The study examined how different designs of AI teaching assistants (AI TAs) affect students in an introductory programming course. Four AI TAs were compared based on pedagogical style (Socratic vs. Direct instruction) and context awareness (no context vs. full context). Results showed that the Socratic AI TA with full context received the lowest favorability ratings, had the highest interaction stress, the most external LLM use, and the lowest comprehension outcomes, though differences were not statistically significant.
By Madeleine Eastwood, Harshith Narne, Joseph Hilby, Paul Denny, Ashish Aggarwal, Amanpreet Kapoor
arXiv:2511. 13271v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: The rise of Generative AI (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT has created new opportunities and challenges for computing education.
By Rufeng Chen, Shuaishuai Jiang, Jiyun Shen, AJung Moon, Lili Wei
arXiv:2507.12674v3 Announce Type: replace-cross
Abstract: Evaluating Artificial Intelligence (AI) tutor feedback before deployment requires anticipating student engagement, typically assessed through...
By Rose Niousha, Mihran Miroyan, Abigail O'Neill, Joseph E. Gonzalez, Gireeja Ranade, John DeNero, Narges Norouzi
arXiv:2606. 28882v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Large Language Models (LLMs) have shown the potential to generate code explanations that surpass those of peers in quality, offering promising opportunities for computer science education.
By Seth Bernstein, Paul Denny, Juho Leinonen, Kush Patel, Rayhona Nasimova, Matt Littlefield, Stephen MacNeil
arXiv:2607. 24755v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: This full research paper examines how different forms of learner-AI interaction relate to learning outcomes in object-oriented programming (OOP) courses.
By Marina Lepp
arXiv:2606. 30549v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: AI code completion tools, such as Github Copilot, provide students with code suggestions to help them write programs.
By Jessica Hutchison, Ian Tyler Applebaum, Kenneth Angelikas, Kush Rakesh Patel, Phuoc Nguyen, Antonio Lazaro, Nicholas Rucinski, Rahad Arman Nabid, Stephen MacNeil
arXiv:2607. 24757v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: This paper reports on the rapid development and classroom deployment of a Thonny log visualizer built using AI-assisted ``vibe coding'' to make students' programming processes easily visible to teachers.
By Heidi Taveter, Marina Lepp
The paper presents ESSE, a self‑explanation tutor that uses a large language model to give immediate feedback on students’ line‑by‑line explanations of introductory programming worked examples. It evaluates the LLM’s judgments against a domain expert and a crowd of non‑experts, finding that the model is reliable enough to serve as the tutor’s assessment engine. In an introductory Java course, the tutor’s feedback encourages students to persist, improves the completeness and conceptual depth of their explanations, and shows evidence of learning.
By Arun-Balajiee Lekshmi-Narayanan, Mohammad Hassany, Kamil Akhuseyinoglu, Rully Hendrawan, Peter Brusilovsky
arXiv:2608. 16318v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Recent advances in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) have substantially improved the ability of large language models (LLMs) to generate and explain source code.
By Marina Lepp, Joosep Kaimre
arXiv:2608. 07364v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Contribution: This paper presents a six-phase AI-assisted instructional design architecture based on the Curriculum as Code paradigm, integrating Generative AI with LaTeX and Python to automate the creation of reproducible, visually consistent, and technically precise materials for STEM education.
By Henrique Mohallem Paiva
arXiv:2607. 10674v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: As AI code tools become integrated into programming environments, students increasingly describe intended behavior in natural language and rely on these tools to generate code, shifting emphasis from code writing to specification.
By Nasser Giacaman, Valerio Terragni, Paul Denny, Viraj Kumar
arXiv:2606. 12425v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Active learning is widely recognized as an effective approach for improving learning outcomes in introductory programming courses.
By Muntasir Hoq, Griffin Pitts, Bradford Mott, Seung Lee, Jessica Vandenberg, Shuyin Jiao, Narges Norouzi, James Lester, Bita Akram