How Neural Network Technologies are Transforming Approaches to Assessing School Well-Being?
Abstract
Modern research confirms a direct link between student well-being and their academic performance. Traditional survey methods (interviews, questionnaires, tests) have significant limitations, including respondent insincerity, labor-intensive data processing, and, most critically, the inability to capture real-time dynamics of emotional states.
The aim of this article is to explore the concept of "school well-being" and justify the development of a neural network-based software product for emotion analysis to study well-being in education. The article examines the PERMA model (Seligman) and the subjective well-being framework (Diener), modern emotion assessment methods (facial expressions, physiological indicators, behavioral markers), and the use of AI in related fields. Emphasis is placed on integrating technological and survey-based methods to evaluate school climate. The neural network software "School Well-Being" was developed using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and the dlib library, analyzing micro-expressions (6 emotions) with 96.8% accuracy. The program is adapted to school environments (e.g., filtering out artifacts like head tilts).
This research-oriented development requires addressing ethical and legal considerations. It serves as a monitoring tool for: comparing AI data with student surveys; creating "reference emotional profiles" of learning scenarios (lectures, group work); analyzing emotional dynamics across sociocultural contexts; and predicting crisis situations.
This is the first proposal in the Russian Federation to use neural networks for assessing school well-being. A key innovation is the validation of "emotional markers" for educational effectiveness, such as linking surprise to creativity in classroom settings. The program provides objective data for managerial decisions, teaching method evaluations, and monitoring students’ psychological comfort. The product is ready for scaling in schools across St. Petersburg and other regions of the Russian Federation.
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