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Search Results (1,024)

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Keywords = machine learning in education

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44 pages, 1082 KB  
Systematic Review
Bridging the Implementation Gap in AI-Powered Personalized Education: A Systematic Review of Learning Style Prediction and Recommendation Systems
by Maryam Khanian Najafabadi, Katholiki Kritharides, Claudia Choi, Saman Shojae Chaeikar and Hamidreza Salarian
AI 2026, 7(2), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/ai7020041 (registering DOI) - 26 Jan 2026
Abstract
The integration of artificial intelligence into education has driven growing interest in predicting student learning styles and developing recommendation systems that personalize learning pathways. While previous reviews examined these domains, most focus on pre-2023 research, overlooking recent methodological shifts. We conduct a systematic [...] Read more.
The integration of artificial intelligence into education has driven growing interest in predicting student learning styles and developing recommendation systems that personalize learning pathways. While previous reviews examined these domains, most focus on pre-2023 research, overlooking recent methodological shifts. We conduct a systematic literature review of 40 studies published between 2017 and 2025, with emphasis on publications from 2023 to 2025 (70% of reviewed studies). Our analysis identifies three qualitative shifts: adoption of ensemble and deep learning methods over single classifiers, emergence of multimodal inputs including physiological signals, and evolution from isolated prediction to integrated adaptive systems. Beyond methodological synthesis, this review critically examines factors underlying observed trends and barriers to deployment. The Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model dominates research (58.3%) due to historical path dependency and instrument availability rather than demonstrated pedagogical superiority. While ensemble methods achieve high reported accuracy (87–98%), methodological concerns emerge: 65% of studies employ random rather than temporal validation, potentially inflating performance, and only 23% address production-level requirements, including privacy, scalability, and integration. We systematically analyze implementation barriers spanning computational requirements, LMS integration, educator acceptance, ethical considerations, and scalability—revealing that the gap between research prototypes and deployable systems remains substantial. Our contributions include a stakeholder impact framework, evaluation metrics taxonomy, critical analysis of reported performance claims, and identification of five research gaps with actionable recommendations. This review offers researchers and practitioners both a comprehensive synthesis of advances and a critical roadmap for bridging the implementation gap in AI-powered personalized education. Full article
21 pages, 2364 KB  
Article
A Machine Learning Approach to Understanding Teacher Engagement in Sustainable Education Systems
by Esra Geçikli and Figen Çam-Tosun
Systems 2026, 14(2), 121; https://doi.org/10.3390/systems14020121 - 26 Jan 2026
Abstract
Education can be conceptualized as a complex socio-technical system in which teacher engagement functions as a dynamic component supporting system performance and adaptability. The present study examines how science teachers’ perceptions of sustainable education interact with their levels of work engagement, providing empirical [...] Read more.
Education can be conceptualized as a complex socio-technical system in which teacher engagement functions as a dynamic component supporting system performance and adaptability. The present study examines how science teachers’ perceptions of sustainable education interact with their levels of work engagement, providing empirical insights into system-level relationships relevant to educational sustainability. The study sample consisted of 246 science teachers, and data were collected using the Sustainable Education Scale and the Engaged Teacher Scale. Adopting a systems-informed analytical perspective, the study employs machine learning methods (Random Forest, CART, Extra Trees, and Bagging Regression) to explore non-linear relationships and interaction patterns that may remain obscured in conventional linear analyses. The results indicate that structural factors such as weekly teaching hours and academic qualifications are associated with variations in both sustainable education perceptions and work engagement. Moreover, the findings suggest a reciprocal relationship between sustainability-oriented perceptions and teacher engagement, consistent with feedback dynamics observed in complex educational systems. Rather than proposing a new theoretical framework or algorithm, the study demonstrates the utility of machine learning as a methodological tool for examining system-level interactions and emergent patterns in education, offering empirical insights that may inform sustainability-oriented practices in complex social systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Systems Practice in Social Science)
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30 pages, 11051 KB  
Article
Investigating the Impact of Education 4.0 and Digital Learning on Students’ Learning Outcomes in Engineering: A Four-Year Multiple-Case Study
by Jonathan Álvarez Ariza and Carola Hernández Hernández
Informatics 2026, 13(2), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/informatics13020018 - 23 Jan 2026
Viewed by 125
Abstract
Education 4.0 and digital learning have led to a technology-driven transformation in educational methodologies and the roles of teachers, primarily at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). From an educational standpoint, the extant literature on Education 4.0 highlights its technological features and benefits; however, there [...] Read more.
Education 4.0 and digital learning have led to a technology-driven transformation in educational methodologies and the roles of teachers, primarily at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). From an educational standpoint, the extant literature on Education 4.0 highlights its technological features and benefits; however, there is a lack of studies that assess its impact on students’ learning outcomes. Seemingly, Education 4.0 features are taken for granted, as if the technology in itself were enough to guarantee students’ learning, self-efficacy, and engagement. Seeking to address this lack, this study describes the implications of tailoring Education 4.0 tenets and digital learning in an engineering curriculum. Four case studies conducted in the last four years with 119 students are presented, in which technologies such as digital twins, a Modular Production System (MPS), low-cost robotics, 3D printing, generative AI, machine learning, and mobile learning were integrated. With these case studies, an educational methodology with active learning, hands-on activities, and continuous teacher support was designed and deployed to foster cognitive and affective learning outcomes. A mixed-methods study was conducted, utilizing students’ grades, surveys, and semi-structured interviews to assess the approach’s impact. The outcomes suggest that including Education 4.0 tenets and digital learning can enhance discipline-based skills, creativity, self-efficacy, collaboration, and self-directed learning. These results were obtained not only via the technological features but also through the incorporation of reflective teaching that provided several educational resources and oriented the methodology for students’ learning and engagement. The results of this study can help complement the concept of Education 4.0, helping to find a student-centered approach and conceiving a balance between technology, teaching practices, and cognitive and affective learning outcomes. Full article
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26 pages, 725 KB  
Article
Unlocking GAI in Universities: Leadership-Driven Corporate Social Responsibility for Digital Sustainability
by Mostafa Aboulnour Salem and Zeyad Aly Khalil
Adm. Sci. 2026, 16(2), 58; https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci16020058 - 23 Jan 2026
Viewed by 188
Abstract
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has evolved into a strategic governance framework through which organisations address environmental sustainability, stakeholder expectations, and long-term institutional viability. In knowledge-intensive organisations such as universities, Green Artificial Intelligence (GAI) is increasingly recognised as an internal CSR agenda. GAI can [...] Read more.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has evolved into a strategic governance framework through which organisations address environmental sustainability, stakeholder expectations, and long-term institutional viability. In knowledge-intensive organisations such as universities, Green Artificial Intelligence (GAI) is increasingly recognised as an internal CSR agenda. GAI can reduce digital and energy-related environmental impacts while enhancing educational and operational performance. This study examines how higher education leaders, as organisational decision-makers, form intentions to adopt GAI within institutional CSR and digital sustainability strategies. It focuses specifically on leadership intentions to implement key GAI practices, including Smart Energy Management Systems, Energy-Efficient Machine Learning models, Virtual and Remote Laboratories, and AI-powered sustainability dashboards. Grounded in the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the study investigates how performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions shape behavioural intentions to adopt GAI. Survey data were collected from higher education leaders across Saudi universities, representing diverse national and cultural backgrounds within a shared institutional context. The findings indicate that facilitating conditions, performance expectancy, and social influence significantly influence adoption intentions, whereas effort expectancy does not. Gender and cultural context also moderate several adoption pathways. Generally, the results demonstrate that adopting GAI in universities constitutes a governance-level CSR decision rather than a purely technical choice. This study advances CSR and digital sustainability research by positioning GAI as a strategic tool for responsible digital transformation and by offering actionable insights for higher education leaders and policymakers. Full article
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24 pages, 1834 KB  
Article
SDA-Net: A Symmetric Dual-Attention Network with Multi-Scale Convolution for MOOC Dropout Prediction
by Yiwen Yang, Chengjun Xu and Guisheng Tian
Symmetry 2026, 18(1), 202; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym18010202 - 21 Jan 2026
Viewed by 80
Abstract
With the rapid development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), high dropout rates have become a major challenge, limiting the quality of online education and the effectiveness of targeted interventions. Although existing MOOC dropout prediction methods have incorporated deep learning and attention mechanisms [...] Read more.
With the rapid development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), high dropout rates have become a major challenge, limiting the quality of online education and the effectiveness of targeted interventions. Although existing MOOC dropout prediction methods have incorporated deep learning and attention mechanisms to improve predictive performance to some extent, they still face limitations in modeling differences in course difficulty and learning engagement, capturing multi-scale temporal learning behaviors, and controlling model complexity. To address these issues, this paper proposes a MOOC dropout prediction model that integrates multi-scale convolution with a symmetric dual-attention mechanism, termed SDA-Net. In the feature modeling stage, the model constructs a time allocation ratio matrix (MRatio), a resource utilization ratio matrix (SRatio), and a relative group-level ranking matrix (Rank) to characterize learners’ behavioral differences in terms of time investment, resource usage structure, and relative performance, thereby mitigating the impact of course difficulty and individual effort disparities on prediction outcomes. Structurally, SDA-Net extracts learning behavior features at different temporal scales through multi-scale convolution and incorporates a symmetric dual-attention mechanism composed of spatial and channel attention to adaptively focus on information highly correlated with dropout risk, enhancing feature representation while maintaining a relatively lightweight architecture. Experimental results on the KDD Cup 2015 and XuetangX public datasets demonstrate that SDA-Net achieves more competitive performance than traditional machine learning methods, mainstream deep learning models, and attention-based approaches on major evaluation metrics; in particular, it attains an accuracy of 93.7% on the KDD Cup 2015 dataset and achieves an absolute improvement of 0.2 percentage points in Accuracy and 0.4 percentage points in F1-Score on the XuetangX dataset, confirming that the proposed model effectively balances predictive performance and model complexity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Computer)
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31 pages, 14707 KB  
Article
Investigating the Efficacy and Interpretability of ML Classifiers for Student Performance Prediction in the Small-Data Regime
by Edoardo Vecchi
Educ. Sci. 2026, 16(1), 149; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16010149 - 19 Jan 2026
Viewed by 230
Abstract
Despite the extensive application of machine learning (ML) methods to educational datasets, few studies have provided a systematic benchmarking of the available algorithms with respect to both predictive performance and interpretability of the resulting models. In this work, we address this gap by [...] Read more.
Despite the extensive application of machine learning (ML) methods to educational datasets, few studies have provided a systematic benchmarking of the available algorithms with respect to both predictive performance and interpretability of the resulting models. In this work, we address this gap by comparing a range of supervised learning methods on a freely available dataset concerning two high schools, where the goal is to predict student performance by modeling it as a binary classification task. Given the high feature-to-sample ratio, the problem falls within the small-data learning regime, which often challenges ML models by diluting informative features among many irrelevant ones. The experimental results show that several algorithms can achieve robust predictive performance, even in this scenario and in the presence of class imbalance. Moreover, we show how the output of ML algorithms can be interpreted and used to identify the most relevant predictors, without any a priori assumption about their impact. Finally, we perform additional experiments by removing the two most dominant features, revealing that ML models can still uncover alternative predictive patterns, thus demonstrating their adaptability and capacity for knowledge extraction under small-data conditions. Future work could benefit from richer datasets, including longitudinal data and psychological features, to better profile students and improve the identification of at-risk individuals. Full article
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24 pages, 536 KB  
Systematic Review
Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment in Serious Games: A Literature Review
by Lucia Víteková, Christian Eichhorn, Johanna Pirker and David A. Plecher
Information 2026, 17(1), 96; https://doi.org/10.3390/info17010096 - 17 Jan 2026
Viewed by 191
Abstract
This systematic literature review analyzes the role of dynamic difficulty adaptation (DDA) in serious games (SGs) to provide an overview of current trends and identify research gaps. The purpose of the study is to contextualize how DDA is being employed in SGs to [...] Read more.
This systematic literature review analyzes the role of dynamic difficulty adaptation (DDA) in serious games (SGs) to provide an overview of current trends and identify research gaps. The purpose of the study is to contextualize how DDA is being employed in SGs to enhance their learning outcomes, effectiveness, and game enjoyment. The review included studies published over the past five years that implemented specific DDA methods within SGs. Publications were identified through Google Scholar (searched up to 10 November 2025) and screened for relevance, resulting in 75 relevant papers. No formal risk-of-bias assessment was conducted. These studies were analyzed by publication year, source, application domain, DDA type, and effectiveness. The results indicate a growing interest in adaptive SGs across domains, including rehabilitation and education, with DDA methods ranging from rule-based (e.g., fuzzy logic) and player modeling (using performance, physiological, or emotional metrics) to various machine learning techniques (reinforcement learning, genetic algorithms, neural networks). Newly emerging trends, such as the integration of generative artificial intelligence for DDA, were also identified. Evidence suggests that DDA can enhance learning outcomes and game experience, although study differences, limited evaluation metrics, and unexplored opportunities for adaptive SGs highlight the need for further research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Serious Games, Games for Learning and Gamified Apps)
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24 pages, 1250 KB  
Systematic Review
Can Generative Artificial Intelligence Effectively Enhance Students’ Mathematics Learning Outcomes?—A Meta-Analysis of Empirical Studies from 2023 to 2025
by Baoxin Liu, Wenlan Zhang and Fangfang Wang
Educ. Sci. 2026, 16(1), 140; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16010140 - 16 Jan 2026
Viewed by 388
Abstract
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) shows transformative potential in mathematics education. However, empirical findings remain inconsistent, and a systematic synthesis of its effects across distinct engagement dimensions is lacking. This preregistered meta-analysis (INPLASY2025110051) systematically reviewed 22 empirical studies (46 independent samples, N = 5232) [...] Read more.
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) shows transformative potential in mathematics education. However, empirical findings remain inconsistent, and a systematic synthesis of its effects across distinct engagement dimensions is lacking. This preregistered meta-analysis (INPLASY2025110051) systematically reviewed 22 empirical studies (46 independent samples, N = 5232) published between 2023 and 2025. The results indicated that GenAI has a moderate positive impact on students’ mathematics learning outcomes (g = 0.534). Moderation analysis further revealed that the level of GenAI integration in teaching, sample size, and learning content are the primary factors influencing this effect. The study found that the effect was most pronounced under the creative transformation (CT) integration mode, was significant when applied to geometry learning, and was stronger in studies with small samples or small class sizes; collaborative learning approaches also significantly enhance these mathematics learning outcomes. By contrast, educational stage and intervention duration did not show significant moderating effects. The GRADE assessment indicated that while the overall evidence is supportive, the certainty of evidence is stronger for cognitive outcomes than for non-cognitive domains. The findings also offer a reference for future research on constructing a human–machine collaborative learning environment. Full article
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36 pages, 949 KB  
Systematic Review
Towards Sustainable Health Management in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: The Role of Artificial Intelligence—A Systematic Review, Challenges, and Future Directions
by Kholoud Maswadi and Ali Alhazmi
Sustainability 2026, 18(2), 905; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18020905 - 15 Jan 2026
Viewed by 313
Abstract
The incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into medical services in Saudi Arabia offers a substantial opportunity. Despite the increasing integration of AI techniques such as machine learning, natural language processing, and predictive analytics, there persists an issue in the thorough comprehension of their [...] Read more.
The incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into medical services in Saudi Arabia offers a substantial opportunity. Despite the increasing integration of AI techniques such as machine learning, natural language processing, and predictive analytics, there persists an issue in the thorough comprehension of their applications, advantages, and issues within the Saudi healthcare framework. This study aims to perform a thorough systematic literature review (SLR) to assess the current status of AI in Saudi healthcare, determine its alignment with Vision 2030, and suggest practical recommendations for future research and policy. In accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) methodology, 699 studies were initially obtained from electronic databases, with 24 studies selected after the application of established inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results indicated that AI has been effectively utilised in disease prediction, diagnosis, therapy optimisation, patient monitoring, and resource allocation, resulting in notable advancements in diagnostic accuracy, operational efficiency, and patient outcomes. Nonetheless, limitations to adoption, such as ethical issues, legislative complexities, data protection issues, and shortages in worker skills, were also recognised. This review emphasises the necessity for strong ethical frameworks, regulatory control, and capacity-building efforts to guarantee the responsible and fair implementation of AI in healthcare. Recommendations encompass the creation of national AI ethics and governance frameworks, investment in AI education and training initiatives, and the formulation of modular AI solutions to guarantee scalability and cost-effectiveness. This breakthrough enables Saudi Arabia to realise its Vision 2030 objectives, establishing the Kingdom as a global leader in AI-driven healthcare innovation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Health, Well-Being and Sustainability)
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37 pages, 6898 KB  
Article
Tracing the Sociospatial Affordances of Physical Environment: An AI-Based Unified Framework for Modeling Social Behavior in Campus Open Spaces
by Ecem Kara and Barış Dinç
Architecture 2026, 6(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/architecture6010010 - 14 Jan 2026
Viewed by 217
Abstract
In educational settings, it is crucial to comprehend and manage individuals’ social interaction behaviors through the physical environment. However, analyzing social interaction patterns manually is a time-consuming and energy-intensive process. This study aims to reveal the socio-behavioral implications of spatial features, based on [...] Read more.
In educational settings, it is crucial to comprehend and manage individuals’ social interaction behaviors through the physical environment. However, analyzing social interaction patterns manually is a time-consuming and energy-intensive process. This study aims to reveal the socio-behavioral implications of spatial features, based on the Affordance Theory, using artificial intelligence (AI). To this end, the study proposes a unified quantitative methodology that leverages diverse AI approaches. Behavioral data are gathered via systematic observation and analyzed using (1) Deep Learning (DL)-based Human Detection and classified by (2) Machine Learning (ML)-based Interaction Score Prediction approach. The behavioral findings were analyzed in relation to spatial data via (3) Spatial Feature Selection. As the study area, the ATU Faculty of Engineering building complex was selected, and behavioral data from 746 participants were collected in the complex’s open spaces. The results indicated that AI-based approaches provide a high degree of precision in analyzing the relationships between social interaction and spatial features within the addressed context. Also, (1) the existence and (2) the rotation of seating units and (3) shading strategies are identified as the spatial features that contribute to higher interaction scores in the educational settings. The study proposes an integrated and transferable methodology based on diverse AI approaches for determining social interaction and its spatial aspects, leading to a comprehensive and reproducible approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Architecture in the Digital Age)
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27 pages, 1930 KB  
Article
SteadyEval: Robust LLM Exam Graders via Adversarial Training and Distillation
by Catalin Anghel, Marian Viorel Craciun, Adina Cocu, Andreea Alexandra Anghel and Adrian Istrate
Computers 2026, 15(1), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers15010055 - 14 Jan 2026
Viewed by 181
Abstract
Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used as rubric-guided graders for short-answer exams, but their decisions can be unstable across prompts and vulnerable to answer-side prompt injection. In this paper, we study SteadyEval, a guardrailed exam-grading pipeline in which an adversarially trained LoRA [...] Read more.
Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used as rubric-guided graders for short-answer exams, but their decisions can be unstable across prompts and vulnerable to answer-side prompt injection. In this paper, we study SteadyEval, a guardrailed exam-grading pipeline in which an adversarially trained LoRA filter (SteadyEval-7B-deep) preprocesses student answers to remove answer-side prompt injection, after which the original Mistral-7B-Instruct rubric-guided grader assigns the final score. We build two exam-grading pipelines on top of Mistral-7B-Instruct: a baseline pipeline that scores student answers directly, and a guardrailed pipeline in which a LoRA-based filter (SteadyEval-7B-deep) first removes injection content from the answer and a downstream grader then assigns the final score. Using two rubric-guided short-answer datasets in machine learning and computer networking, we generate grouped families of clean answers and four classes of answer-side attacks, and we evaluate the impact of these attacks on score shifts, attack success rates, stability across prompt variants, and alignment with human graders. On the pooled dataset, answer-side attacks inflate grades in the unguarded baseline by an average of about +1.2 points on a 1–10 scale, and substantially increase score dispersion across prompt variants. The guardrailed pipeline largely removes this systematic grade inflation and reduces instability for many items, especially in the machine-learning exam, while keeping mean absolute error with respect to human reference scores in a similar range to the unguarded baseline on clean answers, with a conservative shift in networking that motivates per-course calibration. Chief-panel comparisons further show that the guardrailed pipeline tracks human grading more closely on machine-learning items, but tends to under-score networking answers. These findings are best interpreted as a proof-of-concept guardrail and require per-course validation and calibration before operational use. Full article
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34 pages, 6100 KB  
Review
Artificial Intelligence-Driven Transformation of Pediatric Diabetes Care: A Systematic Review and Epistemic Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic, Therapeutic, and Self-Management Applications
by Estefania Valdespino-Saldaña, Nelly F. Altamirano-Bustamante, Raúl Calzada-León, Cristina Revilla-Monsalve and Myriam M. Altamirano-Bustamante
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27(2), 802; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27020802 - 13 Jan 2026
Viewed by 223
Abstract
The limitations of conventional diabetes management are increasingly evident. As a result, both type 1 and 2 diabetes in pediatric populations have become major global health concerns. As new technologies emerge, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), they offer new opportunities to improve diagnostic accuracy, [...] Read more.
The limitations of conventional diabetes management are increasingly evident. As a result, both type 1 and 2 diabetes in pediatric populations have become major global health concerns. As new technologies emerge, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), they offer new opportunities to improve diagnostic accuracy, treatment outcomes, and patient self-management. A PRISMA-based systematic review was conducted using PubMed, Web of Science, and BIREME. The research covered studies published up to February 2025, where twenty-two studies met the inclusion criteria. These studies examined machine learning algorithms, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), closed-loop insulin delivery systems, telemedicine platforms, and digital educational interventions. AI-driven interventions were consistently associated with reductions in HbA1c and extended time in range. Furthermore, they reported earlier detection of complications, personalized insulin dosing, and greater patient autonomy. Predictive models, including digital twins and self-learning neural networks, significantly improved diagnostic accuracy and early risk stratification. Digital health platforms enhanced treatment adherence. Nonetheless, the barriers included unequal access to technology and limited long-term clinical validation. Artificial intelligence is progressively reshaping pediatric diabetes care toward a predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory paradigm. Broader implementation will require rigorous multiethnic validation and robust ethical frameworks to ensure equitable deployment. Full article
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18 pages, 1112 KB  
Article
Counterfactual Graph Representation Learning for Fairness-Aware Cognitive Diagnosis
by Jingxing Fan, Zhichang Zhang and Yali Liang
Electronics 2026, 15(2), 335; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics15020335 - 12 Jan 2026
Viewed by 155
Abstract
Cognitive diagnosis serves as a key component in personalized intelligent education, designed to accurately evaluate students’ knowledge states by analyzing their historical response data. It offers fundamental support for various educational applications such as adaptive learning and exercise recommendation. However, when leveraging student [...] Read more.
Cognitive diagnosis serves as a key component in personalized intelligent education, designed to accurately evaluate students’ knowledge states by analyzing their historical response data. It offers fundamental support for various educational applications such as adaptive learning and exercise recommendation. However, when leveraging student data, existing diagnostic models often incorporate sensitive attributes like family economic background and geographic location, which may lead to bias and unfairness. To address this issue, this paper introduces a Fairness-Aware Cognitive Diagnosis model (FACD) based on counterfactual graph representation learning. The approach builds student-centered causal subgraphs and integrates a graph variational autoencoder with adversarial learning to mitigate the influence of sensitive attributes on node representations. It further employs both central-node and neighbor-node perturbation strategies to generate counterfactual samples. A Siamese network is utilized to enforce representation consistency across different counterfactual scenarios, thereby deriving fair student contextual embeddings. Experimental results on the PISA 2015 dataset show that FACD outperforms conventional cognitive diagnosis models and their fairness-aware variants in terms of ACC, AUC, and RMSE. Ablation studies confirm the effectiveness and synergistic nature of each module. This work provides a viable pathway toward more reliable and equitable cognitive diagnosis systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Artificial Intelligence)
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18 pages, 2272 KB  
Article
Machine Learning Approaches for Early Student Performance Prediction in Programming Education
by Seifeddine Bouallegue, Aymen Omri and Salem Al-Naemi
Information 2026, 17(1), 60; https://doi.org/10.3390/info17010060 - 8 Jan 2026
Viewed by 323
Abstract
Intelligent recommender systems are essential for identifying at-risk students and personalizing learning through tailored resources. Accurate prediction of student performance enables these systems to deliver timely interventions and data-driven support. This paper presents the application of machine learning models to predict final exam [...] Read more.
Intelligent recommender systems are essential for identifying at-risk students and personalizing learning through tailored resources. Accurate prediction of student performance enables these systems to deliver timely interventions and data-driven support. This paper presents the application of machine learning models to predict final exam grades in a university-level programming course, leveraging multi-modal student data to improve prediction accuracy. In particular, a recent raw dataset of students enrolled in a programming course across 36 class sections from the Fall 2024 and Winter 2025 terms was initially processed. The data was collected up to one month before the final exam. From this data, a comprehensive set of features was engineered, including the student’s background, assessment grades and completion times, digital learning interactions, and engagement metrics. Building on this feature set, six machine learning prediction models were initially developed using data from the Fall 2024 term. Both training and testing were conducted on this dataset using cross-validation combined with hyperparameter tuning. The XGBoost model demonstrated strong performance, achieving an accuracy exceeding 91%. To assess the generalizability of the considered models, all models were retrained on the complete Fall 2024 dataset. They were then evaluated on an independent dataset from Winter 2025, with XGBoost achieving the highest accuracy, exceeding 84%. Feature importance analysis has revealed that the midterm grade and the average completion duration of lab assessments are the most influential predictors. This data-driven approach empowers instructors to proactively identify and support at-risk students, enabling adaptive learning environments that deliver personalized learning and timely interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human–Computer Interactions and Computer-Assisted Education)
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14 pages, 274 KB  
Article
Machine Learning in Education: Predicting Student Performance and Guiding Institutional Decisions
by Claudia-Anamaria Buzducea (Drăgoi), Marius-Valentin Drăgoi, Cozmin Cristoiu, Roxana-Adriana Puiu, Mihail Puiu, Gabriel Petrea and Bogdan-Cătălin Navligu
Educ. Sci. 2026, 16(1), 76; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16010076 - 6 Jan 2026
Viewed by 355
Abstract
Using Machine Learning (ML) in educational management transforms higher education strategy. This study examines students’ views on machine learning (ML) technologies and how they might be used to plan, monitor, and predict student performance. The Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Robotics surveyed 118 [...] Read more.
Using Machine Learning (ML) in educational management transforms higher education strategy. This study examines students’ views on machine learning (ML) technologies and how they might be used to plan, monitor, and predict student performance. The Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Robotics surveyed 118 third-year undergraduates. It featured closed- and open-ended questions to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Descriptive statistics showed broad patterns, inferential tests (Chi-square, t-test, ANOVA) showed group differences, regression models predicted school outcomes, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and clustering found hidden attitudes and student profiles. A multi-method quantitative approach combining descriptive statistics, inferential tests, regression modeling, and exploratory techniques (EFA and clustering) was employed. The findings show that most students realize that ML may help them be more productive, adapt their study pathways, and learn about the future. Concerns remain regarding its accuracy, overreliance, and morality. The findings indicate that ML can both support and challenge educational management, depending on how responsibly it is implemented. Results show that institutions may utilize ML as a strategic tool to boost academic progress and make better judgments, provided they incorporate it responsibly and follow ethical rules and training. Full article
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