Three Years with Classroom AI in Introductory Programming: Shifts in Student Awareness, Interaction, and Performance

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Ma, Boxuan, Li, Huiyong, Li, Gen, Chen, Li, Tang, Cheng, Shimada, Atsushi, Konomi, Shin'ichi
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Ma, Boxuan
Li, Huiyong
Li, Gen
Chen, Li
Tang, Cheng
Shimada, Atsushi
Konomi, Shin'ichi
author_facet Ma, Boxuan
Li, Huiyong
Li, Gen
Chen, Li
Tang, Cheng
Shimada, Atsushi
Konomi, Shin'ichi
contents Generative AI (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT now provide novice programmers with instant, personalized support and are reshaping computing education. While a growing body of work examines AI's immediate impacts, longitudinal evidence remains limited on how students' awareness, student-AI interaction patterns, and course outcomes evolve as AI becomes routine in classrooms. To address this gap, we investigate an introductory Python course across three successive AI-supported cohorts (2023-2025). Using questionnaires, coded student-AI dialogue logs, and course assessment records, we examine cohort-to-cohort shifts in students' AI awareness, interaction practices, and learning outcomes. We find that students' relationships with GenAI change systematically over time: familiarity and uptake become increasingly normative, and help-seeking practices evolve alongside growing AI literacy and shifting expectations of what the assistant should provide. These changes suggest that, in the AI era, the central instructional challenge is less about whether students use AI and more about how courses redefine productive learning practices while maintaining student agency. Our study offers longitudinal evidence and practical implications for designing and integrating AI programming support in course settings.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_22672
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Three Years with Classroom AI in Introductory Programming: Shifts in Student Awareness, Interaction, and Performance
Ma, Boxuan
Li, Huiyong
Li, Gen
Chen, Li
Tang, Cheng
Shimada, Atsushi
Konomi, Shin'ichi
Human-Computer Interaction
Generative AI (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT now provide novice programmers with instant, personalized support and are reshaping computing education. While a growing body of work examines AI's immediate impacts, longitudinal evidence remains limited on how students' awareness, student-AI interaction patterns, and course outcomes evolve as AI becomes routine in classrooms. To address this gap, we investigate an introductory Python course across three successive AI-supported cohorts (2023-2025). Using questionnaires, coded student-AI dialogue logs, and course assessment records, we examine cohort-to-cohort shifts in students' AI awareness, interaction practices, and learning outcomes. We find that students' relationships with GenAI change systematically over time: familiarity and uptake become increasingly normative, and help-seeking practices evolve alongside growing AI literacy and shifting expectations of what the assistant should provide. These changes suggest that, in the AI era, the central instructional challenge is less about whether students use AI and more about how courses redefine productive learning practices while maintaining student agency. Our study offers longitudinal evidence and practical implications for designing and integrating AI programming support in course settings.
title Three Years with Classroom AI in Introductory Programming: Shifts in Student Awareness, Interaction, and Performance
topic Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.22672