You don’t need to be an expert to teach programming

Applications of AI and peer review for injecting coding into your classroom

Learning Goals:
  • Write a descriptive bug report
  • Try pair programming
  • Code with AI
Authors

Elsa Culler

Nate Quarderer

Published

April 18, 2025

Keywords

Artificial Intelligence, Project-based Learning

Many students who graduate with science degrees say they did not receive the training they needed in computational skills. Indeed, we’ve observed that many departments would not hire their own undergraduates to do research because they lack coding skills. It is urgent to inject these skills into all kinds of science and math classrooms so that students feel confident applying for jobs and graduate programs in their field. In this workshop we will explore strategies that non-expert programmers can use to expose students to coding. We will discuss teaching coding using AI, teaching debugging skills rather than computer science concepts, and setting up an environment where students can support each other.