WO2009136357A1

WO2009136357A1 - Homework motivation system

Info

Publication number: WO2009136357A1
Application number: PCT/IB2009/051830
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marten J. Pijl; Bart A. Salters
Original assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
Priority date: 2008-05-09
Filing date: 2009-05-05
Publication date: 2009-11-12

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device, a system, a method and computer readable code intended to reduce procrastination and/or its effect(s) amongst students or pupils. This is achieved by rewarding a user, e.g. a student or pupil, for handing in an assigned task, e.g. an exercise or homework, without excessive delays by offering tips or other kinds of aid or help for finishing or completing the next assignment or homework, wherein the amount and/or sort of aid depend(s) on the hand- in time of the assigned exercise or homework with respect to at least one of the following: the delivery deadline time, the assignment time of the exercise or homework and a desired time determined by the task assignee, e.g. a teacher or supervisor.

Description

Homework motivation system

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device, a system, a method and computer readable code intended to reduce procrastination and/or the effect(s) of procrastination: postponing or delaying of unpleasant but unavoidable task(s).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Postponing or deferring an undesirable but necessary activity or action or task to a later time is called procrastination. This is a characteristic everyone possesses to some degree, whether it concerns homework(s), doing the dishes, doing/buying groceries and so on. Procrastination is often explained by psychologists as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting and/or completing any task or activity. Although procrastination is tempting, its long term effects are often negative, as procrastinators often feel bad about their actions afterwards. They often try to rationalize their actions and/or come up with excuses for their behavior in order to maintain a positive self-image. Procrastination may thus result in stress, sense of guilt, loss of personal productivity, creation of crisis and disapproval of others for not fulfilling one's responsibilities or commitments.

The relationship between most pupils or students and their homework(s) can be described as difficult at best. Many consider it a necessary evil, cutting into the amount of time available for fun and relaxation. Perhaps even more so than in the past, distractions are never far away, with the introduction of technologies such as television, internet, mobile phones, instant messaging and/or chatting, etc. When faced with the choice of such activities or doing homework(s), it is not surprising that many pupils or students opt for the former, thus delaying their homework until later.

This is bad enough in itself, but in the case of homework(s) there can be other consequences as well. Students or pupils typically face relatively large numbers of deadlines and leaving everything to the last minute can create significant amounts of stress. Also, one might imagine such practices do little for one's grades. Indeed, there are studies, e.g. B. Tuckman, Academic Procrastinators: Their Rationalizations and Web-Course Performance, APA Symposium Paper, 2002, which show that pupils or students with a high tendency for procrastination score lower grades than pupils or students with lower tendencies for procrastination.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION By reducing procrastination and/or its effect(s), pupils or students could improve their performance. This holds especially true for pupils or students with a high tendency for procrastination. In practice however, this is easier said than done. As mentioned above, procrastinators usually devise rationalizations and/or excuses to justify their behavior. Examples include statements like: "I work better under pressure" and "there's still plenty of time left", to name a few.

Most contemporary teaching methods do little to motivate pupils or students to avoid or combat procrastination. This means that when weighing the pros and cons, pupils or students see little reason not to procrastinate. Experiments have shown that such a motivation can be created by requiring pupils or students to take tests very frequently. Whilst this seems to reduce procrastination, it has the disadvantage of burdening the teacher with creating and grading a large number of tests.

It can be seen as an object of the present invention to reduce procrastination and/or its effect(s).

It can be seen as another object of the present invention to motivate pupils or students to avoid and/or combat procrastination.

It can be seen as a further object of the present invention to provide an alternative to the prior art, preferably a better one.

Furthermore, it may be seen as yet another object of the present invention to provide a device, a system, a method and computer useable code that solves the above mentioned problems and/or disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thus, the above described objects and several other objects are intended to be obtained in the invention by providing a device, a system, a method and computer useable code as given in the independent claims.

Additional features and/or aspects of the present invention are described in the dependent claims. The present invention aids pupils or students in making their homework(s), but only if they don't delay their homework(s) excessively. As a result, the pupils or students are motivated to combat procrastination.

This can be achieved with the help of the present invention according to which after the pupils or students have handed in their assignment(s) they could receive a certain amount and/or sort of aid or help for their next exercise or assignment depending on the time when they have handed in their last or previous exercise or assignment.

To counter or at least reduce procrastination and/or its effect(s), pupils or students require a motivation to do their homework assignment(s) or exercise(s) sooner rather than later. The invention described in this document proposes rewarding the pupils or students for finishing their homework or assignment without excessive delays by offering tips or other kinds of aid or help for finishing or completing their next assignment or homework. Over time, getting more and more closer to the deadline for handing in the homework or assignment, these tips or aids become less potent or disappear altogether. Examples of aids could be a list of formulas for a physics exercise or a program which detects flaws or errors in your mathematic equations. This approach is mostly useful for homework deadlines which span at least a couple of days, as the pupils or students shouldn't have to rush to complete their homework before the "timer" runs out.

In addition to or instead of supplying the student or pupil with aid or help for the next exercise or homework, the amount of work to be done in the next exercise or homework can be reduced.

According to one embodiment of the invention, in the case of homework which is handed in online, a system can be implemented as software. In this way, it is easy to determine the current time and therefore what kind of aid a pupil or student should get. For this purpose the system is designed such that: a certain amount and/or sort of aid will be initially available, which will be reduced and/or disappear altogether over time, as determined by a teacher or supervisor or a group of teachers or supervisors. when the pupil or student hands in the assigned exercise or homework, said certain amount and/or sort of aid for the next exercise or assignment or homework becomes available, wherein said amount and/or sort of aid depend(s) on the hand- in time of the assigned exercise or homework with respect to the delivery deadline and/or the assignment or handing-out time of the exercise or homework. Other embodiments of the invention describe a device, a method and computer readable code having the same concept, namely rewarding the user, e.g. a student or pupil, for handing in an assigned exercise or homework without excessive delays by offering tips or other kinds of aid or help for finishing or completing the next assignment or homework, wherein the amount and/or sort of aid depend(s) on the hand- in time of the assigned exercise or homework with respect to at least one of the following: the delivery deadline and the time when the exercise or homework was assigned or handed out to the student or pupil.

The assignment time of the exercise or homework should be considered as the time when the student or pupil received from the teacher or supervisor the assigned exercise or homework. This moment of time, the time when the assignment or exercise is handed out by the teacher or supervisor to the student or pupil, can be called as "an assignment time mark".

The delivery deadline should be considered as the time when the student or pupil has to hand in the assigned exercise or homework. This moment of time, the time when the student or pupil must return the assignment or exercise to the teacher(s) or supervisor(s), can be called as "a deadline time mark".

The hand- in time is the time when the student or pupil hands in or returns the assignment or exercise to the teacher or supervisor. This moment of time can be called as "a hand-in time mark". Preferably the hand-in time should be before the delivery deadline time.

The invention is particularly, but not exclusively, advantageous for obtaining an overall increase of grades in a group of users, e.g. students or pupils, by reducing procrastination and/or its effect(s). This will lead to an improvement in the levels or grades of the group of users, e.g. students or pupils. In a further aspect, the present invention may be accomplished by a computer program product enabling a processor to carry out the operations of the device and/or the system of the present invention when down- or uploaded into the system computer or server and/or the device. Such a computer program product may be provided on any kind of computer readable and/or useable medium, or through a network or the internet or any other suitable communication channel.

The individual aspects of the present invention may each be combined with any of the other aspects. These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the following description with reference to the described embodiments and/or the enclosed drawing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The present invention will now be described in more detail with regard to the accompanying figure. The figure shows one way of implementing the present invention and is not to be construed as being limiting to other possible embodiments falling within the scope of the attached set of claims.

Fig. 1 shows a diagram of the method according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS The present invention intends to reduce procrastination and/or its effect(s) amongst students or pupils. This is achieved by using a method according to the invention wherein several steps are performed, as shown in Fig. 1.

A teacher assigns to a student or pupil a predetermined task, e.g. a homework or exercise, which should be completed and handed in to the teacher by the student or pupil. Once the student or pupil completes the predetermined task and hands it in to the teacher, he/she can get a certain amount and/or sort of aid for the next task, e.g. homework or exercise, which would be assigned in the nearby future.

The amount and/or sort of aid can be determined by the teacher and depend(s) on the time when the task is handed in to the teacher (the hand- in time mark) with respect to the delivery deadline (the deadline time mark) and/or the time when the student or pupil received or got the assigned task (the assignment time mark). The amount and/or sort of aid will be reduced and/or disappear altogether over time. Accordingly, the time used by the student can be derived or determined. The time used by the student can be defined as the time from the assignment time mark till the hand- in time mark. Additionally, the time used by the student can be defined as a percentage (%) of the totally available time, wherein the totally available time can be defined as the time from the assignment time mark till the deadline time mark.

As possible alternatives of the invention, the amount of work to be done in the next exercise or homework can be reduced in addition to or instead of the aid or help for the next exercise or homework.

Thus the student or pupil is stimulated or motivated to combat procrastination. The method or process of a user or student or pupil obtaining helpful information, shown in Fig. 1, comprises the following steps: a teacher or a group of teachers alone or through a server or computer or web interface assigns a task to said user; the student or user completes the task and hands it over to the teacher manually or electronically; - after the handing-in is acknowledged by the teacher and/or the server and/or the web interface, at least one of the following steps is carried out or done: 1) the student or user receives or gets a certain amount and/or sort of aid or help for the next task that is to be assigned, and 2) the amount of work to be done in the next task is reduced, wherein said amount and/or sort of aid or help for the next task and/or said amount of work to be done in the next task depend(s) on the hand- in time as a function of at least one of the following times: the task delivery deadline, the task assignment time and a desired time mark set or determined by the teacher(s).

Thereafter said new or next task can be assigned, and the whole process is repeated until all tasks are completed. The assigned task can for example be a homework or exercise given in a paper or electronic form or given as a reference to a paper or electronic book or textbook.

The teacher or the group of teaches can be defined as server side user(s) or task assignee(s).

One embodiment of the invention relates to a device adapted for distributing information data to a user, e.g. a student or pupil, wherein the device can comprise: means for acquiring or providing the current time, means for storing or logging at least one time mark or time log, and data means for managing and distributing information data to the user, wherein the amount and/or sort of information data distributed to the user depend(s) on a trigger time mark as a function of said at least one time mark. The trigger time mark can be defined as the time when the user hands in the task (the hand- in time mark) assigned by a task assignee, e.g. teacher(s) or supervisor(s). Said at least one time mark can be defined as at least one of the following time marks: the task delivery deadline time (the deadline time mark), the task assignment time (the assignment time mark) and a desired time mark set or determined by the teacher(s) or supervisor(s). In an alternative embodiment the desired time mark can be defined as a fixed time (a so called "fixed time mark") determined or set by the task assignee, e.g. the teacher(s) or supervisor(s). In this case the fixed time mark is a date (and possibly hour), e.g. January the 1^st, and all students or pupils handing in their assignment (the hand-in time mark) before this date (and possible hour), will receive some extra aid. The function between the trigger or hand-in time mark and the desired or fixed time mark is the following: if the trigger or hand- in time mark < the desired or fixed time mark then the student or pupil gets some extra aid or help for the next task, and if the trigger or hand- in time mark > the desired or fixed time mark then the student or pupil gets no extra aid or help for the next task. In one alternative embodiment of the invention the function between the trigger or hand-in time mark and said at least one time mark can be defined as a percentage of the used time with respect to the totally available time, wherein the used time can be defined as the time from the assignment time mark till the trigger or hand- in time mark and the totally available time can be defined as the time from the assignment time mark till the deadline time mark. Then said certain amount and/or sort of information data will be dependent on this percentage.

Consequently the certain amount and/or sort of information data that is distributed to the user can depend on the trigger time mark as a function of any combination of the following time marks: the deadline time mark, the assignment time mark and the desired time mark determined by the assignee(s).

In alternative embodiments of the invention, the amount of work which is to be done in the next task, e.g. exercise or homework, can be reduced in addition to or instead of the aid or help for the next exercise or homework. In the latter case the package of aid or help for the next exercise or homework can be set to contain no information data. The device further can comprise time mark or time log storing means comprising a number of time logs or time marks for each user (when there are several users) and/or task storing means comprising a number of tasks or exercises or homeworks and/or information data storing means comprising a number of time-dependent information data packets or packages for each task or exercise. In an alternative only one storing means can be used, wherein said storing means is divided into or comprises several databases, e.g. a task or exercise database, an information data database, a time mark or time log database, etc.

In addition the device can comprise control means for managing, determining and/or controlling the access to the different storing means. All data, e.g. tasks, information data packets or packages, time logs, time marks, in said different storing means can also be managed and/or operated by the control means.

Another embodiment of the invention relates to a system comprising a central server or computer or web interface and a number of user laptops and/or user computers or PCs and/or user handheld units. The invention can be implemented within said central server or computer or web interface, as for example hardware and/or software. In an alternative the invention can be implemented within each of said user laptops and/or user computers or PCs and/or user handheld units, as for example hardware and/or software. It may be necessary that the system is supplied with communication means able to communicate at least with said central server or computer or web interface.

In yet another embodiment the invention can be implemented as a method for distributing information data to a user (e.g. a student or pupil), comprising the following steps: storing or logging the current time, - storing or logging at least one time mark, determining a trigger time mark, and distributing information data to a user, wherein the amount and/or sort of information data distributed to the user depend(s) on the trigger time mark as a function of said at least one time mark. Further the method can comprise the step of storing, e.g. in at least one database and/or storing means, a number of time logs or time marks for each user (when there are several users) and/or a number of tasks or exercises and/or a number of time- dependent information data packets or packages for each task or exercise. In addition the stored data can be managed by the method according to the present invention. The method can also comprise at least one of the following steps of: managing, determining and controlling the access to the data that is stored.

Another embodiment of the invention relates to computer readable and/or useable code on a computer readable and/or useable medium adapted to perform all the steps of the method or process of the invention. Other embodiments of the invention relate to computer readable and/or useable code on a computer readable and/or useable medium adapted to be run on and manage the operations or functions of the device and/or the systems according to the present invention.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, when the assigned task is an electronic task or homework or exercise, the electronic homework itself can comprise a suitable software/program or applet(s) that can log and/or remember time, such as for example the task assignment time, the task delivery deadline time and the time for handing in of said task or homework or exercise. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, this operation can be done on a central server or computer or web interface operated and/or managed by the teacher or the group of teachers. This central server or computer or web interface can be a part of a system comprising several user computers or PCs, wherein all computer or PC units can at least communicate with the central server or computer or web interface in a suitable communication manner, e.g. through the internet, a VPN or any other suitable communication channel, etc.

The central server or computer or web interface can comprise a database and/or storing means comprising numerous tasks or exercises, a database and/or storing means comprising different packets of aid resources or information data for each exercise or homework. The different aid packets can be defined by the teacher and as a function of time. The information data or the amount and/or sort of aid in the packets for each exercise or homework will be reduced and/or disappear altogether over time. Thus some packets or packages can contain no information data.

The central server or computer or web interface can further comprise means for acquiring or providing the current time and/or a database and/or means for storing or logging at least one time mark or time log, i.e. the different times or time marks for each student or pupil, e.g. the task assignment time (the assignment time mark), the task delivery deadline (the deadline time mark),the task hand-in time (the trigger or hand-in time mark) and the desired time set by the teacher(s) (the desired or fixed time mark). Said means for acquiring or providing the current time can for example, in a not-limiting embodiment of the invention, be a digital clock.

The teacher(s) or supervisor(s), e.g. via the central server or computer or web interface, can in a suitable way distribute the time-dependent packet or package of said certain amount and/or sort of aid to the student or pupil who has handed in the assigned task. The system according to the present invention can comprise a number of student or user computers or PCs and/or user laptops and/or user handheld units, and a central server or computer or central web interface.

The system proposed can also be implemented as software in the case of homework which is handed in online. This way, it is easy to determine the current time and therefore what kind of aid a student or pupil should get. To avoid students or pupils recording all the homework aids and making their homework(s) later, a homework aid for a certain exercise can be made available only when the previous exercise is handed in. In this implementation, a certain amount and/or sort of aid will be initially available, which aid will be reduced or diminished and/or disappear over time, as determined by the teacher. Initially, only the aid for the first exercise will be available. When the student hands in the first exercise, the aid for the second exercise becomes available. The amount and/or sort of aid once again depend(s) on the current or handing-in time. This continues until all exercises are done.

In addition the software can be adapted to be able to run not only on Windows® platform, but on Mac® or other platforms and/or operative systems.

Such a system is not suitable for all types of exercises, for instance in the case where students should be allowed to skip an exercise temporarily, working on another exercise before returning to the one they skipped. Also, adjustments need to be made for homework consisting of a single exercise, for instance by dividing it into several milestones. If the aid provided is more dynamic in nature, such as the math equation checker previously mentioned, there is no need to ask students to hand in exercises before continuing to the next exercise, as there is no way to record this kind of aid for later use.

With dynamic aids such as the math spell checker, other implementations than online software can be considered. For example, the software can be run on a handheld device comprising means for acquiring or providing the current time and/or means for storing or logging at least one time mark or time log, where the amount and/or sort of aid at a given time is/are programmed in advance by the teacher. Examples of this could be the use of client or user side devices, e.g. a PDA, a mobile phone, a graphical calculator, etc.

The central server or computer or central web interface can be accessible only to the teacher or the group of teachers, allowing him/her or them to determine different settings, such as for example homework or exercise assignment dates, homework or exercise deadlines, etc. The teacher or the group of teachers can also manage at least one of the following databases: the exercise database, the database comprising the different time- dependent packets or kinds of aid resources or information data for each exercise or homework, and the time log or time mark database. The teacher or the group of teachers can further manage said means for acquiring or providing the current time and/or means for storing or logging at least one time mark or time log on the central server or computer or central web interface (the so called "server side").

The device and/or the system according to the present invention can also comprise control means for controlling and/or storing and/or logging the different times for each student or pupil, e.g. in a form of some electronic circuits and/or a processor.

The application of this invention lies in the field of formal education. It is especially suited, though not limited to courses with a significant online component. The application is also well suited to learning online or attending virtual classes. Finally, the invention can be used in the field of self-learning, a field where maintaining discipline is notoriously difficult.

The invention can be implemented by means of hardware, software or any combination of these. The invention or some of the features thereof can also be implemented as software running on one or more data processors and/or digital signal processors.

The individual elements of an embodiment of the invention may be physically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way such as in a single unit, in a plurality of units or as part of separate functional units. The invention may be implemented in a single unit or be both physically and functionally distributed between different units and processors.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the specified embodiments, it should not be construed as being in any way limited to the presented examples. The scope of the present invention is to be interpreted in the light of the accompanying claim set. In the context of the claims, the terms "comprising" or "comprises" do not exclude other possible elements or steps. Also, the mentioning of references such as "a" or "an" etc. should not be construed as excluding a plurality. The use of reference signs in the claims with respect to elements indicated in the figures shall also not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Furthermore, individual features mentioned in different claims, may possibly be advantageously combined, and the mentioning of these features in different claims does not exclude that a combination of features is not possible and advantageous.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. Device adapted for distributing information data to a user, comprising: means for acquiring or providing the current time, means for storing or logging at least one time mark, and data means for managing and distributing information data to the user, wherein the amount and/or sort of information data distributed to the user depend(s) on a trigger time mark as a function of said at least one time mark.

2. Device according to claim 1, wherein the trigger time mark is the time when the user delivers or hands in an assigned task (a hand-in time mark).

3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said at least one time mark is at least one of the following time marks: a task delivery deadline time (a deadline time mark), a task assignment time (an assignment time mark), and a desired time mark determined or set by the task assignee(s) (a desired or fixed time mark).

4. Device according to claim 3, wherein the amount and/or sort of information data distributed to the user depend(s) on the trigger time mark as a function of any combination of the following time marks: the deadline time mark, the assignment time mark, and the desired or fixed time mark.

5. Device according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the device further comprises time mark or time log storing means comprising a number of time logs or time marks for the user.

6. Device according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the device further comprises task storing means comprising a number of tasks or exercises, and information data storing means comprising a number of time-dependent information data packets or packages for each task or exercise.

7. Device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the device further comprises control means for managing, determining and/or controlling the access to and the data in said storing means.

8. Device according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the device further comprises control means for managing, determining and controlling the access to the information data and/or the time mark(s).

9. Device according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the device is a client or user side device such as a laptop or a computer or a PC or a handheld device or unit, such as a PDA, a mobile phone, a graphical calculator or the like.

10. Device according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the device is a server side device such as a laptop or a computer or a PC or a server or the like.

11. System comprising a central server or computer or web interface and a number of user laptops and/or user computers or PCs and/or user handheld units, comprising at least one device according to any one of claims 1-10.

12. System according to claim 11, wherein said device is a server side device and is identified with said central server or computer or web interface.

13. System according to claim 11, wherein said at least one device is a client or user side device and is identified with said number of user laptops and/or user computers or PCs and/or user handheld units, wherein said at least one device further comprises communication means for communicating at least with said central server or computer or web interface.

14. Method for distributing information data to a user, comprising the following steps: storing or logging the current time, storing or logging at least one time mark, determining a trigger time mark, and distributing information data to the user, wherein the amount and/or sort of information data distributed to the user depend(s) on the trigger time mark as a function of said at least one time mark.

15. Method according to claim 14, wherein the trigger time mark is the time when the user hands in an assigned task (a hand-in time mark).

16. Method according to claim 14 or 15, wherein said at least one time mark is at least one of the following time marks: a task delivery deadline time (a deadline time mark), a task assignment time (an assignment time mark), and a desired time mark determined or set by the task assignee(s) (a desired or fixed time mark).

17. Method according to claim 16, wherein the amount and/or sort of information data distributed to the user depend(s) on the trigger time mark as a function of any combination of the following time marks: the deadline time mark, the assignment time mark, and the desired or fixed time mark.

18. Method according to any one of claims 14-17, further comprising the step of storing, in a system comprising several users, a number of time logs or time marks for each user.

19. Method according to any one of claims 14-18, further comprising the steps of: storing and managing a number of tasks or exercises, and storing and managing a number of time-dependent information data packets or packages for each task or exercise.

20. Method according to any one of claims 14-19, further comprising at least one of the following steps of: managing, determining and controlling the access to the data that is stored.

21. Computer readable and/or useable code on a computer readable and/or useable medium adapted to perform the method according to any one of claims 14-20.

22. Computer readable and/or useable code on a computer readable and/or useable medium adapted to be run on and manage the operations or functions of the device according to any one of claims 1-10.

23. Computer readable and/or useable code on a computer readable and/or useable medium adapted to be run on and manage the operations or functions of the system according to any one of claims 11-13.