Audience Response System

This invention relates to a system in which members of an audience may communicate with an instructor, lecturer, moderator, etc., either in response to questions, to express opinions, or the like.

It is a continuing goal of educators to improve teaching effectiveness and capabilities, but in order to determine whether improvements are being realized, it is necessary that some means of evaluating teachers be provided. Various systems have been suggested for doing this with such systems typically including apparatus for enabling students to communicate responses, opinions, etc., to the teacher during the teaching process. It is felt that such "immediate feedback" operates to provide the teacher with a fairly accurate student opinion of the effectiveness, clarity, etc., of a given piece of instruction. One system for enabling such communication is described in Littauer, R. "Instructional Implication of a Low-Cost Electronic Student Response System", Educational Technology, October 1972, 12 (10) 69-71. As is noted in this reference, there are other commercially available student response systems but such systems often times are quite elaborate and costly.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive simple to operate, and yet multipurpose audience response system.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a system in which members of an audience may communicate either a favorable or unfavorable opinion, and in which a record is maintained of the time during which a given opinion is being communicated by a member.

It is also an object of the present invention, in accordance with one aspect thereof, to provide a system for registering the elapsed time during which individual members of an audience are communicating one of two possible responses, and for registering the elapsed time during which neither possible responses are being communicated.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are realized in a specific illustrative embodiment which includes a plurality of pairs of visual indicators in which a first indicator of each pair is grouped with all other first indicators and a second indicator of each pair is grouped with the other second indicators. Also included are a plurality of timers each corresponding to a different pair of visual indicators, and a plurality of switches, each also corresponding to a different pair of indicators to a different timer. Each switch is manually operable to activate either of the indicators of the corresponding pair and to activate the corresponding timer when a particular one of the indicators is activated.

The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description presented in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows an audience response system made in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative schematic circuit diagram of the system of FIG. 1.

The audience response system shown in FIG. 1 includes a primary console 4 which has two groups of lamps La and Lb, each group consisting of 10 lamps, and three toggle switches SWa, SWb and SWc. Advantageously, the lamps in group La are a different color from the lamps in group Lb, for reasons which will become apparent as the system is desribed. The switch SWa is provided simply to turn the system on or off. The other two switches will be described later.

Ten manually operable, two-positioned switches SW 1 through SW 10 are connected to the console 4. Each of these switches is provided for controlling a corresponding pair of lamps on the console, with one lamp of each pair being located in group La and the other lamp of each pair being located in group Lb. For example, switch SW 1 might control the upper leftmost lamp in group La and the upper leftmost lamp in group Lb. The particular pair of lamps controlled by a given switch is unimportant and, in fact, it may be desirable to assign the switches to corresponding lamp pairs in such a manner that a user of the console is unable to correlate a given pair with a given switch (to maintain anonymity).

Each switch SW 1 through SW 10 is operable to light one of the lamps in group La when the switch is in a first position and to light one of the lamps in group Lb when the switch is in a second position. Thus, depending upon the setting of the switches, all the lamps in group La may be lighted while none of the lamps in group Lb are lighted, two of the lamps in group La may be lighted while eight of the lamps in group Lb are lighted, etc. The total number of lamps on the console which are lighted at a given time is equal to 10.

The console 4 is used to provide a visual indication to a teacher, moderator, etc., of responses being communicated by members of an audience using the switches SW 1 through SW 10. For example, the members of an audience having the switches may have been instructed to indicate a favorable reaction to a lecture by placing the switches in the first position and to indicate an unfavorable reaction by placing the switches in the second position. Then, during the course of the lecture or instruction, the number of lamps in group La which are lighted would indicate the number of members of the audience who are favorably impressed at any given time and the number of lamps in group Lb which are lighted would indicate the number who are unfavorably impressed at a given time. The utility of this type of "feedback" from an audience is that the teacher is made aware of the impression of the audience toward his instruction at all times during the instruction. Of course, the teacher could modify his presentation in response to the information communicated from the audience.

A second console of timers or clocks 12 is also coupled to the console 4. The console 12 includes an array of 10 clocks Ti and an eleventh clock Tp. Each of the clocks Ti is controlled by a different one of the switches SW 1 through SW 10. Specifically, when one of the switches is in its second position, the corresponding one of clocks Ti is activated to maintain a reading of elapsed time, and when the switch is placed in the first position, the clock is deactivated or stopped. The clocks Ti, in effect, maintain a record of the total time in corresponding one of the switches SW 1 through SW 10 is maintained in the second position, i.e., the total time a corresponding lamp in group Lb is lighted.

In operation, when one of the switches SW 1 through SW 10 is placed in the second position, a corresponding one of the lamps in group Lb is lighted and a corresponding one of the clocks Ti commences to operate, and when the switch is moved to the first position, the lamp in group Lb is extinguished and the clock is stopped and a corresponding one of the lamps in group La is lighted.

During the course of instruction, it may be desirable to deviate from the audience evaluation of the teacher or instructor to ask particular questions of the audience. To facilitate such deviation, switch SW c is provided on the console 4 so that when the switch is moved from the "evaluate" position to the "poll" position, all the clocks Ti are deactivated regardless of the setting of the switches SW 1 through SW 10. At the same instant the clocks Ti are deactivated, the clock Tp is activated to commence recording the elapsed time. A lamp Lp on the console 12 is also lighted to indicate that the evaluation phase has been interrupted and that a polling phase is now under way. After placing the switch SWc in the "poll" position, questions may then be asked of the audience and members of the audience having the switches SW 1 through SW 10 can respond. The instructor or teacher, as before, is provided with a visual indication of these responses by the lamps La and Lb. It is desirable during this polling process to deactivate the clocks Ti so that the reading on the clocks maintained during the evaluation phase will not be affected by the responses given during the polling operation. The clock Tp maintains a reading of the elapsed time during which polling operation is conducted and this time may thus be taken into account when examining, processing or evaluating the readings of clocks Ti. At the conclusion of a polling operation, the switch SWc is moved back to the evaluation position and evaluation phase may continue.

A meter 10 is coupled into the console 4 to provide an indication of the proportion or percentage of the total lamps in group Lb (or alternatively group La) which are lighted at any given instant of time. The meter 10 could be provided for use by the teacher or for use by an observer. In any case, if all lamps of group Lb were lighted, the meter 10 would indicate that a 100 percent of the lamps were lighted and if five of the lamps in group Lb were lighted, the meter 10 would indicate that 50 percent of the lamps were lighted, etc. The meter 10 might illustratively be a simple ammeter coupled into the system as more particularly shown in FIG. 2.

The switch SWb on the console 4 is provided to enable the system user to disengage or decouple from the system switches SW 6 through SW 10 and also to bias the meter 10 to "disregard" the decoupled switches so that the meter will read 100 percent when all five of the switches SW 1 through SW 5 are in the second position causing the corresponding lamps in group Lb to be lighted. This is desirable since the system user may wish to have a smaller sampling, i.e., only five members of the audience, for a particular phase of instruction. With the switch SWb placed in the "Gr 10" position, all 10 of the switches SW 1 through the SW 10 are coupled into the system and with the switch placed in the "Gr 5" position, only switches SW 1 through SW 5 are coupled into the system. It should be understood that the system could be designed so that any number of switches greater or less than five could be decoupled when the switch SWb is properly positioned, or that a three, four, etc., position switch could be provided for selectively decoupling a certain number of switches, then a larger number of switches, etc.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic circuit diagram of the system of FIG. 1. The circuit includes a plug 3 for plugging into a source of A.C. power 2, and a double pole, double throw switch SWa for connecting or disconnecting the rest of the circuit to or from the A.C. source. The circuit also includes a step-down voltage transformer 6, the primary winding of which is coupled to the switch SWa and the secondary winding of which is coupled to a full-wave diode bridge rectifier BR 1. The bridge BR 1 supplies rectified current to a filter composed of a capaciter C1 and a resistor R1. The current is then supplied via a resistor R2 to a line 14 and, depending upon the setting of a switch SWb, to either one of two potentiometers P1 or P2. The switch SWb is a two pole, two position switch and corresponds to the switch SWb on the console 4 of FIG. 1. When the switch SWb is in the GR 5 position (leftmost position), current flows through the potentiometer P1 and through the switch to an ammeter 10 and then to the line 14. When the switch SWb is in the Gr 10 position (rightmost position), current flows through the potentiometer P2 and through the switch to the ammeter 10 and then to the line 14.

The current applied to line 14 is applied to relay Ry 1 through Ry 5 regardless of the setting of switch SWb; but only if the switch SWb is in the Gr 10 position will current on line 14 be applied to relays Ry 6 through Ry 10. In other words, when the switch SWb is in Gr 5 position, current on line 14 is supplied to relays Ry 1 through Ry 5 and thus to switches SW 1 through SW 5, but current is not supplied to relays Ry 6 through Ry 10 or to switches SW 6 through SW 10. In this manner, five of the manually operable switches may be decoupled from the system as previously described.

Each relay Ry and corresponding switch SW control the lighting of a pair of lamps L and the operation of a timer T. For example, relay Ry 1 and switch SW 1 control the lighting of lamp L1a and lamp L1b and the operation of timer T1. The lamp L1a is located in the lamp group La on the console 4 (FIG. 1) while the lamp L1b is located in the lamp group Lb of the console.

Each of the relays is a single pole, double throw relay whose operation is controlled by a corresponding switch. Referring to relay Ry 1 and switch SW 1 of FIG. 2, when the switch SW 1 is closed on relay coil 22, the coil is energized by current via line 14 to cause a movable contact or pole 24 to break with stationary contact 26 and make with stationary contact 28. When this occurs, the lamp L1a is extinguished and the lamp L1b is lighted by way of conductors 30 and 32 which are coupled through the switch SWa to the A.C. source 2. Also, the timer T1 is activated by way of the conductors 30 and 32 through a switch SWc. When the switch SW 1 is "opened", the moveable contact 24 breaks with stationary contact 28 and makes with stationary contact 26 to extinguish the lamp L1b and again light the lamp L1a. Current to the timer T1 is also terminated so the timer is turned off or deactivated.

The switch SWc, as previously described, is provided for deactivating all of the timers T1 through T10 and for activating another timer Tp. This is done by moving the movable contact of the switch from the evaluate position to the poll position. When this is done, timers T1 through T10 are electrically disconnected from the conductors 30 and 32 and the timer Tp is electrically connected to those conductors. Also, a lamp Lp is coupled to the conductors 30 and 32 causing the lamp to light. The timer Tp thus maintains a reading of the elapsed time during which the switch SWc is maintained in the poll position.

The ammeter 10 provides a reading of the amount of current flowing therethrough to the different switches SW 1 through SW 10. Of course, if none of the switches are closed, then no current flows through the ammeter and the reading would be zero. When the switch SWb is in position Gr 5, the potentiometer P1 biases the ammeter 10 so that it will read from 0, when none of the switches SW 1 through SW 5 are closed, to a full scale reading, when all of the switches SW 1 through SW 5 are closed. When some number of switches less than all are closed, the ammeter 10 will maintain a reding representing the percentage of the switches which are closed. When the switch SWb in position Gr 10, the potentiometer P2 biases the ammeter so that it will read from 0, when none of the switches SW 1 through SW 10 are closed, to a full scale reading when all of the switches SW 1 through SW 10 are closed. Again, when any number of switches between 0 and 10 are closed, the ammeter 10 will maintain a reading representing the percentage of such switches which are closed. In other words, regardless of the setting of the switch SWb, the ammeter 10 is biased to provide a full scale reading representing a percentage of all switches to which the ammeter is connected (either five or ten) which are closed.

Although a specific illustrative embodiment of the circuitry for implementing the FIG. 1 system has been described, it should be understood that there may be a variety of ways for implementing the system. The Audience Response System described provides an inexpensive and yet effective arrangement for providing an instructor or teacher with information communicated from members of an audience.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangement is only illustrative of the application of the principles of the present invention. Numerous other modifications and alternative arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and the appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements.