用图神经网络分析学生数据,能更准预测辍学风险。
Deep Learning for School Dropout Detection: A Comparison of Tabular and Graph-Based Models for Predicting At-Risk Students
- 将学生表格式数据转为图结构,用GNN捕捉复杂关系。
- 特定图结构下GNN比最优表格式模型高7个百分点的F1分数。
- 图构建方式和GNN选型对效果影响极大,需精心设计。
学生辍学是全球教育系统面临的重大挑战,带来显著的社会与经济成本。提前预测潜在辍学学生可实现及时干预。尽管传统机器学习模型在表格式数据上表现良好,图神经网络(GNN)通过将数据构造成图结构,可能更好捕捉学生间复杂关联。本文研究将表格式学生数据通过聚类技术转化为图结构,是否能提升辍学预测准确率。对比了自定义图卷积网络(GCN)和GraphSAGE在不同图构造策略下的表现,与随机森林(RF)、XGBoost及TabNet等表格式模型进行比较。实验采用多种聚类算法(K-Means、HDBSCAN)与降维方法(PCA、UMAP)。结果表明,基于PCA-KMeans聚类生成的图上使用GraphSAGE,性能最优,宏平均F1分数相比最强表格式基线(XGBoost)提升约7个百分点,准确率提升近2个百分点。但其他图结构与模型配置并未持续超越表格式模型,凸显图生成策略与GNN架构选择的关键作用。这既展示了GNN在该领域的潜力,也揭示了将表格式数据有效转化为图表示的挑战。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Student dropout is a significant challenge in educational systems worldwide, leading to substantial social and economic costs. Predicting students at risk of dropout allows for timely interventions. While traditional Machine Learning (ML) models operating on tabular data have shown promise, Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) offer a potential advantage by capturing complex relationships inherent in student data if structured as graphs. This paper investigates whether transforming tabular student data into graph structures, primarily using clustering techniques, enhances dropout prediction accuracy. We compare the performance of GNNs (a custom Graph Convolutional Network (GCN) and GraphSAGE) on these generated graphs against established tabular models (Random Forest (RF), XGBoost, and TabNet) using a real-world student dataset. Our experiments explore various graph construction strategies based on different clustering algorithms (K-Means, HDBSCAN) and dimensionality reduction techniques (Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP)). Our findings demonstrate that a specific GNN configuration, GraphSAGE on a graph derived from PCA-KMeans clustering, achieved superior performance, notably improving the macro F1-score by approximately 7 percentage points and accuracy by nearly 2 percentage points over the strongest tabular baseline (XGBoost). However, other GNN configurations and graph construction methods did not consistently surpass tabular models, emphasizing the critical role of the graph generation strategy and GNN architecture selection. This highlights both the potential of GNNs and the challenges in optimally transforming tabular data for graph-based learning in this domain.
Thank you to arXiv for use of its open access interoperability. PaperDance 不是 arXiv 官方产品;中文卡片由大模型生成,请以原文为准。