In several areas, including education, the use of machine learning, such as artificial neural networks, has resulted in significant improvements in predicting tasks. The opacity of these models is one of the problems with their use. Prediction models that may offer valuable insights while still being simple to comprehend are preferred by decision-makers in education. Hence, this study suggests an approach that improves the previous student performance prediction by enhancing performance and explaining why a student’s performance is attaining a certain score. A prediction model was proposed and tested using machine learning models. Our models outperform previous work models developed on the same dataset. Using a combined framework of data level and algorithm approaches, the proposed model achieves an accuracy of over 98%, inplying a 20.3% improvement compared with previous work models. As a balancing technique for upsampling data, we use the default strategy of synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) to oversample all classes to the number of examples in the majority class. We also use ensemble methods. For tuning the parameters, we use a simple grid search algorithm provided by scikit to estimate the optimal parameters of our model. This hyperparameter optimization along with a ten-fold cross-validation process demonstrates the dependability of the novel model. In addition, a novel visual and intuitive technique is used to help determine which factors most influence the score which helps to interpret and understand the entire model and visualizes feature attributions at the observation level for the machine learning model. Therefore, SHAP values are a powerful tool that should be incorporated within the student performance prediction framework by obtaining the prediction and explanation created through the experiment, educators can recognize students at risk early and provide suitable exhortation in an auspicious manner.

In recent years, the proliferation of online communication platforms and social media has given rise to a new wave of challenges, including the rapid spread of malicious bots. These bots, often programmed to impersonate human users, can infiltrate online communities, disseminate misinformation, and engage in various activities detrimental to the integrity of digital discourse. It is becoming more and more difficult to discern a text produced by deep neural networks from that created by humans. Transformer-based Pre-trained Language Models (PLMs) have recently shown excellent results in challenges involving natural language understanding (NLU). The suggested method is to employ an approach to detect bots at the tweet level by utilizing content and fine-tuning PLMs, to reduce the current threat. Building on the recent developments of the BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) and GPT-3, the suggested model employs a text embedding approach. This method offers a high-quality representation that can enhance the efficacy of detection. In addition, a Feedforward Neural Network (FNN) was used on top of the PLMs for final classification. The model was experimentally evaluated using the Twitter bot dataset. The strategy was tested using test data that came from the same distribution as their training set. The methodology in this paper involves preprocessing Twitter data, generating contextual embeddings using PLMs, and designing a classification model that learns to differentiate between human users and bots. Experiments were carried out adopting advanced Language Models to construct an encoding of the tweet to create a potential input vector on top of BERT and their variants. By employing Transformer-based models, we achieve significant improvements in bot detection F1-score (93%) compared to traditional methods such as Word2Vec and Global Vectors for Word Representation (Glove). Accuracy improvements ranging from 3% to 24% compared to baselines were achieved. The capability of GPT-4, an advanced Large Language Model (LLM), in interpreting bot-generated content is examined in this research. Additionally, explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) was utilized alongside transformer-based models for detecting bots on social media, enhancing the transparency and reliability of these models.