Lecturer honoured after developing system that reads students' faces

While the student works on a computer, a back-end system is reading his facial expressions through a webcam and can tell if he is frustrated.

The system analyses about 20 different signals, from a brow raise to a jaw drop and can detect closed eyes.

This is the brainchild of Dr Koh Noi Sian, a senior lecturer at Nanyang Polytechnic's (NYP) School of Information Technology, and her colleague, Dr Keith Fwa, also a senior lecturer at the school.

PROMPTS

The affective tutoring programme sends out prompts when it detects a student is stuck on a problem and aids lecturers in assisting students during a lesson.

Said Dr Koh: "There would be students raising their hands when I am busy with one student, and there would be a long queue of students waiting for me to help them.

"While waiting for help, they will probably think this subject is too difficult and they can't handle it, and that is a pity."

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Dr Koh, 39, was one of the seven educators who received the President's Award for Teachers yesterday from President Halimah Yacob at the Istana.

The annual award recognises educators for their dedication and innovation in nurturing students, among others.

This year's recipients were chosen from a total of 3,886 educators, nominated by school leaders, parents, teachers, as well as current and former students.

The programme took Dr Koh and Dr Hwa three to four years to develop.

Dr Koh also had to read up on facial expressions and what they mean.

The programme, launched last October, is now being tested by 38 students in NYP.

Apart from the programme, Dr Koh was also part of a project that gathers feedback from students after every class.

Tests are traditionally used to gauge a student's understanding of the topic, which may not be ideal as the student may feel demoralised if he does not perform well, said Dr Koh.

She said: "I think both systems are really helpful because some of our students are shy.

"They don't have any questions during class, but I receive a lot of feedback through this system, and it also helps lecturers know which topics students are struggling with."