The underlying potential of NLP for microcontroller programming education

The trend for an increasingly ubiquitous and cyber‐physical world has been leveraging the use and importance of microcontrollers ( μC) to unprecedented levels. Therefore, microcontroller programming ( μCP) becomes a paramount skill for electrical and computer engineering students. However, μCP poses...

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Vydané v:Computer applications in engineering education Ročník 32; číslo 6
Hlavní autori: Rocha, André, Sousa, Lino, Alves, Mário, Sousa, Armando
Médium: Journal Article
Jazyk:English
Vydavateľské údaje: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.11.2024
Predmet:
artificial intelligence
AVR microcontrollers
Building codes
chatbot
chatGPT
code generation
CodeGeeX
Education
Engineering education
Github Copilot
Impact analysis
large language model (LLM)
Learning
learning outcomes
Literature reviews
microcontroller programming
Microcontrollers
Natural language processing
natural language processing (NLP)
notion
NotionAI
OpenAI
Programming languages
programming paradigms
project‐based learning
Software
software design
Students
Undergraduate study
ISSN:1061-3773, 1099-0542
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Popis
Shrnutí:The trend for an increasingly ubiquitous and cyber‐physical world has been leveraging the use and importance of microcontrollers ( μC) to unprecedented levels. Therefore, microcontroller programming ( μCP) becomes a paramount skill for electrical and computer engineering students. However, μCP poses significant challenges for undergraduate students, given the need to master low‐level programming languages and several algorithmic strategies that are not usual in “generic” programming. Moreover, μCP can be time‐consuming and complex even when using high‐level languages. This article samples the current state of μCP education in Portugal and unveils the potential support of natural language processing (NLP) tools (such as chatGPT). Our analysis of μCP curricular units from seven representative Portuguese engineering schools highlights a predominant use of AVR 8‐bit μC and project‐based learning. While NLP tools emerge as strong candidates as students' μC companion, their application and impact on the learning process and outcomes deserve to be understood. This study compares the most prominent NLP tools, analyzing their benefits and drawbacks for μCP education, building on both hands‐on tests and literature reviews. By providing automatic code generation and explanation of concepts, NLP tools can assist students in their learning process, allowing them to focus on software design and real‐world tasks that the μC is designed to handle, rather than on low‐level coding. We also analyzed the specific impact of chatGTP in the context of a μCP course at ISEP, confirming most of our expectations, but with a few curiosities. Overall, this work establishes the foundations for future research on the effective integration of NLP tools in μCP courses.
Bibliografia:This work has been carried out in the context of the U=RIsolve Academy framework @ DEE/ISEP.
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ISSN:1061-3773
1099-0542
DOI:10.1002/cae.22778