Abstract
Abstract— This work-in-progress (WIP) examines the potential of AI-powered chatbots, especially ChatGPT, as an instructional tool to support student learning in an introductory electric circuits course. AI chatbots are becoming increasingly prominent in educational settings due to their capabilities in providing immediate, natural language-based explanations that support both procedural and conceptual understanding. In this WIP, electrical engineering students were engaged with ChatGPT to solve problems related to fundamental topics of Voltage and Current Division as well as Nodal Analysis. Through structured assignments, students compared traditional problem-solving methods with chatbot-assisted approaches, Key findings indicate mixed outcomes, with students demonstrating improved comprehension in conceptual topics but facing challenges in accuracy due to prompting errors and limitations in ChatGPT's analytical processing. This WIP shows that, on average, 82% of students expressed positive comments about ChatGPT. Additionally, 48% of students who used ChatGPT reported an improvement in their self-efficacy, particularly in their confidence and understanding of Electric Circuits. However, for Nodal Analysis, only 22% of students who provided accurate prompts received a correct solution from ChatGPT that closely matched their hand calculations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Work in Progress AI in Engineering |
| State | Accepted/In press - 2024 |