Analyzing Classroom Interaction Data Using Prompt Engineering and Network Analysis (2501.18912v1)

Abstract: Classroom interactions play a vital role in developing critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving abilities, and enhanced learning outcomes. While analyzing these interactions is crucial for improving educational practices, the examination of classroom dialogues presents significant challenges due to the complexity and high-dimensionality of conversational data. This study presents an integrated framework that combines prompt engineering with network analysis to investigate classroom interactions comprehensively. Our approach automates utterance classification through prompt engineering, enabling efficient and scalable dialogue analysis without requiring pre-labeled datasets. The classified interactions are subsequently transformed into network representations, facilitating the analysis of classroom dynamics as structured social networks. To uncover complex interaction patterns and how underlying interaction structures relate to student learning, we utilize network mediation analysis. In this approach, latent interaction structures, derived from the additive and multiplicative effects network (AMEN) model that places students within a latent social space, act as mediators. In particular, we investigate how the gender gap in mathematics performance may be mediated by students' classroom interaction structures.