[2405.17739] The Widening Gap: The Benefits and Harms of Generative AI for Novice Programmers

-->

Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence

arXiv:2405.17739 (cs)

[Submitted on 28 May 2024]

Title:The Widening Gap: The Benefits and Harms of Generative AI for Novice Programmers

Authors:James Prather, Brent Reeves, Juho Leinonen, Stephen MacNeil, Arisoa S. Randrianasolo, Brett Becker, Bailey Kimmel, Jared Wright, Ben Briggs<br>View a PDF of the paper titled The Widening Gap: The Benefits and Harms of Generative AI for Novice Programmers, by James Prather and 8 other authors

View PDF<br>HTML (experimental)

Abstract:Novice programmers often struggle through programming problem solving due to a lack of metacognitive awareness and strategies. Previous research has shown that novices can encounter multiple metacognitive difficulties while programming. Novices are typically unaware of how these difficulties are hindering their progress. Meanwhile, many novices are now programming with generative AI (GenAI), which can provide complete solutions to most introductory programming problems, code suggestions, hints for next steps when stuck, and explain cryptic error messages. Its impact on novice metacognition has only started to be explored. Here we replicate a previous study that examined novice programming problem solving behavior and extend it by incorporating GenAI tools. Through 21 lab sessions consisting of participant observation, interview, and eye tracking, we explore how novices are coding with GenAI tools. Although 20 of 21 students completed the assigned programming problem, our findings show an unfortunate divide in the use of GenAI tools between students who accelerated and students who struggled. Students who accelerated were able to use GenAI to create code they already intended to make and were able to ignore unhelpful or incorrect inline code suggestions. But for students who struggled, our findings indicate that previously known metacognitive difficulties persist, and that GenAI unfortunately can compound them and even introduce new metacognitive difficulties. Furthermore, struggling students often expressed cognitive dissonance about their problem solving ability, thought they performed better than they did, and finished with an illusion of competence. Based on our observations from both groups, we propose ways to scaffold the novice GenAI experience and make suggestions for future work.

Comments:<br>Accepted to ICER 2024

Subjects:

Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI); Human-Computer Interaction (cs.HC)

Cite as:<br>arXiv:2405.17739 [cs.AI]

(or<br>arXiv:2405.17739v1 [cs.AI] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2405.17739

Focus to learn more

arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite

Submission history<br>From: James Prather [view email]<br>[v1]<br>Tue, 28 May 2024 01:48:28 UTC (27,240 KB)

Full-text links:<br>Access Paper:

View a PDF of the paper titled The Widening Gap: The Benefits and Harms of Generative AI for Novice Programmers, by James Prather and 8 other authors<br>View PDF<br>HTML (experimental)<br>TeX Source

view license

Current browse context:

cs.AI

next >

new<br>recent<br>| 2024-05

Change to browse by:

cs<br>cs.HC

References & Citations

NASA ADS<br>Google Scholar

Semantic Scholar

export BibTeX citation<br>Loading...

BibTeX formatted citation

&times;

loading...

Data provided by:

Bookmark

Bibliographic Tools

Bibliographic and Citation Tools

Bibliographic Explorer Toggle

Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?)

Connected Papers Toggle

Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?)

Litmaps Toggle

Litmaps (What is Litmaps?)

scite.ai Toggle

scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?)

Code, Data, Media

Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article

alphaXiv Toggle

alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?)

Links to Code Toggle

CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?)

DagsHub Toggle

DagsHub (What is DagsHub?)

GotitPub Toggle

Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?)

Huggingface Toggle

Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?)

ScienceCast Toggle

ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?)

Demos

Demos

Replicate Toggle

Replicate (What is Replicate?)

Spaces Toggle

Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?)

Spaces Toggle

TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?)

Related Papers

Recommenders and Search Tools

Link to Influence Flower

Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?)

Core recommender toggle

CORE Recommender (What is CORE?)

Author

Venue

Institution

Topic

About arXivLabs

arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators

arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.

Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.

Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs .

Which authors of this...