Learning Center Systems (TLC/PATH)

John P. Reisman working with the support of Dr. Jonas Salk (Salk Institute), Dr. Martin Chamberlain (Chancellor, UCSD), and Dr. James Grier Miller (Living Systems Theory) developed a self-paced integrated learning system addressing technical and social performance as well as behavioral developmental aspects to improve educational capacity. The design structure is a performance based educational system to enhance students and teachers performance as well as administration.

LCS – Learning Center Systems

Learning Center Systems includes two components:

  1. TLC (The Learning Center)
  2. PATH (Program Applications for Teaching & Habilitation)

These general systems address a multitude of functions and capacities and include technological and methodological applications.

  1. Curriculum and Course-ware development Tools
  2. Administration
  3. Student Performance Tracking
  4. Teacher Performance Tracking
  5. Individuated Learning Systems
  6. Group Learning Systems
  7. Mentoring Systems
  8. Testing Systems
  9. Re-currency Systems
  10. Reduced Failure Rate

Benefits

  1. Higher GPA
  2. Students do not fall through the cracks (greater tracking visibility)
  3. Reduced SCV’s (Student Code Violations)
  4. Increased Student Teacher Interaction (1 on 1)
  5. Stronger Simpler Administration
  6. Administrative Audit Trail
  7. Course Development Capability (parametrized)
  8. Inter-school/Interstate networking capability
  9. Enhanced Parent/Schools Communications
  10. Strong Cost/Benefit Ratio

 Back to Fundamentals & Basics

  1. Elementary education needs to include basic life skills.
  2. Understanding Economics & Budget Management
  3. Understanding Values, Family, Community
  4. Understanding Community & Service
  5. Understanding the difference between entitlement & earning in work and study life.

Cost Effective Education

  • Technology Based Systems
  • Performance Based Systems
  • Development and implementation of ‘Open Source’ course materials
  • Adaptable Systems

Better Academic Management

  • Track Teacher Performance
  • Track Student Performance
  • Automate processes for better assessment 
  • Free up time for teachers to interact more, directly with students (one to one)

Building Open Learning Systems

  • Lower Cost Curriculum Development
  • Efficient/Effective Administration Systems
  • Efficient/Effective Testing and Grade Tracking Systems
  • Ability to track student/teacher/system interaction in multiple dimensions.

Results of Systems Deployed

  1. Lower cost
  2. Increased GPA
  3. Increased attendance

The Learning Center Curriculum/Methodology

TLC (The Learning Center) & PATH (Program Applications for Teaching & Habilitation)

TLC & PATH together address administrative efficiency and effective tracking of student, teacher, class and school performance while assisting in problem identification as well as enhancing ability in multiple areas of scholastic application and achievement.

Motive Curriculum Development

  • Academically address changes in societal behavior.
  • Academically address family systems behavior.
  • Academically address social systems patterns/behavior.
  • Academically address behavioral system dynamics.

Results Indicated in Deployments

  • Reduced Student Code Violations (SCV’s)
  • Improved academic performance
  • Improved overall student behavior

General System Architecture Methodology for Academics

  • Increased Individuation combined with group methodology to enhance individual performance capacity and community learning needs.
  • Enhance critical thinking skills through relevant and experiential learning,
  • Reduce failure pattern development
  • Foster individual motive through combined use and implementation of LCS (Learning Center Systems) and PATH (Program Application to Teaching Habilitation)

The Learning Center Systems (LCS)

(TLC/PATH) Goals

Meet the individual needs of each students capacity by enhancing their access to needed instruction, material, and real time performance tracking that can spot trends and create alerts.

System architecture design allows for teachers and students to interact in new ways contributing to enhanced ability to meet needs in a timely manner.

  • Teachers can see student progress
  • Administrators can systemically evaluate teacher performance.

Employ self managing system techniques such as:

  • Performance based teaching
  • Learning systems that evaluate multidimensional trends.

System architecture and methodology schema design enables micro and macro evaluation capacity that incorporates the ability for the teachers and students to increase performance by virtue of the construct of the system itself. This assures efficiency and effectiveness are paramount in all systems of implementation in order to guaranty the best possible educational outcome for each student.

Behavioral Science

One of the most exciting aspects of the system design is its ability to academically address and systematically identify individual and group trends relating to educational motive impediments and behavior. Identifying impediments in all aspects of systems is key to reducing negative impacts. Improved identification of trends leads to systematic capacity enhancement relating to coping mechanisms for groups, teachers and individual students. This is designed to enable higher performance.

  • Integrate course material and systems to improve understanding of behavioral science at all levels of the educational process.

History

Learning Center Systems, formerly known as the TLC/SC/PATH systems were developed to ensure that no one falls through the cracks. That every student has the best possible chance to achieve and excel in school and in life.

The inspiration for the system comes from the experience of John P. Reisman. As a student in elementary school, John noticed that the system of education was not flexible enough to adapt to individual needs. This lack of flexibility increased the frustration level of students at different ages and different points in their experience with education.

The inability of the system to meet the needs of the students inspired new use of technology and new methodology. Studying how people think and how the human brain learns and adapts allowed some new ideas in how to approach the way education could interact with an individual and groups.

In the 1980’s, it became obvious that computer technology would be the platform for the new educational system. The potentials of adaptability for both information and architecture of the system could be designed in such a way as to allow for the vast amount of information to be conformed to individual needs as well as groups, classes and mentor matching within the system.

This led to the work at the University of the World where the systems methods could be coalesced into a cohesive educational system. Dr. Jonas Salk, Dr. Martin Chamberlain became strong advocates of the TLC/PATH system and much development occurred during that time. Dr. Millers systems work inspired new systems definitions and the development of new architectures.

Now, we are ready to write the next chapter… Implementation.