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Early Prediction of Students’ Final Grades in a Gamified Course | IEEE Journals & Magazine | IEEE Xplore

Early Prediction of Students’ Final Grades in a Gamified Course


Abstract:

The main challenge in higher education is student retention. While many methods have been proposed to overcome this challenge, early and continuous feedback can be very e...Show More

Abstract:

The main challenge in higher education is student retention. While many methods have been proposed to overcome this challenge, early and continuous feedback can be very effective. In this article, we propose a method for predicting student final grades in a course using only their performance data in the current semester. It assists students in analyzing how much effort they need to put into the course to obtain the desired grades while helping course instructors identify student types at the early stages of the course to provide better support for them. Our method, initially clusters students into several groups based on experience points (XP) that they obtain during a semester. Then, we estimate cluster size and balance clusters by generating and adding virtual students to the smaller clusters. Finally, we drop unimportant student attributes using a feature selection technique. We then predict their final grades via three different algorithms. We have compared the performance of our method with other approaches using data collected from a course for nine years, using data collected from 679 students. The results indicate that our method outperformed the others while achieving 78.02% average accuracy only four weeks after starting the course. It shows we can effectively predict final grades, which will potentially enhance students’ learning outcomes.
Published in: IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies ( Volume: 15, Issue: 3, 01 June 2022)
Page(s): 311 - 325
Date of Publication: 27 April 2022

ISSN Information:

Funding Agency:

Author image of Amir Hossein Nabizadeh
INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal
Medical Informatics Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Amir Hossein Nabizadeh received the M.Sc. degree in information technology management from the University Technology Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru, Malaysia, in 2013, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science from the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal, in 2018.
He is currently a Senior Researcher with INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal and the Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Science, Kerman, I...Show More
Amir Hossein Nabizadeh received the M.Sc. degree in information technology management from the University Technology Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru, Malaysia, in 2013, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science from the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal, in 2018.
He is currently a Senior Researcher with INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal and the Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Science, Kerman, I...View more
Author image of Daniel Gonçalves
INESC-ID and Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Daniel Gonçalves received the B.Sc. degree in computer science in 1996, the M.Sc. degree in electrical and computer engineering in 2000, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science in 2007.
He currently a Researcher with the Graphics and Interaction (IG) Group, INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal, and an Associate Professor of Computer Science with Instituto Superior Técnico (IST/UL), Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests include t...Show More
Daniel Gonçalves received the B.Sc. degree in computer science in 1996, the M.Sc. degree in electrical and computer engineering in 2000, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science in 2007.
He currently a Researcher with the Graphics and Interaction (IG) Group, INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal, and an Associate Professor of Computer Science with Instituto Superior Técnico (IST/UL), Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests include t...View more
Author image of Sandra Gama
INESC-ID and Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Sandra Gama received the B.Sc. degree in computer science in 2007, the M.Sc. degree in computer science in 2009, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science in 2015.
She currently a Researcher with the IG Research Group, INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal and an Assistant Professor of Computer Science with the Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal. Her research interests include information visualization,...Show More
Sandra Gama received the B.Sc. degree in computer science in 2007, the M.Sc. degree in computer science in 2009, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science in 2015.
She currently a Researcher with the IG Research Group, INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal and an Assistant Professor of Computer Science with the Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal. Her research interests include information visualization,...View more
Author image of Joaquim Jorge
INESC-ID and Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Joaquim Jorge (Senior Member, IEEE) received the Ph.D. degree in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA, in 1995.
He coordinates the IG Research Group, INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal. He is currently a Professor of Computer Graphics and Multimedia with Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests include multimodal interfaces, AR/VR, and advanced le...Show More
Joaquim Jorge (Senior Member, IEEE) received the Ph.D. degree in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA, in 1995.
He coordinates the IG Research Group, INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal. He is currently a Professor of Computer Graphics and Multimedia with Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests include multimodal interfaces, AR/VR, and advanced le...View more

Author image of Amir Hossein Nabizadeh
INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal
Medical Informatics Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Amir Hossein Nabizadeh received the M.Sc. degree in information technology management from the University Technology Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru, Malaysia, in 2013, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science from the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal, in 2018.
He is currently a Senior Researcher with INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal and the Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Science, Kerman, Iran. His main research interests include machine learning, artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence in medicine, data mining, recommender systems, and E- Learning.
Amir Hossein Nabizadeh received the M.Sc. degree in information technology management from the University Technology Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru, Malaysia, in 2013, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science from the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal, in 2018.
He is currently a Senior Researcher with INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal and the Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Science, Kerman, Iran. His main research interests include machine learning, artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence in medicine, data mining, recommender systems, and E- Learning.View more
Author image of Daniel Gonçalves
INESC-ID and Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Daniel Gonçalves received the B.Sc. degree in computer science in 1996, the M.Sc. degree in electrical and computer engineering in 2000, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science in 2007.
He currently a Researcher with the Graphics and Interaction (IG) Group, INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal, and an Associate Professor of Computer Science with Instituto Superior Técnico (IST/UL), Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests include the areas of information visualization, personal information management, and human–computer interaction and accessibility.
Dr. Gonçalves is a Member of the ACM and the Portuguese Computer Graphics Group (the national Eurographics chapter).
Daniel Gonçalves received the B.Sc. degree in computer science in 1996, the M.Sc. degree in electrical and computer engineering in 2000, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science in 2007.
He currently a Researcher with the Graphics and Interaction (IG) Group, INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal, and an Associate Professor of Computer Science with Instituto Superior Técnico (IST/UL), Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests include the areas of information visualization, personal information management, and human–computer interaction and accessibility.
Dr. Gonçalves is a Member of the ACM and the Portuguese Computer Graphics Group (the national Eurographics chapter).View more
Author image of Sandra Gama
INESC-ID and Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Sandra Gama received the B.Sc. degree in computer science in 2007, the M.Sc. degree in computer science in 2009, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science in 2015.
She currently a Researcher with the IG Research Group, INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal and an Assistant Professor of Computer Science with the Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal. Her research interests include information visualization, multimodal user interfaces, and human–computer interaction.
Sandra Gama received the B.Sc. degree in computer science in 2007, the M.Sc. degree in computer science in 2009, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science in 2015.
She currently a Researcher with the IG Research Group, INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal and an Assistant Professor of Computer Science with the Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal. Her research interests include information visualization, multimodal user interfaces, and human–computer interaction.View more
Author image of Joaquim Jorge
INESC-ID and Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Joaquim Jorge (Senior Member, IEEE) received the Ph.D. degree in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA, in 1995.
He coordinates the IG Research Group, INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal. He is currently a Professor of Computer Graphics and Multimedia with Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests include multimodal interfaces, AR/VR, and advanced learning techniques.
Dr. Jorgehe is the Editor-in-Chief of the Computers & Graphics Journal, Fellow of the Eurographics Association, ACM Distinguished Member and Speaker, and chairs the ACM/SIGGGRAPH External Relations Committee.
Joaquim Jorge (Senior Member, IEEE) received the Ph.D. degree in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA, in 1995.
He coordinates the IG Research Group, INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal. He is currently a Professor of Computer Graphics and Multimedia with Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests include multimodal interfaces, AR/VR, and advanced learning techniques.
Dr. Jorgehe is the Editor-in-Chief of the Computers & Graphics Journal, Fellow of the Eurographics Association, ACM Distinguished Member and Speaker, and chairs the ACM/SIGGGRAPH External Relations Committee.View more
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