  Knowledge tracing---where a machine models the knowledge of a student as they
interact with coursework---is a well established problem in computer supported
education. Though effectively modeling student knowledge would have high
educational impact, the task has many inherent challenges. In this paper we
explore the utility of using Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) to model student
learning. The RNN family of models have important advantages over previous
methods in that they do not require the explicit encoding of human domain
knowledge, and can capture more complex representations of student knowledge.
Using neural networks results in substantial improvements in prediction
performance on a range of knowledge tracing datasets. Moreover the learned
model can be used for intelligent curriculum design and allows straightforward
interpretation and discovery of structure in student tasks. These results
suggest a promising new line of research for knowledge tracing and an exemplary
application task for RNNs.
