Paper ID: 2212.14693

A Learned Simulation Environment to Model Student Engagement and Retention in Automated Online Courses

N. Imstepf, S. Senn, A. Fortin, B. Russell, C. Horn

We developed a simulator to quantify the effect of exercise ordering on both student engagement and retention. Our approach combines the construction of neural network representations for users and exercises using a dynamic matrix factorization method. We further created a machine learning models of success and dropout prediction. As a result, our system is able to predict student engagement and retention based on a given sequence of exercises selected. This opens the door to the development of versatile reinforcement learning agents which can substitute the role of private tutoring in exam preparation.

Submitted: Dec 22, 2022