ICST 2025
Mon 31 March - Fri 4 April 2025 Naples, Italy
Wed 2 Apr 2025 14:00 - 14:15 at Room A1 - Education Chair(s): Dietmar Pfahl

Computer Science educators assessing student programming assignments are typically responsible for two challenging tasks: grading and providing feedback. Producing grades that are fair and feedback that is useful to students is a goal common to most educators. In this context, automated test generation and program repair offer promising solutions for detecting bugs and suggesting corrections in students’ code which could be leveraged to inform grading and feedback generation. Previous research on the applicability of these techniques to simple programming tasks (e.g., single-method algorithms) has shown promising results, but their effectiveness for more complex programming tasks remains unexplored. To fill this gap, this paper investigates the feasibility of applying existing test generation and program repair tools for assessing complex programming assignment projects. In a case study using a real-world Java programming assignment project with 296 incorrect student submissions, we found that generated tests were insufficient in detecting bugs in over 50% of cases, while full repairs could only be automatically generated for only 2.1% of submissions. Our findings indicate significant limitations in current tools for detecting bugs and repairing student submissions, highlighting the need for more advanced techniques to support automated assessment of complex assignment projects.

Wed 2 Apr

Displayed time zone: Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna change

14:00 - 15:30
EducationEducation at Room A1
Chair(s): Dietmar Pfahl University of Tartu
14:00
15m
Talk
Can Test Generation and Program Repair Inform Automated Assessment of Programming Projects?
Education
Ruizhen Gu University of Sheffield, José Miguel Rojas University of Sheffield, Donghwan Shin University of Sheffield
Pre-print
14:15
15m
Talk
Combining Logic and Large Language Models for Assisted Debugging and Repair of ASP Programs
Education
Ricardo Brancas INESC-ID, Instituto Superior Técnico, Vasco Manquinho INESC-ID; Universidade de Lisboa, Ruben Martins Carnegie Mellon University
Pre-print
14:30
15m
Talk
Experience Report on using Experiential Learning to Facilitate Learning of Bug Investigation Steps
Education
Adina Moldovan Altom, Oana Casapu Altom, Andreea Vescan Babes-Bolyai University
14:45
15m
Talk
Requirements for an Automated Assessment Tool for Learning Programming by Doing
Education
Arthur Rump University of Twente, Vadim Zaytsev University of Twente, Netherlands, Angelika Mader University of Twente
Pre-print
15:00
15m
Talk
Teaching Bug Advocacy through Flipped Classroom
Education
Andreea Galbin-Nasui Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Andreea Vescan Babes-Bolyai University
15:15
15m
Talk
A System-Level Testing Framework for Automated Assessment of Programming Assignments Allowing Students Object-Oriented Design Freedom
Education
Valerio Terragni University of Auckland, Nasser Giacaman The University of Auckland
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