A Good Classifier is Not Enough: A XAI Approach for Urgent Instructor-Intervention Models in MOOCs

Abstract

Deciding upon instructor intervention based on learners’ comments that need an urgent response in MOOC environments is a known challenge. The best solutions proposed used automatic machine learning (ML) models to predict the urgency. These are ‘black-box’-es, with results opaque to humans. EXplainable artificial intelligence (XAI) is aiming to understand these, to enhance trust in artificial intelligence (AI)-based decision-making. We propose to apply XAI techniques to interpret a MOOC intervention model, by analysing learner comments. We show how pairing a good predictor with XAI results and especially colour-coded visualisation could be used to support instructors making decisions on urgent intervention.