NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ1471133
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Dec
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-2731-5525
Available Date: 2025-05-13
Performance Prediction Using Educational Data Mining Techniques: A Comparative Study
Yaosheng Lou1; Kimberly F. Colvin1
Discover Education, v4 Article 112 2025
Predicting student performance has been a critical focus of educational research. With an effective predictive model, schools can identify potentially at-risk students and implement timely interventions to support student success. Recent developments in educational data mining (EDM) have introduced several machine learning techniques that can effectively analyze students' demographic information, learning processes, and other contextual factors to predict academic outcomes. However, limited research has compared the predictive accuracy of these EDM techniques with traditional statistical methods in real-world educational settings. This case study aims to address this gap by empirically evaluating the performance of generalized linear regression, decision tree, and random forest regression in predicting three end-of-course exams. The data are from a statewide high school dataset. Model performance was assessed using R-square, RMSE, MAE, and MSE. The results indicated that generalized linear regression consistently outperformed decision tree and random forest regression in terms of both predictive accuracy and error. Additionally, this study examined the capacity of these methods to identify important predictors. These findings may offer valuable insights for researchers and educators in selecting appropriate methods for similar prediction tasks.
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1University at Albany-SUNY, Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, Albany, USA