Abstract
In this paper we present our initial work on an application, The Affective Tutor, envisioned to help instructors keep all students in a large lecture class engaged and actively learning material related to the course. We have found, by asking for feedback after every class, that in a large class of over 50 students, a significant number of students will feel the class went too slow and another group will feel the class went too fast. One of the most challenging aspects of teaching a large class is to keep the entire class engaged in the course material. The Affective Tutor helps instructors to determine in real-time how students feel about the pace of the class. The tool also helps instructors to pin-point confusing topics, and to tackle the problem of keeping students engaged by providing a monitored back-channel that allows the bored students to help the confused students get back on track and into an engaged mode.