This study aims to introduce an affective computing‐based method of identifying student understanding throughout a distance learning course.

The study proposed a learning emotion recognition model that included three phases: feature extraction and generation, feature subset selection and emotion recognition. Features are extracted from facial images and transform a given measument of facial expressions to a new set of features defining and computing by eigenvectors. Feature subset selection uses the immune memory clone algorithms to optimize the feature selection. Emotion recognition uses a classifier to build the connection between facial expression and learning emotion.

Experimental results using the basic expression of facial expression recognition research database, JAFFE, show that the proposed facial expression recognition method has high classification performance. The experiment results also show that the recognition of spontaneous facial expressions is effective in the synchronous distance learning courses.

The study shows that identifying student comprehension based on facial expression recognition in synchronous distance learning courses is feasible. This can help instrutors understand the student comprehension real time. So instructors can adapt their teaching materials and strategy to fit with the learning status of students.