Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kimmel, Bailey, Geisert, Austin, Yaro, Lily, Gipson, Brendan, Hotchkiss, Taylor, Osae-Asante, Sidney, Vaught, Hunter, Wininger, Grant, Yamaguchi, Chase
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.08072
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866917588801421312
author Kimmel, Bailey
Geisert, Austin
Yaro, Lily
Gipson, Brendan
Hotchkiss, Taylor
Osae-Asante, Sidney
Vaught, Hunter
Wininger, Grant
Yamaguchi, Chase
author_facet Kimmel, Bailey
Geisert, Austin
Yaro, Lily
Gipson, Brendan
Hotchkiss, Taylor
Osae-Asante, Sidney
Vaught, Hunter
Wininger, Grant
Yamaguchi, Chase
contents Generative AI is changing the way that many disciplines are taught, including computer science. Researchers have shown that generative AI tools are capable of solving programming problems, writing extensive blocks of code, and explaining complex code in simple terms. Particular promise has been shown in using generative AI to enhance programming error messages. Both students and instructors have complained for decades that these messages are often cryptic and difficult to understand. Yet recent work has shown that students make fewer repeated errors when enhanced via GPT-4. We extend this work by implementing feedback from ChatGPT for all programs submitted to our automated assessment tool, Athene, providing help for compiler, run-time, and logic errors. Our results indicate that adding generative AI to an automated assessment tool does not necessarily make it better and that design of the interface matters greatly to the usability of the feedback that GPT-4 provided.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_08072
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Enhancing Programming Error Messages in Real Time with Generative AI
Kimmel, Bailey
Geisert, Austin
Yaro, Lily
Gipson, Brendan
Hotchkiss, Taylor
Osae-Asante, Sidney
Vaught, Hunter
Wininger, Grant
Yamaguchi, Chase
Human-Computer Interaction
Artificial Intelligence
Generative AI is changing the way that many disciplines are taught, including computer science. Researchers have shown that generative AI tools are capable of solving programming problems, writing extensive blocks of code, and explaining complex code in simple terms. Particular promise has been shown in using generative AI to enhance programming error messages. Both students and instructors have complained for decades that these messages are often cryptic and difficult to understand. Yet recent work has shown that students make fewer repeated errors when enhanced via GPT-4. We extend this work by implementing feedback from ChatGPT for all programs submitted to our automated assessment tool, Athene, providing help for compiler, run-time, and logic errors. Our results indicate that adding generative AI to an automated assessment tool does not necessarily make it better and that design of the interface matters greatly to the usability of the feedback that GPT-4 provided.
title Enhancing Programming Error Messages in Real Time with Generative AI
topic Human-Computer Interaction
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.08072