{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7154994162","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.15336","title":"Facial-Expression-Aware Prompting for Empathetic LLM Tutoring","display_name":"Facial-Expression-Aware Prompting for Empathetic LLM Tutoring","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-03-10","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7154994162","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.15336"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"pmh:oai:arXiv.org:2604.15336","doi":null,"is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.15336","pdf_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2604.15336","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"text"},"volume":null,"type":"preprint","is_traditional":true,"indexed_in":["arxiv","datacite"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"green","oa_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2604.15336","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5134054129","display_name":"Shuangquan Feng","orcid":null,"observed_orcids":[]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I36258959","display_name":"University of California San Diego","ror":"https://ror.org/0168r3w48","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Feng, Shuangquan","raw_affiliation_strings":["Neurosciences Graduate Program , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Neurosciences Graduate Program , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5107765743","display_name":"Laura Fleig","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0982-2641","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0982-2641"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I36258959","display_name":"University of California San Diego","ror":"https://ror.org/0168r3w48","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Fleig, Laura","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Cognitive Science , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Cognitive Science , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5031655586","display_name":"Ruisen Tu","orcid":null,"observed_orcids":[]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I36258959","display_name":"University of California San Diego","ror":"https://ror.org/0168r3w48","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Tu, Ruisen","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Computer Science and Engineering , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Computer Science and Engineering , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5134019267","display_name":"Philip Chi","orcid":null,"observed_orcids":[]},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Chi, Philip","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5120549817","display_name":"Edmund Bu","orcid":null,"observed_orcids":[]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I36258959","display_name":"University of California San Diego","ror":"https://ror.org/0168r3w48","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Bu, Edmund","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA","Department of Mathematics , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Mathematics , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5134033960","display_name":"Melinda Ozel","orcid":null,"observed_orcids":[]},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Ozel, Melinda","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5134039178","display_name":"Junhua Ma","orcid":null,"observed_orcids":[]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I36258959","display_name":"University of California San Diego","ror":"https://ror.org/0168r3w48","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Ma, Junhua","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Computer Science and Engineering , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Computer Science and Engineering , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5134036819","display_name":"Teng Fei","orcid":null,"observed_orcids":[]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I36258959","display_name":"University of California San Diego","ror":"https://ror.org/0168r3w48","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Fei, Teng","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Cognitive Science , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Cognitive Science , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5071129405","display_name":"Virginia R. de Sa","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0989-3576","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0989-3576"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I36258959","display_name":"University of California San Diego","ror":"https://ror.org/0168r3w48","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"de Sa, Virginia R.","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Cognitive Science , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA","Hal\u0131c\u0131oglu Data Science Institute , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Cognitive Science , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Hal\u0131c\u0131oglu Data Science Institute , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I36258959"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":1,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":null,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":null,"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11902","display_name":"Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive Learning","score":0.9955999851226807,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11902","display_name":"Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive Learning","score":0.9955999851226807,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T14414","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence in Education","score":0.0008999999845400453,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3304","display_name":"Education"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/33","display_name":"Social Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10667","display_name":"Emotion and Mood Recognition","score":0.0007999999797903001,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/facial-expressions","display_name":"facial expressions","score":0.5550000071525574},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/large-language-models","display_name":"large language models","score":0.8130000233650208},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/prompt-engineering","display_name":"prompt engineering","score":0.5649999976158142},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/multimodal-prompting","display_name":"multimodal prompting","score":0.7409999966621399},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/visual-grounding","display_name":"visual grounding","score":0.8299999833106995},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/student-agents","display_name":"student agents","score":0.5370000004768372},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/ai-tutoring-systems","display_name":"AI tutors","score":0.4129999876022339},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/affective-computing","display_name":"affective computing","score":0.5040000081062317}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2778371403","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7672049","display_name":"TUTOR","level":2,"score":0.7125999927520752},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C195704467","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q327968","display_name":"Facial expression","level":2,"score":0.6342999935150146},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779885105","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q182263","display_name":"Empathy","level":2,"score":0.5360999703407288},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C15744967","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9418","display_name":"Psychology","level":0,"score":0.5198000073432922},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777146004","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14949826","display_name":"CLARITY","level":2,"score":0.5009999871253967},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.5004000067710876},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C180747234","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23373","display_name":"Cognitive psychology","level":1,"score":0.3935000002384186},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C124304363","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q673661","display_name":"Abstraction","level":2,"score":0.3898000121116638},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780791683","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q846785","display_name":"Action (physics)","level":2,"score":0.3880000114440918},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.37549999356269836},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C107457646","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q207434","display_name":"Human\u2013computer interaction","level":1,"score":0.3601999878883362},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C81917197","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q628760","display_name":"Selection (genetic algorithm)","level":2,"score":0.35839998722076416},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C169900460","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2200417","display_name":"Cognition","level":2,"score":0.35249999165534973},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C204321447","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30642","display_name":"Natural language processing","level":1,"score":0.34380000829696655},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C126042441","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1324888","display_name":"Frame (networking)","level":2,"score":0.3425999879837036},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C184898388","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1435712","display_name":"Pairwise comparison","level":2,"score":0.3312999904155731},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C90559484","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q778379","display_name":"Expression (computer science)","level":2,"score":0.3075000047683716},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C143110190","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5373787","display_name":"Emotional expression","level":2,"score":0.3043000102043152},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2778143727","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1820650","display_name":"Readability","level":2,"score":0.299699991941452},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779304628","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3503480","display_name":"Face (sociological concept)","level":2,"score":0.29919999837875366},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C92811239","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20998670","display_name":"Expressivity","level":2,"score":0.2906999886035919},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776359362","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2145286","display_name":"Representation (politics)","level":3,"score":0.28519999980926514},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779336797","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3055492","display_name":"Intelligent tutoring system","level":2,"score":0.26739999651908875},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C49774154","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q131765","display_name":"Multimedia","level":1,"score":0.26350000500679016},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777212361","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5127848","display_name":"Class (philosophy)","level":2,"score":0.2590000033378601},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2775924081","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55608371","display_name":"Control (management)","level":2,"score":0.2563000023365021},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C88610354","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1813494","display_name":"Teaching method","level":2,"score":0.2513999938964844}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":2,"locations":[{"id":"pmh:oai:arXiv.org:2604.15336","doi":null,"is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.15336","pdf_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2604.15336","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"text"},{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2604.15336","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.15336","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.15336","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"pmh:oai:arXiv.org:2604.15336","doi":null,"is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.15336","pdf_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2604.15336","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"text"},"sustainable_development_goals":[{"score":0.7526000142097473,"display_name":"Quality education","id":"https://metadata.un.org/sdg/4"}],"study_designs":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"pdf":true,"grobid_xml":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7154994162.pdf","grobid_xml":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7154994162.grobid-xml"},"referenced_works_count":5,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W2901836079","https://openalex.org/W2949520286","https://openalex.org/W4385262268","https://openalex.org/W4399401136","https://openalex.org/W4405032057"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W7166507969","https://openalex.org/W7092297438","https://openalex.org/W7166591347","https://openalex.org/W7078600237","https://openalex.org/W2141822677","https://openalex.org/W4405426201","https://openalex.org/W4415263412","https://openalex.org/W7116687331","https://openalex.org/W4412046628","https://openalex.org/W4407926395"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Large":[0],"language":[1],"models":[2],"(LLMs)":[3],"enable":[4],"increasingly":[5],"capable":[6],"tutoring-style":[7],"conversational":[8],"agents,":[9],"yet":[10],"effective":[11],"tutoring":[12,50,63,219],"requires":[13],"sensitivity":[14],"to":[15,157,200],"learners'":[16],"affective":[17],"and":[18,28,82,99,133,146,175],"cognitive":[19],"states":[20],"beyond":[21],"text":[22],"alone.":[23],"Facial":[24],"expressions":[25,159],"provide":[26],"immediate":[27],"practical":[29],"cues":[30],"of":[31,194],"confusion,":[32],"frustration,":[33],"or":[34,113,198],"engagement,":[35],"but":[36],"remain":[37],"underexplored":[38],"in":[39,217],"LLM-driven":[40],"tutoring.":[41],"We":[42,58],"investigate":[43],"whether":[44],"facial-expression-aware":[45],"signals":[46],"can":[47,213],"improve":[48],"empathetic":[49,155],"responses":[51],"through":[52],"prompt-level":[53],"integration,":[54],"without":[55],"end-to-end":[56],"retraining.":[57],"build":[59],"a":[60,66,74,87,91,95,115],"scalable":[61],"simulated":[62],"environment":[64],"where":[65],"student":[67,232],"agent":[68],"exhibits":[69],"diverse":[70],"facial":[71,78,97,158,210,233],"behaviors":[72],"from":[73],"large":[75],"unlabeled":[76],"human":[77,144],"expression":[79,211],"video":[80],"dataset,":[81],"compare":[83],"four":[84],"tutor":[85,127,162],"variants:":[86],"text-only":[88],"LLM":[89],"baseline,":[90],"multimodal":[92],"baseline":[93],"using":[94,230],"random":[96],"frame,":[98],"two":[100],"Action":[101],"Unit":[102],"estimation":[103],"model":[104],"(AUM)-based":[105],"methods":[106,229],"that":[107,185,207],"either":[108],"inject":[109],"textual":[110,201],"AU":[111,173],"descriptions":[112],"select":[114],"peak-expression":[116],"frame":[117],"for":[118],"visual":[119,170,177],"grounding.":[120],"Across":[121],"960":[122],"multi-turn":[123],"conversations":[124],"spanning":[125],"three":[126],"backbones":[128],"(GPT-5.1,":[129],"Claude":[130],"Opus":[131],"4.5,":[132],"Gemini":[134],"2.5":[135],"Pro),":[136],"we":[137],"evaluate":[138,227],"targeted":[139],"pairwise":[140],"comparisons":[141],"with":[142,221],"five":[143],"raters":[145],"an":[147],"exhaustive":[148],"AI":[149],"evaluator.":[150],"AU-based":[151],"conditioning":[152],"consistently":[153],"improves":[154],"responsiveness":[156,199],"across":[160],"all":[161],"backbones,":[163],"while":[164],"AUM-guided":[165],"peak-frame":[166,176],"selection":[167],"outperforms":[168],"random-frame":[169],"input.":[171],"Textual":[172],"abstraction":[174],"injection":[178],"show":[179,184,206],"model-dependent":[180],"advantages.":[181],"Control":[182],"analyses":[183],"this":[186],"improvement":[187],"does":[188],"not":[189],"come":[190],"at":[191],"the":[192],"expense":[193],"worse":[195],"pedagogical":[196],"clarity":[197],"cues.":[202],"Overall,":[203],"our":[204],"results":[205],"lightweight,":[208],"structured":[209],"representations":[212],"meaningfully":[214],"enhance":[215],"empathy":[216],"LLM-based":[218],"systems":[220],"minimal":[222],"overhead.":[223],"Future":[224],"work":[225],"should":[226],"these":[228],"real":[231],"data":[234],"collected":[235],"during":[236],"authentic":[237],"learning":[238],"interactions.":[239]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-11-07T11:25:07.637180","created_date":"2026-04-21T00:00:00"}
