Anis Elbahi, Mohamed Nazih Omri, Mohamed Ali Mahjoub et al.
Automatically recognizing the e-learning activities is an important task for improving the online learning process. Probabilistic graphical models such as hidden Markov models and conditional random fields have been successfully used in order to identify a Web users activity. For such models, the sequences of observation are crucial for training and inference processes. Despite the efficiency of these probabilistic graphical models in segmenting and labeling stochastic sequences, their performance is adversely affected by the imperfect quality of data used for the construction of sequences of observation. In this paper, a formalism of the possibilistic theory will be used in order to propose a new approach for observation sequences preparation. The eminent contribution of our approach is to evaluate the effect of possibilistic reasoning during the generation of observation sequences on the effectiveness of hidden Markov models and conditional random fields models. Using a dataset containing 51 real manipulations related to three types of learners tasks, the preliminary experiments demonstrate that the sequences of observation obtained based on possibilistic reasoning significantly improve the performance of hidden Marvov models and conditional random fields models in the automatic recognition of the e-learning activities.