How to Teach Programming in the AI Era? A Professors' Perspective

Abstract

In recent years, many questions have arisen regarding the use of generative AI in programming courses. There are concerns about the development of students’ programming skills, the relevance of continuing to teach computer programming to all students, the best way to introduce AI tools to programming classes, ethical issues, and their appropriate use, among other aspects. In this work, we conducted a survey with a group of professors at our university to gather their perceptions on these topics. We found that all the professors are aware of the AI tools and that most students will use them, whether they are instructed to do so or not. Many professors support the idea that AI tools must be included in programming courses, although some still believe these tools should not be used. Most professors think that basic programming should be taught to students of all majors, and they are concerned about ethical issues related to the use of AI tools. Most of the professors who answered the survey agree that the AI tool should be used as a support tool, never as the main tool in programming courses, and they also state that these tools must be used after having a solid knowledge of the programming fundamentals.