Generative AI and Computational Thinking to Improve Programming Learning: Maidelis Milanés Presents Her Research
Today, Maidelis Milanés Luque, lecturer at the University of Informatics Sciences (UCI, Cuba), presented her research at Diverso Lab on the use of generative artificial intelligence to support programming learning in higher education.
In Cuba, as in many other parts of the world, the first-year introductory programming course is a significant challenge for students, with high failure and dropout rates. To help improve this situation, her research proposes the use of generative AI tools in an ethical and critical way, grounded in the pillars of computational thinking.
To assess the effectiveness of this approach, a study was carried out with around 200 first-year students, divided into a control group and an experimental group. The results are very promising, showing significant improvements in objective tests of programming concepts, in students’ perceived self-efficacy, and in their satisfaction with the learning process.
This work is part of Maidelis’s doctoral thesis, carried out under a cotutelle agreement between the University of Seville and the University of Informatics Sciences. We will continue to develop this line of research in the coming months.