Exploring the Effect of Autoencoder Based Feature Learning for a Deep Reinforcement Learning Policy for Providing Proactive Help

Abstract

Providing timely assistance to students in intelligent tutoring systems is a challenging research problem. In this study, we aim to address this problem by determining when to provide proactive help with autoencoder based feature learning and a deep reinforcement learning (DRL) model. To increase generalizability, we only use domain-independent features for the policy. The proposed pedagogical policy provides next-step proactive hints based on the prediction of the DRL model. We conduct a study to examine the effectiveness of the new policy in an intelligent logic tutor. Our findings provide insight into the use of DRL policies utilizing autoencoder based feature learning to determine when to provide proactive help to students.