Logo
ScienceStack
Table of Contents
Fetching ...
Sign In

Interactive Learning in Computer Science Education Supported by a Discord Chatbot

Santiago Berrezueta-Guzman, Ivan Parmacli, Stephan Krusche, Stefan Wagner

TL;DR

The paper addresses the challenge of obtaining timely, actionable feedback and maintaining student engagement in an introductory CS course. It proposes a Discord-based chatbot, DiscordBot, to collect continuous feedback on activities, disseminate materials, and track attendance. Key contributions include real-time feedback collection, activity-level analytics, and visualization scripts to guide instructional adjustments. Findings show strong student acceptance and a clear link between perceived difficulty and performance, with implications for responsive CS education and potential LMS integration.

Abstract

Enhancing interaction and feedback collection in a first-semester computer science course poses a significant challenge due to students' diverse needs and engagement levels. To address this issue, we created and integrated a command-based chatbot on the course communication server on Discord. The DiscordBot enables students to provide feedback on course activities through short surveys, such as exercises, quizzes, and lectures, facilitating stress-free communication with instructors. It also supports attendance tracking and introduces lectures before they start. The research demonstrates the effectiveness of the DiscordBot as a communication tool. The ongoing feedback allowed course instructors to dynamically adjust and improve the difficulty level of upcoming activities and promote discussion in subsequent tutor sessions. The data collected reveal that students can accurately perceive the activities' difficulty and expected results, providing insights not possible through traditional end-of-semester surveys. Students reported that interaction with the DiscordBot was easy and expressed a desire to continue using it in future semesters. This responsive approach ensures the course meets the evolving needs of students, thereby enhancing their overall learning experience.

Interactive Learning in Computer Science Education Supported by a Discord Chatbot

TL;DR

The paper addresses the challenge of obtaining timely, actionable feedback and maintaining student engagement in an introductory CS course. It proposes a Discord-based chatbot, DiscordBot, to collect continuous feedback on activities, disseminate materials, and track attendance. Key contributions include real-time feedback collection, activity-level analytics, and visualization scripts to guide instructional adjustments. Findings show strong student acceptance and a clear link between perceived difficulty and performance, with implications for responsive CS education and potential LMS integration.

Abstract

Enhancing interaction and feedback collection in a first-semester computer science course poses a significant challenge due to students' diverse needs and engagement levels. To address this issue, we created and integrated a command-based chatbot on the course communication server on Discord. The DiscordBot enables students to provide feedback on course activities through short surveys, such as exercises, quizzes, and lectures, facilitating stress-free communication with instructors. It also supports attendance tracking and introduces lectures before they start. The research demonstrates the effectiveness of the DiscordBot as a communication tool. The ongoing feedback allowed course instructors to dynamically adjust and improve the difficulty level of upcoming activities and promote discussion in subsequent tutor sessions. The data collected reveal that students can accurately perceive the activities' difficulty and expected results, providing insights not possible through traditional end-of-semester surveys. Students reported that interaction with the DiscordBot was easy and expressed a desire to continue using it in future semesters. This responsive approach ensures the course meets the evolving needs of students, thereby enhancing their overall learning experience.
Paper Structure (12 sections, 10 figures)

This paper contains 12 sections, 10 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related work
  3. Methodology
  4. Course selection
  5. DiscordBot - Architecture
  6. Materials
  7. Student-DiscordBot Interactions
  8. Data Processing
  9. Usability and user satisfaction
  10. Results
  11. Discussion
  12. Conclusion

Figures (10)

  • Figure 1: Component diagram of the DiscordBot.
  • Figure 2: Interaction of DiscordBot with students regarding course activities throughout the week. On Tuesday, DiscordBot invites students to attend the lecture, providing details on the corresponding content. It also inquires about the difficulty level of the quiz following the lecture and the lecture itself once it concludes. On Wednesday and Thursday, DiscordBot assists instructors in tracking attendance for tutorial sessions and gauging their difficulty level. After the weekly assignment deadline, it also collects student feedback.
  • Figure 3: Attendance Check interaction. The DiscordBot confirms that the student is in the attendance record after receiving the keyword "g5". Due to privacy restrictions, this screenshot does not contain the students' real names.
  • Figure 4: Attendance Check bot-instructor interaction. The instructor receives a message with the list of the students in the session. Due to privacy restrictions, this screenshot does not contain the students' real names.
  • Figure 5: Full interaction to collect feedback about an activity. The DiscordBot asked about the difficulty level of the intermediate exam after this ended and then asked about the estimated grade in a percentage range. The interaction ends with a "Thank you" message.
  • ...and 5 more figures