recognized by the correct / incorrect determination recognition means with the position information and scoring information of the answer column included in the electronic data held and stored by the holding / accumulating means. Scoring and summarizing means for summarizing scoring for correct / incorrect judgment based on the recognition result by the means,
The scoring and counting means is an image obtained by extracting the correct / incorrect determination graphic obtained by the correct / incorrect determination recognition means when associating the correct / incorrect determination graphic recognized by the correct / incorrect determination recognition means with the answer column included in the educational material. Is divided into divided areas based on the integration of horizontal or vertical pixel values, each of the divided areas includes the correct / incorrect determination figure, and the number of divided areas is the number of the answer columns. The teaching material processing apparatus is characterized in that it is divided by an area dividing process and is associated with an answer column included in the divided area. 2. The teaching material processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when performing the region division processing, the scoring totaling unit stops the division and issues a warning if the division is impossible. 3. The scoring tabulation unit associates a divided area with the largest overlap area with the answer field in the answer field, and then associates the divided area with a correct / incorrect determination graphic included in the divided area. The teaching material processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The scoring and counting means corresponds to any of the answer fields for the answer field in which the ratio of the overlapping area of the answer field and the divided area to the answer field is less than a predetermined threshold for all the divided areas. When there is an unassociated divided area that is not attached, and the answer field overlaps with the unassociated divided area and is not associated with any other divided area, the answer field The teaching material processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the uncorrelated divided areas are associated with each other. If there is no answer column that overlaps with the uncorrelated divided area and is not associated with any of the other divided areas, the scoring tabulation unit is adjacent to the uncorrelated divided area, and a plurality The adjacent area, which is the divided area associated with the answer field, is searched, and the distance between the center of the uncorrelated divided area and the center of the plurality of answer fields associated with the adjacent area is calculated. and, educational material processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein by selecting the answer column of closer of the distance, characterized in that associated with the split regions of the non correspondence. An image reading means that reads an image of an educational material in which an answer is entered in an answer column and a correct / incorrect determination figure for the answer is entered to obtain image data from the educational material;
Correctness determination recognizing means implemented by computer, the comparison of the obtained image data in the reading step and the electronic data held by the holding storage means to hold storing electronic data for educational material including the answer column A correct / incorrect determination step for recognizing each shape and entry position of the correct / incorrect determination graphic based on the image from which the correct / incorrect determination graphic is extracted, and obtaining an image from which the correct / incorrect determination graphic is extracted,
The scoring and summarizing means realized by the computer uses the correct and incorrect judgment figure recognized in the correct and incorrect judgment recognition step as the shape and entry position of the answer column included in the electronic data held in the holding and storing means and the scoring information. Correspondingly, including a scoring step for scoring the correctness determination based on the recognition result in the correctness determination step,
In the scoring tabulation step, an image obtained by extracting the correct / incorrect determination graphic obtained by the correct / incorrect determination recognition means when associating the correct / incorrect determination graphic recognized in the correct / incorrect determination recognition step with the answer column included in the educational material. Is divided into divided areas based on the integration of horizontal or vertical pixel values, each of the divided areas includes the correct / incorrect determination figure, and the number of divided areas is the number of the answer columns. The teaching material processing method of dividing | segmenting by the area | region division | segmentation process which becomes, and matching with the answer column contained in the division | segmentation area | region. Computer
An image reading device from the teaching material in which the electronic data held by the storage and storage means for storing and storing the electronic data about the educational material including the answer column, the answer in the answer column, and the correct / incorrect determination figure for the answer are written To obtain an image obtained by extracting the correct / incorrect determination graphic based on the comparison with the image data obtained by the above, and to recognize each correctness / entry position of the correct / incorrect determination graphic based on the extracted image. A judgment recognition means;
The correct / incorrect determination recognition is performed by associating the shape and the entry position of the correct / incorrect determination figure recognized by the correct / incorrect determination recognition means with the position information and scoring information of the answer column included in the electronic data held and stored by the holding / accumulating means. Scoring and summing means for summarizing scoring for correct / incorrect judgment based on the recognition result by the means, when correlating the correct / incorrect judgment figure recognized by the correctness judgment recognition means with the answer column included in the educational material An area dividing process for dividing an image obtained by extracting the correct / incorrect determination figure obtained by a recognition unit into divided areas based on integration of horizontal or vertical pixel values, wherein each of the divided areas represents the correct / incorrect determination figure. Scoring means that divides by the area dividing process so that the number of the divided areas is equal to the number of the answer fields, and associates with the answer fields included in the divided areas Teaching material processing program to function as.

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