GenAI in Education

🔬 PTAS-Funded Project: GenAI Integration in Computer Science Education

Principal Investigator: Pavlos Andreadis

Team: Aurora Constantin, Cristina Adriana Alexandru, Fiona Mcneill, Heather Yorston, Judy Robertson, Stuart King, Vidminas Vizgirda; and Anya Habana, Aagoon Chakraborty, Kashvi Chabbra

Institution: School of Informatics, Computer Science Education Group

Funding: Principal's Teaching Award Scheme

Project Motivation

Following the lessons learned from Covid-19 (students needed access to learning materials) and the emergence of ChatGPT (students need learning, not test prep), this project addresses the fundamental shift in how students think, search, and problem-solve with GenAI.

Research Goals

• Understand faculty and student perceptions of GenAI integration
• Document current approaches to GenAI in Computer Science teaching
• Identify challenges and barriers to effective integration
• Develop evidence-based recommendations for educational practice

Research Methodology

Survey Participants:

• 230 Students: 55% male, 36% female, 3% non-binary/third, 6% prefer not to say
• 52 Academic Staff: 50% male, 27% female, 8% non-binary/third, 15% prefer not to say
• Focus Groups: 12 Students, 5 Academic Staff

Key Findings

• Outlawing GenAI is pointless – students will adapt around bans
• Traditional "final-answer" assessment is obsolete – focus on process
• Make students work with/against GenAI – don't ignore or fear it
• Teach prompt engineering and critical AI use – not just memorization
• GenAI can support fundamentals – use it to teach and assess real skills
• AI detectors don't work – don't rely on them
• Exams instead of coursework is only a temporary crutch – don't miss the bigger opportunity

Recommendations

• Lecturers: Start small – experiment with redesigning one assessment
• Administration: Invest in real assessment redesign – this isn't a minor patch
• Get clear on what students should learn and do with GenAI
• Some domains will need GenAI-specific curricula
• Leverage GenAI to enhance teaching and assessment
• The world has changed – our assessment and teaching must change with it

🎓 UKICER 2025 - Conference Organization & Workshop Presentation

Conference: UK and Ireland Computing Education Research (UKICER) 2025

Dates: September 4-5, 2025

Location: Edinburgh, UK

Organizational Role

I am helping organize UKICER 2025 as part of the Local Organising Committee. My main responsibilities include:

• Website Maintenance: Maintaining and updating the conference website
• On-site Administration: Managing logistics and coordination during the conference
• GenAI Workshop: Building, organizing, and delivering an organizer workshop on GenAI in Education

Workshop Presentation

I am excited to be presenting a further GenAI workshop alongside Jake Van Clief, focusing on practical applications of generative AI in educational contexts. This workshop will explore innovative approaches to integrating AI tools in computer science education.

Conference Overview

UKICER is a leading forum for researchers and practitioners to meet and share advances in computer science education. The conference brings together researchers, academics, industry practitioners and teachers from across the UK and Ireland as well as from the rest of Europe and the wider world.