Validating emotion-driven multimodal AI for STEM vocational education: Evidence from student feedback
HongLi Zhang 1 2 , Wai Yie Leong 1 *
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1 Faculty of Engineering and Quantity Surveying, INTI International University, 71800 Nilai, MALAYSIA2 Heilongjiang Institute of Construction Technology, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, CHINA* Corresponding Author

Abstract

This study examines the effectiveness and student perceptions of an emotion-driven multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) learning system designed for STEM-oriented vocational education. The system integrates real-time facial expression analysis (using a fine-tuned SSD MobileNetV1 model via face-api.js), speech prosody features, and behavioral interaction data to enable dynamic, emotion-aware instructional adaptation. Drawing on real-world system interaction data and survey responses from 300 vocational students enrolled in STEM-related programs (e.g., programming and technical training) in China, we employed SPSS for descriptive, reliability, factor, and correlation analyses. To validate the emotional intelligence of the system, a subset of the data was compared against human expert annotations, yielding an average emotion recognition F1-score of 0.86. Results demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.94) and a three-factor model comprising emotional perception, adaptive instruction, and satisfaction/privacy trust. Open-ended responses revealed five thematic dimensions: personalized learning, emotional feedback, multimodal interaction, usability concerns, and improvement suggestions. These findings empirically validate the proposed AI model and offer actionable insights for designing emotion-aware adaptive learning systems in STEM vocational education.

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 22, Issue 3, March 2026, Article No: em2800

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18075

Publication date: 11 Mar 2026

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