Key Points
Welcome
- This Bonus Module refers to the key concepts that underpin the Instructor Training curriculum and examines the implications of genAI tools in that context.
The GenAI Landscape
- People are using chatbots, IDE integrations, and coding agents to assist with software development and data analysis.
- Data is scarce and the landscape is constantly shifting, but at the moment it seems that chatbots are the most common mode of engagement with genAI for our target learners.
Building Skill with Practice
- Novices using chatbots in a workshop are less likely to benefit from guided practice.
- Current chatbot tools can produce functioning solutions to many exercises in Carpentries lessons.
Expertise and Instruction
- A user needs a working mental model of a domain in order to articulate what they want to achieve and to evaluate the results they get from an AI tool.
- Instructors should encourage learners to develop their own expertise and avoid giving up their agency to genAI tools.
Memory and Cognitive Load
- Chatbot use that removes germane cognitive load may impede learning.
Building Skill with Feedback
- It can be difficut to gather helpful feedback if learners are using a chatbot instead of requesting assistance from Instructors and helpers.
How Not to be Wrong About AI
- There is no generally-accepted way to measure the productivity of programmers, which makes measuring the impact of AI on productivity problematic.
- Most of the claims being made about AI’s impact would not pass scrutiny in an introductory course on research methods.
- Guerilla research methods used by User Experience researchers, such as think-aloud protocols, can reveal opportunities for improvement in specific workflows for specific users.
Wrap-up
- The way people code is changing but many of the good practices we aim to teach remain as important as ever.