Understanding University Students' Intentions to Use Chatbots in Computer Programming Education: A Quantitative Study

Abstract

Recently, the use of artificial intelligence in education is one of the more frequently discussed issues by researchers. Especially the use of artificial intelligence applications called chatbots or artificial intelligence language models in education is increasing day by day. Although the use of chatbots in education is possible for every course, it is observed that students intend to use chatbots as an assistant, an instructor, or a guide, especially in computer programming courses, which are difficult to learn and have complex structures. In this context, the aim of this study is to examine the intention of university students taking computer programming courses to use chatbots in their education. The participants consisted of 413 university students studying at a state university and taking a "computer programming" course in the 2023-2024 academic year. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyse the data. Results have shown that university students indeed possess intentions to use chatbots in computer programming education and this intention is mostly motivated by the performance expectation towards the course. In addition, for the purposes of using chatbots in computer programming education; conceptual understanding, identifying errors in program code and looking up for correct syntactical rules were among the most prominent reasons. In terms of independent variables, while there was no difference in terms of department, income status, device using chatbots, and the role attributed to chatbot by the student, a significant difference was found in terms of gender, grade level, use experience and frequency of chatbots use. According to the study, university students studying programming plan to use chatbots powered by artificial intelligence, and the usage of chatbots in programming education is expected to grow over time in tandem with the advancement of AI technology.