Computer science education in ChatGPT Era: experiences from an experiment in a programming course for novice programmers

Tomaž Kosar (Author), Dragana Ostojić (Author), Yu David Liu (Author), Marjan Mernik (Author)

Abstract

The use of large language models with chatbots like ChatGPT has become increasingly popular among students, especially in Computer Science education. However, significant debates exist in the education community on the role of ChatGPT in learning. Therefore, it is critical to understand the potential impact of ChatGPT on the learning, engagement, and overall success of students in classrooms. In this empirical study, we report on a controlled experiment with 182 participants in a first-year undergraduate course on object-oriented programming. Our differential study divided students into two groups, one using ChatGPT and the other not using it for practical programming assignments. The study results showed that the students’ performance is not influenced by ChatGPT usage (no statistical significance between groups with a p-value of 0.730), nor are the grading results of practical assignments (p-value 0.760) and midterm exams (p-value 0.856). Our findings from the controlled experiment suggest that it is safe for novice programmers to use ChatGPT if specific measures and adjustments are adopted in the education process.

Keywords

jezikovni modeli;umetna inteligenca;objektno orientirano programiranje;large language models;ChatGPT;artificial intelligence;controlled experiment;object-oriented programming;software engineering education;

Data

Language:	English
Year of publishing:	2024
Typology:	1.01 - Original Scientific Article
Organization:	UM FERI - Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Publisher:	MDPI
UDC:	621.3
COBISS:	187200259
ISSN:	2227-7390
Views:	59
Downloads:	12
Average score:	0 (0 votes)
Metadata:

Other data

Secondary language:	Slovenian
Secondary keywords:	jezikovni modeli;umetna inteligenca;objektno orientirano programiranje;
Type (COBISS):	Article
Pages:	22 str.
Volume:	ǂVol. ǂ12
Issue:	ǂno. ǂ5, [article no.] 629
Chronology:	2024
DOI:	10.3390/math12050629
ID:	24707456