ProjectProposal-FrankYang
From CS 160 Fall 2008
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Target User Group
The target group for this project is the group of students in courses that require knowledge of objects obtained by sheer repetition and exposure. The application will be useful to an even broader group, as it will be useful to any of those that are trying to hone their knowledge through repetition and memorization.
Problem Description
There are many courses out there where the passing of a test is determined by brute force memorization of facts, definitions, or just recognition. Furthermore, the standardized tests that are necessary for admission into colleges and grad schools require students to have an arsenal in their vocabulary database ready to use. After already taking careful notes in class, very few people would want to spend the time at home carefully rewriting their notes onto notecards with a pen. Nor would these students particularly enjoy the cutting and pasting involved if pictures are necessary for these flashcards. The problem resides in the time wasted into creating these studying aids where mere repetition and drills are the most efficient methods of studying.
Problem Context and Forces
Not so long ago, notes were predominantly taken with pens and notebooks. Copying notes to other forms of studying devices required a lot of time. Now, note taking is easier than ever, as we now have our choices of word processors, webcasts, podcasts, and even software to organize our notes. With note-taking becoming more digital, the ability to manipulate and copy the data becomes much easier. Audio clips, pictures, definitions, or any notes taken can easily be transferred to a program of some sort to aid in the learning of the material that was written. There are flashcards you can buy to study vocabulary for the GREs, but managing 500 small bits of paper can also be a hassle. A flashcard game of some sort would not only make the learning more enjoyable, but also easier to manage.
Proposed Solution
My proposed solution would involve the creation of a program that would act as a study-aid and keep track of the students' progress. The data could either be from preloaded packages, such as GRE vocabulary lists or medical terms, or inputted manually. If the student had taken notes in a predefined way, the program would be able to parse the file and automatically create the flashcards for them. Furthermore, the packages should also be able to be uploaded and downloaded to and from the internet to provide easy access to all sorts of flashcards. This opens the program to a wider audience, instead of limiting it to simply college students.
The program would help the student study, review, and eventually quiz the student in an all encompassing test to ensure the student has learned most of the information. It would also offer quick study sessions for those who have only 5 minutes to spare to study some GRE vocab words amongst all the other homework the student has. There would be a progress bar to show the student's progress. The student would also be quizzed on both "sides" of the card, being either shown only the word or only the definition. Given one of the two, the student will either need to select the correct answer from different choices, or need to provide the correct answer by typing it in.
After the session is over, the program should display the elapsed time it took to finish "mastering" the set of words and a score so the student can keep track of his or her own progress.
