Collab-ChiQat: A Collaborative Remaking of a Computer Science Intelligent Tutoring System

This paper focuses on the motivation, design, and initial prototype implementation of Collab-ChiQat. Collab-ChiQat is a collaborative reconceptualization of an existing intelligent tutoring system for Computer Science Education originally intended for one-to-one student-system tutoring. Collab-ChiQat allows students to work as pair programmers as they solve coding problems for linked lists, a foundational and difficult to grasp CS concept. The work is unique in it’s comparison of how system structuring of collaboration affects both learning and actual collaboration. In one condition, students are left to themselves with no system feedback regarding their collaborative behavior. While in a second condition, the collaboration is semi-structured, meaning students received a visualization of their participation and other metrics.