Enhancing personalized learning pathways in vocational education through AI and big data analytics

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data analytics are increasingly transforming vocational education by enabling personalized learning experiences and supporting data-driven educational practices. This study examines the influence of AI-powered personalized learning and Big Data analytics on student engagement, vocational skill development, learning efficiency, and overall program satisfaction at Vocational Colleges in Henan Province. A quantitative research design was adopted, and structured questionnaires were administered to 250 participants from the vocational education environment. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability and validity testing, ANOVA, and regression analysis to evaluate the proposed relationships among the study variables. The findings indicate positive participant perceptions of AI-based personalized learning, with high mean scores for AI personalization (4.215), student engagement (4.200), skill readiness (4.187), learning efficiency (4.210), and program satisfaction (4.220). Both regression and mediation analyses revealed positive associative and indirect links between AI personalization, the processing of big data, learner engagement and the vocational learning outcomes. However, ANOVA results did not show statistically significant effects of AI on skill readiness (p = 0.222), AI combined with Big Data on skill readiness (p = 0.258), AI on learning efficiency (p = 0.348), or AI on satisfaction (p = 0.348). Thus, the findings indicate positive participant perceptions and significant associative and mediating relationships, while the non-significant ANOVA results do not support direct effects of AI on several vocational learning outcomes.