Analyzing Chat Protocols of Novice Programmers Solving Introductory Programming Tasks with ChatGPT

The increasing need for competent computing graduates proficient in programming, software development, and related technical competencies [Ca17] is one of the factors exacerbating pressure on higher education institutions to offer high quality, competency-based education [Ra21]. However, the latter requires extensive resources, mentoring, and, for example, formative feedback for learners, especially in introductory programming classes [Je22; Lo24]. This is due to the fact that novices experience a number of challenges in the process, which have been subject to extensive research in the past decades [Du86; Lu18; SS86]. Among them are cognitively demanding competencies [Ki20; Ki24], such as problem understanding, designing and writing algorithms, debugging, and understanding error messages [Du86; ER16; Ki20; Lu18; SS86]). Educators' expectations towards novice learners and what they can achieve in their first semester(s) seem to be too high and unrealistic [Lu16; Lu18; WCL07]. Moreover, the student-educator ratio in introductory programming classes keeps increasing in German higher education institutions, thereby limiting resources to provide feedback and hints, and adequately address heterogeneous prior knowledge and diverse educational biographies [Pe16; SB22].