Method and system for building a customized curriculum

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method and system for constructing a customized course system, which relates to the technical field of course system construction, and includes the steps of: constructing a course matrix in step 1; obtaining the highest level course of a major in step 2; extracting all predecessor courses of a corresponding course from the course matrix in step 3; determining whether the number of all predecessor courses of a corresponding course is 0; if not, executing step 5; if 0, completing the construction of the course system and outputting the complete course system in step 4; and selecting the direct predecessor course of the corresponding course from all predecessor courses as the next level course, and returning to step 3 in step 5. Through the above method, the present invention can construct a course system quickly and scientifically, with complete courses and reasonable course order, and the present invention can completely realize the automatic customization of a major course system, which is of great convenience and progressive significance to the construction of a university course system.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] (CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS) This invention claims priority to a Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on December 23, 2021, bearing application number 202111594308.X and entitled "Method and system for building a customized course system," the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The present invention relates to the technical field of course system construction, and more particularly to a method and system for constructing a customized course system. [Background technology]

[0002] The curriculum system optimizes the selection of courses and the order in which courses are taken in accordance with the university's educational philosophy and talent development goals. It serves as the foundation for the university's talent development, the core of its professional training programs, and a bridge for realizing the university's educational philosophy and talent development goals. The knowledge structure students acquire through their major studies is largely determined by the curriculum system. Therefore, reforming the curriculum system is the most important part of building a new engineering school, and plays an important role in cultivating creative, multifaceted, and outstanding engineering talents.

[0003] In recent years, the construction of new engineering majors has become a focus in the field of higher engineering education in China. Although the construction of new engineering majors has already been effective, automated tools and methods to support the formulation of new engineering major curriculum systems have not yet emerged. There are significant differences between the curriculum reform plans of different universities and different new engineering majors. The formulation of different new engineering major curriculum systems based on the advantages of each department requires the formation of separate research teams, which increases the overall complexity of the formulation of new engineering major curriculum systems. As a result, the efficiency of current university curriculum systems is low, and they cannot be customized to suit the needs of students with different majors. Therefore, how to provide a method and platform for customizing curriculum systems is an urgent issue that those skilled in the art must address. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, the present invention provides a method and system for constructing a customized course structure, which can accurately and efficiently construct a course structure based on a student's own situation.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0006] A method for building a customized curriculum system, comprising: Step 1: Building a Course Matrix; Step 2: Complete the highest level course in your major. Step 3: extracting all predecessor courses of the corresponding course from the course matrix; Step 4: Determine whether the number of all preceding courses of the corresponding course is 0. If it is not 0, execute step 5. If it is 0, the construction of the course system is completed and the complete course system is output. Step 5 includes selecting a direct predecessor course of the corresponding course from all predecessor courses and making it the next level course, and returning to Step 3.

[0007] Through the above steps, the order of all courses can be rearranged to obtain a major course system that is complete and has a reasonable course order. All courses in the system are rearranged and ranked according to the order of their completion, with the lowest level being the foundation course for the major and the highest level being the advanced major course that directly addresses the major's development goals.

[0008] The course matrix includes multiple courses, each of which includes four components: course name, prior knowledge points, acquired knowledge points, and credits, forming an nx4 course matrix, where n represents the total number of courses included in the course matrix. This course matrix provides a data base for subsequent leveling.

[0009] Furthermore, the number of highest-level courses in the major is ≧1, and steps 3 through 5 are performed for each highest-level course in the major.

[0010] Furthermore, in Step 3, the specific method for obtaining all the prerequisite courses for each course is as follows: Based on the overlapping relationship between the predecessor knowledge points and the acquired knowledge points in the course matrix, the sequential relationship between any two courses is determined, and all the predecessor courses and successor courses of each course are obtained.

[0011] Furthermore, in Step 5, the method for selecting direct prerequisite courses for each course is as follows: Based on all the preceding courses for each course obtained in Step 3, all courses whose only subsequent course is the corresponding course are screened and designated as the direct preceding course of the corresponding course.

[0012] The present invention also provides a course matrix construction module for constructing a course matrix; The first module to acquire the highest level course in the major, a second acquisition module for extracting all prerequisite courses of the corresponding course from the course matrix; a judgment module for determining whether the number of all preceding courses of the corresponding course is 0, and if not, executing the operation of the third acquisition module; if not, executing the operation of the output module, the construction of the course system is completed; an output module for outputting the complete curriculum; A system for constructing a customized course structure is provided, including a third acquisition module for selecting a direct predecessor course of a corresponding course from all predecessor courses, making it a course of the next level, and returning to the second acquisition module.

[0013] Furthermore, the course matrix includes multiple courses, and each course includes four parts: course name, prior knowledge points, acquired knowledge points, and credits, and an n x 4 course matrix is formed, where n represents the total number of courses included in the course matrix.

[0014] Furthermore, the number of the highest-level courses in the major is ≧1, and the operations from the second acquisition module to the third acquisition module are performed for any of the highest-level courses in the major.

[0015] Furthermore, in the second acquisition module, the specific method for acquiring all the prerequisite courses for each course is as follows: Based on the overlapping relationship between the predecessor knowledge points and the acquired knowledge points in the course matrix, the sequential relationship between any two courses is determined, and all the predecessor courses and successor courses of each course are obtained.

[0016] Furthermore, for the third acquisition module, the method of selecting the direct prerequisite courses for each course is as follows: Based on all the preceding courses of each course acquired through the second acquisition module, all courses whose only subsequent course is the corresponding course are screened and designated as the direct preceding course of the corresponding course.

[0017] According to the above technical solutions, the present invention provides a method and system for building a customized curriculum, which has the following advantageous effects compared with the prior art:

[0018] Using the above method, a personalized curriculum system suited to different students can be quickly and scientifically constructed. The constructed curriculum system is a major curriculum system with complete courses and a rational course order, with all courses in the system sorted and ranked according to their chronological order, with the lowest level being foundational courses in the major and the highest level being advanced major courses directly aimed at the development goals of the major. Based on the principle that the total credits of courses selected per semester are approximately the same, this major curriculum system is assigned to all semesters according to their chronological order, generating a curriculum schedule for each semester and fully realizing automatic customization of the major curriculum system. This is of great convenience and progressive significance for the construction of university curriculum systems.

[0019] In order to more clearly describe the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following will briefly describe the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Of course, the drawings in the following description are only embodiments of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can derive other drawings from the provided drawings without any creative efforts. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] 1 is a flow chart of the method of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a schematic diagram of the system structure of the present invention; [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an interface of a visualization platform according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic screenshot of a portion of a course system constructed using a visualization platform according to an embodiment of the present invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] In the following, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it should be understood that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and are not all of the embodiments, and all other embodiments that can be obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without any creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0022] The present invention analyzes the logical relationships between all courses within a major curriculum system, focusing on optimizing and customizing the curriculum system. It develops a curriculum system logical analysis method and then develops a curriculum system logical analysis and visualization platform. The platform can review existing curriculum systems and automatically analyze the course database based on the development requirements of new majors, generating and visualizing a complete curriculum system. The curriculum system logical analysis method and visualization platform developed by the present invention are valuable references for building curriculum systems for new engineering majors. In curriculum system revision, the curriculum system logical analysis method and visualization platform play a supporting role. The platform evaluates and reviews the rationality of the existing curriculum system by comparing the differences between the automatically generated curriculum system and the existing one. With the support of the curriculum system construction method and visualization platform of the present invention, the efficiency of curriculum system customization is significantly improved compared to when each student's complete curriculum system is manually reviewed by a major teacher.

[0023] An embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for building a customized course system, which, referring to FIG. 1, includes the following steps:

[0024] Step 1 is to build a course matrix.

[0025] The course matrix contains multiple courses, each of which has four components: course name, prerequisite knowledge points, acquired knowledge points, and credits, forming an n x 4 course matrix, where n represents the total number of courses in the course matrix, each row represents one course, and each column represents the course name, prerequisite knowledge points, acquired knowledge points, and credits, as shown in Table 1. Here, prerequisite knowledge points refer to the knowledge points that must be learned before studying a course, and acquired knowledge points refer to the knowledge points gained by studying a course.

[0026] [Table 1]

[0027] Step 2: Take the highest level course in your major.

[0028] The highest level courses of the major are determined based on the final development goal of the major, and the number is ≥ 1 and ≤ 3. Steps 3 to 5 are implemented for each of the highest level courses of the major.

[0029] In step 3, all prerequisite courses for this course are extracted from the course matrix.

[0030] A specific method for obtaining all predecessor courses for each course is to determine the sequential relationship between any two courses based on the overlapping relationship between the predecessor knowledge points and the acquired knowledge points in the course matrix, thereby obtaining all predecessor and successor courses for each course. For example, if there is an overlap between the element in the second column of row i (i≦n) and the element in the third column of row j (j≦n&j≠i) in the course matrix, it is found that there is an overlap between the predecessor knowledge points of the i-th course and the acquired knowledge points of the j-th course in the course matrix, and therefore the j-th course is determined to be the predecessor course of the i-th course. By traversing all courses in the course matrix in this way, it is possible to determine whether there is a sequential relationship in terms of knowledge learning between any two courses, thereby obtaining all predecessor and successor courses for each course.

[0031] In step 4, it is determined whether the number of all preceding courses of this course is 0. If it is not 0, step 5 is executed. If it is 0, the construction of the course system is completed.

[0032] In step 5, select all direct prerequisites of this course from all prerequisite courses, and make them the next level courses in order, then return to step 3.

[0033] The method for selecting direct predecessor courses for each course is to screen all courses that have only one successor course from all predecessor courses for each course obtained in Step 3, and select these as direct predecessor courses for that course.

[0034] The highest level courses and each course's immediate predecessor courses may be multiple. The above process can be repeated to generate courses at each level until the lowest level courses of the entire course system are obtained, resulting in an increasingly complete course system.

[0035] In a specific embodiment, the prior knowledge points and acquired knowledge points of each course are both composite elements, and each course contains many specific single knowledge points, so the course matrix is a data body with a nested structure. In order to facilitate logical analysis of the course system, the course matrix needs to be stored in the course database with a specific data structure.

[0036] The course database is divided into three data tables: the course list, the prerequisite knowledge points list, and the acquired knowledge points list. The structure of the course list is shown in Table 2, and the structure of the acquired knowledge points list is shown in Table 3. Each row in the course list represents one course, and the course list has three columns: course number, course name, and credits. The prerequisite knowledge points list contains knowledge points that must be acquired before completing all courses. Each row represents a single knowledge point, and the list has three columns: knowledge point number, knowledge point name, and the subject to which the knowledge point belongs. The acquired knowledge points list contains knowledge points acquired after completing all courses, and its structure is the same as the prerequisite knowledge points list. The subjects to which knowledge points belong in the prerequisite knowledge points list and the acquired knowledge points list must be course subjects that exist in the course list. The course database, consisting of the above three data tables, technically realizes the nested structure of the course matrix.

[0037] [Table 2]

[0038] [Table 3]

[0039] In an embodiment of the present invention, a system for constructing a customized course system is also disclosed. Referring to FIG. 2, the system includes: a course matrix construction module for constructing a course matrix; The first module to acquire the highest level course in the major, a second acquisition module for extracting all prerequisite courses of the corresponding course from the course matrix; a judgment module for determining whether the number of all preceding courses of the corresponding course is 0, and if not, executing the operation of the third acquisition module; if not, executing the operation of the output module, the construction of the course system is completed; an output module for outputting the complete curriculum; and a third acquisition module for selecting the direct predecessor course of the corresponding course from all predecessor courses, making it the next level course, and returning to the second acquisition module.

[0040] Based on the above technical solution, we will further introduce its specific embodiment. Based on the above-mentioned course system construction method and system, the present invention constructs a visualization platform. The overall architecture consists of three parts: a course database, a logical analysis and visualization main program, and a graphical interface program. The platform's development languages are Python and SQL. The course database on which the platform relies is created and managed by the SQLite engine, and the database file and code are packaged into an executable file that can be run locally without the need for a server. The platform's logical analysis main program extracts and analyzes data in the course database to determine the logical relationships within the course matrix. Assuming the course database contains a sufficient number of courses, the course system logical analysis platform can analyze and generate course systems for any major. The platform's visualization main program calls the third-party Python library pyecharts to convert the nested data structure generated by the logical analysis main program into a tree diagram and display it in the platform's graphics interface.

[0041] The platform's graphics interface program calls the Python third-party library PyQt5 to form a simple graphics interface used to visualize and display user input and program output results, and has good human-computer interaction characteristics.

[0042] The process of packaging the code and dependent resources into an executable file uses the third-party Python library cx_Freeze. The logical analysis and visualization platform for the course system formed after packaging does not require a Python environment at runtime, making it easy for users to use directly.

[0043] As shown in Figure 3, the visualization platform has the following three functions:

[0044] 1. When a student completes a course, the knowledge points that must be acquired before the course and the knowledge points that will be acquired after the course can be visualized in a tree diagram, and the preceding and succeeding courses of the course can also be visualized.

[0045] 2. Review the existing major course structure. By inputting the existing major courses of a certain major according to the order of course completion, it is possible to automatically analyze whether the schedule of this major course structure is reasonable. If the order of all courses is reasonable, the courses are complete, and there are no unnecessary courses, the major course structure is determined to be reasonable. If the above conditions are not met, the existing course structure of the major is determined to be unreasonable, and the course structure is automatically corrected, completed, and visualized.

[0046] 3. Based on the development goals of a new major, the highest level courses for a new major are manually determined, and then all the courses required for this major are generated through the program, sorted according to the order of completion, and an optimal course system for the new major is formed, which can then be visualized in a tree diagram.

[0047] Figure 3 shows one input sub-interface of the course system logical analysis and visualization platform. Function 2 of the platform involves reviewing the existing course system that was manually input, automatically generating a complete major course system based on the highest-level major courses, comparing and analyzing the existing course system, and generating a new revised major course system. Function 2 is the most comprehensive of the three functions. Therefore, we will use Function 2 as an example to demonstrate the actual use effect of the platform.

[0048] The highest-level core courses in the electrical engineering and automation major are set as "Power System Analysis," "Power System Scheduling, Operation and Control," and "Power System Relay Protection." The incomplete electrical engineering and automation major course system is input (as shown in Figure 3), and the platform automatically verifies and modifies it. After the platform completes the analysis, it visualizes the modified course system in the form of a tree diagram in the output sub-interface, as shown in Figure 4. Because the complete course system is too large, the platform's output sub-interface can be slid open to view the pages. Figure 4 shows a screenshot of part of the modified electrical engineering and automation major course system.

[0049] The visualization platform constructed by the method of the present invention described above is a specific form of realizing the method of the present invention, which makes it easy to obtain a complete curriculum system and avoids the disadvantage of teachers and students having to spend time and effort to customize their major curriculum system themselves in the traditional method. The platform serves as an auxiliary tool for customizing major curriculum systems, not only helping educators to reform new engineering curriculum systems, but also supporting students to independently customize their own unique curriculum systems based on their learning interests.

[0050] Each embodiment in this specification has been described step by step, and the emphasis in each embodiment is on the differences from other embodiments, and the same or similar parts between the embodiments can be referred to each other. The devices disclosed in the embodiments correspond to the methods disclosed in the embodiments, so the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to part of the description of the methods.

[0051] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. Step 1: Building a Course Matrix; Step 2: Complete the highest level course in your major. Step 3: extracting all predecessor courses of the corresponding course from the course matrix; Step 4: Determine whether the number of all preceding courses of the corresponding course is 0. If it is not 0, execute step 5. If it is 0, the construction of the course system is completed and the complete course system is output. Step 5: selecting a direct predecessor of the corresponding course from all predecessor courses as the next level course, and returning to Step 3; the number of highest-level courses in the major is greater than or equal to 1, and steps 3 through 5 are performed for each highest-level course in the major.

2. 2. The method for constructing a customized course system according to claim 1, wherein the course matrix includes a plurality of courses, each of which includes four parts: course name, prior knowledge points, acquired knowledge points, and credits; and an n x 4 course matrix is formed, where n represents the total number of courses included in the course matrix.

3. In Step 3, the specific method for obtaining all the prerequisite courses for each course is as follows:

2. The method for constructing a customized course system according to claim 1, further comprising determining a sequential relationship between any two courses based on the overlapping relationship between the preceding knowledge points and the acquired knowledge points in the course matrix, thereby obtaining all the preceding courses and succeeding courses of each course.

4. In Step 5, the method for selecting direct prerequisite courses for each course is as follows:

2. The method for constructing a customized course system according to claim 1, characterized in that, based on all preceding courses of each course obtained in step 3, all courses whose only subsequent course is the corresponding course are screened and designated as the direct preceding course of the corresponding course.

5. a course matrix construction module for constructing a course matrix; The first acquisition module for acquiring the highest level course in the major; a second acquisition module for extracting all predecessor courses of the corresponding course from the course matrix; a judgment module for determining whether the number of all preceding courses of the corresponding course is 0, and if not, executing the operation of the third acquisition module; if it is 0, the construction of the course system is completed and executing the operation of the output module; an output module for outputting the complete curriculum; a third acquisition module for selecting the direct predecessor course of the corresponding course from all the predecessor courses as the next level course, and returning to the second acquisition module; The system for constructing a customized course system is characterized in that the number of the highest-level courses in the major is ≥ 1, and the operations from the second acquisition module to the third acquisition module are performed for each of the highest-level courses in the major.

6. The system for constructing a customized course system according to claim 5, characterized in that the course matrix includes a plurality of courses, each of which includes four parts: course name, prior knowledge points, acquired knowledge points, and credits; and an n x 4 course matrix is formed, where n represents the total number of courses included in the course matrix.

7. In the second acquisition module, the specific method for acquiring all the prerequisite courses for each course is as follows: The system for constructing a customized course system according to claim 5, characterized in that the sequential relationship between any two courses is determined based on the overlapping relationship between the preceding knowledge points and the acquired knowledge points in the course matrix, and all the preceding courses and succeeding courses of each course are obtained.

8. For the third acquisition module, the method of selecting the direct prerequisite courses for each course is as follows: The system for constructing a customized course system according to claim 5, characterized in that, based on all preceding courses of each course acquired by the second acquisition module, all courses whose subsequent course is only the corresponding course are screened and designated as the direct preceding course of the corresponding course.

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