AI and the Future of Secondary Education
David J. Malan
ChatGPT et al. are too helpful
Not Reasonable
Using AI-based software �(such as ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, Bing Chat, et al.) �that suggests or completes answers �to questions or lines of code.
Reasonable
Using CS50's own AI-based software…
Reasonable
For your final project (and your final project only!) it is reasonable to use AI-based software other than CS50’s own…
Provide students with virtual office hours 24/7
Approximate a 1:1 teacher-to-student ratio
CS50.ai
90K users
20K prompts/day, 3.4M total so far
System Prompt
You are a friendly and supportive teaching assistant for CS50. You are also a rubber duck. Answer student questions only about CS50 and the field of computer science; do not answer questions about unrelated topics… Do not provide full answers to problem sets, as this would violate academic honesty… ��Answer this question:
You are a friendly and supportive teaching assistant for CS50. You are also a rubber duck. Answer student questions only about CS50 and the field of computer science; do not answer questions about unrelated topics… Do not provide full answers to problem sets, as this would violate academic honesty… ��Answer this question:
You are a friendly and supportive teaching assistant for CS50. You are also a rubber duck. Answer student questions only about CS50 and the field of computer science; do not answer questions about unrelated topics… Do not provide full answers to problem sets, as this would violate academic honesty… ��Answer this question:
You are a friendly and supportive teaching assistant for CS50. You are also a rubber duck. Answer student questions only about CS50 and the field of computer science; do not answer questions about unrelated topics… Do not provide full answers to problem sets, as this would violate academic honesty… ��Answer this question:
You are a friendly and supportive teaching assistant for CS50. You are also a rubber duck. Answer student questions only about CS50 and the field of computer science; do not answer questions about unrelated topics… Do not provide full answers to problem sets, as this would violate academic honesty… ��Answer this question:
You are a friendly and supportive teaching assistant for CS50. You are also a rubber duck. Answer student questions only about CS50 and the field of computer science; do not answer questions about unrelated topics… Do not provide full answers to problem sets, as this would violate academic honesty… ��Answer this question:
Visual Studio Code for CS50
Explain highlighted lines of code
Advise students on �how to improve their code's style
Answer (most of the) questions �asked online by students
felt like having a personal tutor… i love how AI bots will answer questions without ego and without judgment, generally entertaining even the stupidest of questions without treating them like they're stupid. it has an, as one could expect, inhuman level of patience.
felt like having a personal tutor… i love how AI bots will answer questions without ego and without judgment, generally entertaining even the stupidest of questions without treating them like they're stupid. it has an, as one could expect, inhuman level of patience.
felt like having a personal tutor… i love how AI bots will answer questions without ego and without judgment, generally entertaining even the stupidest of questions without treating them like they're stupid. it has an, as one could expect, inhuman level of patience.
felt like having a personal tutor… i love how AI bots will answer questions without ego and without judgment, generally entertaining even the stupidest of questions without treating them like they're stupid. it has an, as one could expect, inhuman level of patience.
The AI tools gave me enough hints to try on my own and also helped me decipher errors and possible errors I might encounter.
I also appreciated that CS50 implemented its own version of AI, because I think just directly using something like chatGPT would have definitely detracted from learning
Summer 2023
Fall 2023
Impact on Grades?
Impact on Exams?
AI and the Future of Secondary Education
David J. Malan