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Unfettered ChatGPT Access in First-Year Engineering: Student Usage & Perceptions

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Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

July 12, 2024

Conference Session

DSA Technical Session 4

Tagged Topics

Diversity and Data Science & Analytics Constituent Committee (DSA)

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/48202

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Paper Authors

biography

Duncan Davis Northeastern University

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Duncan Davis is an Associate Teaching Professor in First Year Engineering. His research focuses on using gamification to convey course content in first year classes. He is particularly interested in using the construction of Escape Rooms to teach Engineering Principles.

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biography

Nicole Alexandra Batrouny Northeastern Univeristy

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Nicole Batrouny is an Assistant Teaching Professor in First Year Engineering at Northeastern University. Her engineering education research interests include the engineering design, collaboration in engineering, decision making in engineering teams, and elementary engineering education.

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biography

Adetoun Yeaman Northeastern University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-7063-9836

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Adetoun Yeaman is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the First Year Engineering Program at Northeastern University. Her research interests include empathy, design education, ethics education and community engagement in engineering. She currently teaches Cornerstone of Engineering, a first-year two-semester course series that integrates computer programming, computer aided design, ethics and the engineering design process within a project based learning environment. She was previously an engineering education postdoctoral fellow at Wake Forest University supporting curriculum development around ethics/character education.

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Abstract

Abstract: In the midst of artificial intelligence (AI) generative models becoming commonplace and widely available, academia stands at a crossroads: embrace AI or resist AI. Each institution, department, professor, and student faces this choice. AI represents an unprecedented ability to solve problems quickly with reasonable accuracy. Open AI’s ChatGPT is one such example of a generative model powered by Large Language Models (LLM). ChatGPT can solve many coding problems in a variety of computer programming languages.

Here, we seek to understand the real world consequences of embracing generative AI in general and ChatGPT in particular through the lens of coding in C++ and MATLAB. Students in the second semester of a year-long First Year Engineering class were given unlimited access to generative AI to use on homework, quizzes, and exams throughout the course. On each assessment, if they used AI, they were asked to explain how they used it.

At the end of the semester, we collected survey data covering quantitative and qualitative feedback from two sections of this class. Quantitatively, 73.2% of students said ChatGPT should be allowed in future semesters of this class. Only 5.4% of students thought ChatGPT should be banned. From thematic analysis of the qualitative survey results as well as students explanations of their use of ChatGPT on homework assignments and exams, we characterized four ways that students engaged with AI in this course: Avoided using AI Fixed small errors and other troubleshooting Learned/refreshed concepts (especially when other resources were unavailable) Solved parts of the assignment/question

We characterize some of the ways that students can use AI responsibly and as an asset to their learning without specific training. Their responses also show students’ awareness and budding understanding of the positives and negatives of AI use for acquiring and applying foundational programming skills. The results also show that the majority of students chose to use AI to enhance their learning instead of replacing their original work.

Davis, D., & Batrouny, N. A., & Yeaman, A. (2024, June), Unfettered ChatGPT Access in First-Year Engineering: Student Usage & Perceptions Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/48202

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