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Thermal imaging could open new possibilities for student assessment and personalized learning, researchers say
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Experts at RTI International, an independent research institute, have authored a new research brief that highlights the potential use of thermal imaging technology to measure mental effort during educational and psychological assessments.
“Educational and psychological assessments are widely used in schools around the world, ranging from low-stakes formative activities to high-stakes exams that influence college admissions,” said Michael Willoughby, Ph.D., a Senior Fellow at RTI and lead author of the brief. “Test performance is influenced not only by knowledge and ability but also by the effort students put forth during testing — but effort is difficult to measure.”
Willoughby and his coauthors write that conflation of knowledge and effort can undermine the validity of assessment data, leading to biased decisions. They also note that unlike traditional methods that rely on subjective self-reports or wearable sensors, thermal imaging offers a non-invasive and cost-effective solution.
Thermal imaging cameras detect infrared radiation emitted from the body, allowing researchers to measure changes in skin temperature that correlate with mental effort. Specifically, changes in nose temperatures have been observed when participants engage in cognitively demanding tasks.
The authors emphasize that thermal imaging technology is not new, but its application to educational and psychological assessments could be innovative. For example, information about mental effort could inform when to discontinue testing and contribute to personalized learning that dynamically adjusts the difficulty level of content.
They conclude that validating the use of thermal imaging in diverse educational settings and developing automated methods for facial detection that are suitable for children should be the focus of future research.
The brief was published by RTI Press, a global publisher of peer-reviewed, open-access publications.
Read the full research brief (via RTI Press)
