News in Press-centre

School of Data Economy of Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) launched an experiment to analyze the involvement of students in e-learning. The program will help teachers evaluate the quality of interaction with students and their activity. Work on the project is carried out by undergraduates in the laboratory of artificial intelligence.

“The purpose of the experiment is to determine the interest of students in order to help teachers create a rating system for conducting distance learning. In addition, thanks to this analysis, they will be able to see if the audience is not losing interest in the subject, and again engage students in the educational process”, said Ilya Mirin, Director of FEFU School of Data Economy.

The experiment uses artificial intelligence, which analyzes all data channels. By facial expressions, a special program tells you what emotions a student experiences: happiness (activity), sadness (boredom), or a neutral state. In addition, the voice is evaluated, as some online students do not include an image.

The activity in chats is also taken into account, how often students answer questions, how many messages are left. The engagement analysis experiment is currently being conducted in a limited number of classes. In the future, the project will be distributed to the entire university.

“We are constantly working to improve education in electronic format. Not only our specialists but also students create new solutions in this direction. This experiment can facilitate the learning process and make it better”, said Ilya Yaskov, Deputy Vice-President for Development of FEFU.

Far Eastern Federal University was one of the first Russian universities to transfer the educational process to the electronic environment since March 23. Moreover, all classes are held according to the approved schedule, but without the need for the presence of students and teachers in university classrooms. Access to information and educational services was received by 20 thousand students and 2.5 thousand teachers. Such a training format excludes direct contact in university classrooms, which is extremely important in the context of the spread of coronavirus infection.

The first School of Data Economy in Russia was opened at FEFU in 2018 as part of the Russian Federation program. Its presentation took place at the IV Eastern Economic Forum with the participation of German Gref, Chairman of the Board of Sberbank. The school prepares masters in IT areas with a focus on applied research. The partners of the School are the largest national companies, which gives students the opportunity to participate in the development and implementation of breakthrough technology projects.