Preprint / Version 1

LLM Tutors for Computer Science Courses

##article.authors##

  • Isaac Pan Cupertino High School

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.1530

Keywords:

chatbots, LLM Tutors, Computer science

Abstract

Chatbots can provide quick feedback and also answer follow-up questions for students. This study aims to explore the use of chatbots for courses by taking advantage of the pre-defined course assignments to give the chatbot a sample solution to reduce errors. The study focuses on the ability of chatbots to provide high-level plans, pseudocode, and debug students' code. The results showed that the chatbot excelled at providing high-level plans and pseudocode that was often very similar to the sample solution. However, the chatbot also encountered some limitations as it struggled to accurately find errors when debugging and sometimes would incorrectly flag a portion of code that was correct. Overall, chatbots have potential in computer science course education as an assistant, but still require more improvement until it is reliable.

References

Bonner, E., Lege, R., & Frazier, E. (2023). LARGE LANGUAGE MODEL-BASED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM: PRACTICAL IDEAS FOR TEACHING. Teaching English with Technology, 2023(1). https://doi.org/10.56297/bkam1691/wieo1749

Gan, W., Qi, Z., Wu, J., & Lin, C.-W. (2023). Large Language Models in Education: Vision and Opportunities. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2311.13160

Hellas, A., Leinonen, J., Sarsa, S., Koutcheme, C., Kujanpää, L., & Sorva, J. (2023). Exploring the Responses of Large Language Models to Beginner Programmers’ Help Requests. ArXiv. https://doi.org/10.1145/3568813.3600139

Kumar, H., Musabirov, I., Reza, M., Wang, X., Williams, J., Kuzminykh, A., & Liut, M. (2024, January 23). Impact of Guidance and Interaction Strategies for LLM Use on Learner Performance and Perception. Arxiv.org. https://arxiv.org/html/2310.13712v2

Zamfirescu-Pereira, J., Qi, L., Hartmann, B., Denero, J., & Norouzi, N. (n.d.). Conversational Programming with LLM-Powered Interactive Support in an Introductory Computer Science Course. Retrieved February 26, 2024, from https://gaied.org/neurips2023/files/32/32_paper.pdf

Downloads

Posted

2024-08-25