Rethinking Computer Science Education in the Age of GenAI

2025/04/28 by Orit Hazzan, Yael Erez · 1 voice
Computer Science · Psychology · #Educational Games and Gamification #Online Learning and Analytics #Teaching and Learning Programming

paper · pdf · doi:10.1145/3732792

openalex publication_date 2025/04/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

In this opinion piece, we explore the idea that GenAI has the potential to fundamentally disrupt computer science education (CSE) by drawing insights from 10 pedagogical and cognitive theories and models. We highlight how GenAI improves CSE by making educational practices more effective and requires less effort and time, and all at a lower cost, properties that have the potential to make GenAI a disruptive technology for CSE. Each of the 10 theories and models examined serves as a lens through which we observe and interpret the impact of GenAI on CSE. The 10 theories and models are grouped into 3 categories: Learning (Constructivism, Cognitive Load, and Motivation), Pedagogy (Bloom’s Taxonomy, Assessment, Personalization/Diversity/Equity, and Didactic Transposition), and Competencies (the KSA Model, Computational Thinking, and Metacognition).

Citations

• Part I: Cognitive development in children: Piaget development and learning
• The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior
• Legislation by Hypothesis: The Case of Task-Based Instruction
• Computational thinking
• How to Prompt? Opportunities and Challenges of Zero- and Few-Shot Learning for Human-AI Interaction in Creative Applications of Generative Models

Discussions

• Just published in TOCE: "Rethinking Computer Science Education in the Age of GenAI". Key finding: GenAI is fundamentally disrupting CS education. The study analyzes 10 pedagogical theories showing ho [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]