Research from North Carolina State University shows that
software which tracks facial expressions can accurately assess the emotions of
students engaged in interactive online learning and predict the effectiveness
of online tutoring sessions.
“This work is part of a larger effort to develop artificial
intelligence software to teach students computer science,” says Dr. Kristy
Boyer, an assistant professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of
a paper on the work. “The program, JavaTutor, will not only respond to what a
student knows, but to each student’s feelings of frustration or engagement.
This is important because research shows that student emotion plays an
important role in the learning process.”