NeuroTutor: Neural Decoding of Student Engagement During Virtual and Robotic Tutoring

The use of electroencephalography (EEG)-based analysis in educational research offers valuable insight into the dynamics of virtual and robot-based tutoring systems. This study aims to classify neural patterns associated with two distinct tutoring modalities (virtual tutor versus robot tutor) to und...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shahd Elgammal, Shaymaa Alsereidi, Mahra Almansoori, Shamma Alblooshi, Abdelhadi Hireche, Abdelkader Nasreddine Belkacem
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11071325/
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1839617257902178304
author Shahd Elgammal
Shaymaa Alsereidi
Mahra Almansoori
Shamma Alblooshi
Abdelhadi Hireche
Abdelkader Nasreddine Belkacem
author_facet Shahd Elgammal
Shaymaa Alsereidi
Mahra Almansoori
Shamma Alblooshi
Abdelhadi Hireche
Abdelkader Nasreddine Belkacem
author_sort Shahd Elgammal
collection DOAJ
description The use of electroencephalography (EEG)-based analysis in educational research offers valuable insight into the dynamics of virtual and robot-based tutoring systems. This study aims to classify neural patterns associated with two distinct tutoring modalities (virtual tutor versus robot tutor) to understand how different educational interfaces affect brain activity and engagement biomarkers. This classification enables adaptive learning systems that can optimize educational environments based on real-time neural responses, potentially enhancing learning outcomes by matching tutoring modalities to individual neural preferences. We examine the performance of multiple EEG features such as power spectral density, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) magnitude coefficients, amplitude and variance, coherence, Hjorth parameters, and wavelet transform coefficients in distinguishing between these two tutoring modalities. A transformer-based binary classifier was employed to evaluate the effectiveness of these characteristics in classifying EEG data collected during interactions with both types of tutors. The wavelet transform coefficients demonstrated the highest classification accuracy of 98.75%, precision of 99.17%, recall of 98.18%, F1 score of 98.61%, and Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 1.00, indicating exceptional performance in all metrics. This high accuracy represents a significant advancement in EEG-based educational classification systems. The Hjorth parameters (90.13% accuracy, 89.91% precision, 95.45% recall) and preprocessed EEG (91.73% accuracy, 91.57% precision, 90.91% recall) also showed strong performance. Simpler features, such as amplitude and variance, exhibited limited discriminatory power with only 72.67% accuracy. These findings underscore the importance of feature engineering and robust preprocessing in EEG-based educational studies and demonstrate the feasibility of creating personalized learning environments that can adapt to individual students’ neural preferences. Limitations such as a small sample size and topic-specific focus are noted, paving the way for future research to generalize findings and optimize methodologies.
format Article
id doaj-art-d9c588a8cda94f29913f8477e9d6600c
institution Matheson Library
issn 2169-3536
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher IEEE
record_format Article
series IEEE Access
spelling doaj-art-d9c588a8cda94f29913f8477e9d6600c2025-07-24T23:02:12ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-011312396712397810.1109/ACCESS.2025.358582611071325NeuroTutor: Neural Decoding of Student Engagement During Virtual and Robotic TutoringShahd Elgammal0https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7322-755XShaymaa Alsereidi1https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4706-6947Mahra Almansoori2https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1811-9429Shamma Alblooshi3Abdelhadi Hireche4https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0633-9281Abdelkader Nasreddine Belkacem5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3024-4167Department of Computer and Network Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Computer Science and Software Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Computer Science and Software Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Information Systems and Security, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Computer and Network Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Computer and Network Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesThe use of electroencephalography (EEG)-based analysis in educational research offers valuable insight into the dynamics of virtual and robot-based tutoring systems. This study aims to classify neural patterns associated with two distinct tutoring modalities (virtual tutor versus robot tutor) to understand how different educational interfaces affect brain activity and engagement biomarkers. This classification enables adaptive learning systems that can optimize educational environments based on real-time neural responses, potentially enhancing learning outcomes by matching tutoring modalities to individual neural preferences. We examine the performance of multiple EEG features such as power spectral density, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) magnitude coefficients, amplitude and variance, coherence, Hjorth parameters, and wavelet transform coefficients in distinguishing between these two tutoring modalities. A transformer-based binary classifier was employed to evaluate the effectiveness of these characteristics in classifying EEG data collected during interactions with both types of tutors. The wavelet transform coefficients demonstrated the highest classification accuracy of 98.75%, precision of 99.17%, recall of 98.18%, F1 score of 98.61%, and Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 1.00, indicating exceptional performance in all metrics. This high accuracy represents a significant advancement in EEG-based educational classification systems. The Hjorth parameters (90.13% accuracy, 89.91% precision, 95.45% recall) and preprocessed EEG (91.73% accuracy, 91.57% precision, 90.91% recall) also showed strong performance. Simpler features, such as amplitude and variance, exhibited limited discriminatory power with only 72.67% accuracy. These findings underscore the importance of feature engineering and robust preprocessing in EEG-based educational studies and demonstrate the feasibility of creating personalized learning environments that can adapt to individual students’ neural preferences. Limitations such as a small sample size and topic-specific focus are noted, paving the way for future research to generalize findings and optimize methodologies.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11071325/Electroencephalography (EEG)virtual tutorrobot tutorstudent engagement biomarkerslearning outcomesNeuroTutor
spellingShingle Shahd Elgammal
Shaymaa Alsereidi
Mahra Almansoori
Shamma Alblooshi
Abdelhadi Hireche
Abdelkader Nasreddine Belkacem
NeuroTutor: Neural Decoding of Student Engagement During Virtual and Robotic Tutoring
IEEE Access
Electroencephalography (EEG)
virtual tutor
robot tutor
student engagement biomarkers
learning outcomes
NeuroTutor
title NeuroTutor: Neural Decoding of Student Engagement During Virtual and Robotic Tutoring
title_full NeuroTutor: Neural Decoding of Student Engagement During Virtual and Robotic Tutoring
title_fullStr NeuroTutor: Neural Decoding of Student Engagement During Virtual and Robotic Tutoring
title_full_unstemmed NeuroTutor: Neural Decoding of Student Engagement During Virtual and Robotic Tutoring
title_short NeuroTutor: Neural Decoding of Student Engagement During Virtual and Robotic Tutoring
title_sort neurotutor neural decoding of student engagement during virtual and robotic tutoring
topic Electroencephalography (EEG)
virtual tutor
robot tutor
student engagement biomarkers
learning outcomes
NeuroTutor
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11071325/
work_keys_str_mv AT shahdelgammal neurotutorneuraldecodingofstudentengagementduringvirtualandrobotictutoring
AT shaymaaalsereidi neurotutorneuraldecodingofstudentengagementduringvirtualandrobotictutoring
AT mahraalmansoori neurotutorneuraldecodingofstudentengagementduringvirtualandrobotictutoring
AT shammaalblooshi neurotutorneuraldecodingofstudentengagementduringvirtualandrobotictutoring
AT abdelhadihireche neurotutorneuraldecodingofstudentengagementduringvirtualandrobotictutoring
AT abdelkadernasreddinebelkacem neurotutorneuraldecodingofstudentengagementduringvirtualandrobotictutoring