Athena: A GenAI-Powered Programming Tutor Based on Open-Source LLM

With the rapid growth of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), it is important to find ways to utilize them for academic advantage. GenAI tools embody immense potential in providing personalized feedback to students any time anywhere, and hence can provide a reliable helping hand to teachers who often experience burnout in large classes and are burdened with administrative tasks. While current GenAI tools like ChatGPT are helpful, they occasionally offer misinformation - a phenomenon known as hallucination, undermine critical thinking by providing direct answers to questions, and, as paid services, can further widen the digital divide. Against the backdrop of these problems, this research introduces Athena, a GenAI programming mentor based on an open-source large language model (LLM), constructed to guide programming learners to think critically and provide reliable information leveraging retrieval augmented generation. Its impact on learning outcomes was measured by feedback from programming students. Most students have given a positive response, saying that their motivation to keep learning and their confidence in their abilities have increased. These results imply that having a reliable AI mentor that can guide students at all times can have a positive impact in self-directed learning process.