Goodbye Hello World - Research Questions for a Future CS1 Curriculum

Generative AI (GenAI) is currently capable of generating correct code for introductory level programming problems, and its performance is improving. We believe that this capability can be leveraged to improve student motivation, broaden students’ understanding of software development, and engage them in more authentic learning. We defined a set of assumptions about GenAI’s future capabilities (e.g., the ability to generate small pieces of code and to compose these pieces of code via user prompts) and engaged in a backcasting exercise to identify what else is needed to develop a CS1 course that places GenAI in a central role. Undertaking this thought experiment immediately revealed that aspects of the software development process usually reserved for later in the curriculum, such as requirements elicitation and design, could be introduced earlier in the process. With GenAI tools bearing the load of generating correct code snippets, students could focus on higher-level software design and construction skills and practice them in an authentic environment. Our thought experiment identified a set of questions that need to be addressed for such a course to actually exist, including questions about student preparation, and the ability of students to decompose problems effectively and to resolve problems that arise when integrating pieces of code. We also identified questions related to the design of a GenAI centered course, such as the impact on student motivation of using GenAI instead of engaging directly with code, the extent to which social learning theories apply to interactions with GenAI, and how existing pedagogies can integrate GenAI tools.