By Cassandra Pattanayak (Wellesley College)
Information
When students are allowed to use generative AI to support coding in statistics and data science courses, what is their work process? How are students using GenAI for coding tasks? Can studying students’ GenAI processes lead to data-informed syllabus changes and best practices for guiding student use of GenAI? This project attempts to address these questions by analyzing data from three courses in statistics and data science for intermediate and advanced undergraduates. Students recorded screen capture videos while completing multiple timed in-class coding assessments where GenAI was allowed. By analyzing these videos and student self-reports on GenAI use, I will describe the varied ways that students are using GenAI and takeaways for pedagogy. This work has been conducted at a small liberal arts college for women college. Class sizes typically range from 10 to 30. The college offers a data science major and a statistics minor.