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1. A Study of Worked Examples for SQL Programming

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3502718.3524813  

   Akhuseyinoglu, Kamil; Hardt, Ryan; Barria-Pineda, Jordan; Brusilovsky, Peter; Pollari-Malmi, Kerttu; Sirkiä, Teemu; Malmi, Lauri (July 2022, Proceedings of 2022 Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education)

   The paper focuses on a new type of interactive learning content for SQL programming - worked examples of SQL code. While worked examples are popular in learning programming, their application for learning SQL is limited. Using a novel tool for presenting interactive worked examples, Database Query Analyzer (DBQA), we performed a large-scale randomized controlled study assessing the value of worked examples as a new type of practice content in a database course. We report the results of the classroom study examining the usage and the impact of DBQA. Among other aspects, we explored the effect of textual step explanations provided by DBQA. 

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2. Improving Engagement in Program Construction Examples for Learning Python Programming

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s40593-020-00197-0.  

   Hosseini, Roya & (January 2020, International journal of artificial intelligence in education)

   This research is focused on how to support students’ acquisition of program construction skills through worked examples. Although examples have been consistently proven to be valuable for student’s learning, the learning technology for computer science education lacks program construction examples with interactive elements that could engage students. The goal of this work is to investigate the value of the “engaging” features in programming examples. We introduce PCEX, an online tool developed to present program construction examples in an engaging fashion. We also present the results of a controlled study with a between-subject design that was conducted in a large introductory Python programming class to compare PCEX with non-interactive worked examples focused on program construction. The results of our study show the positive impact of interactive program construction examples on student’s engagement, problem-solving performance, and learning. 

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3. Authoring Worked Examples for JAVA Programming with Human AI Collaboration

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3605098.3636160  

   Hassany, Mohammad; Ke, Jiaze; Brusilovsky, Peter; Lekshmi_Narayanan, Arun Balajiee; Akhuseyinoglu, Kamil (April 2024, Proceedings of ACM/SIGAPP Symposium on Applied Computing, SAC 2024)

   Worked examples are among the most popular types of learning content in programming classes. However, instructors rarely have time to provide line-by-line explanations for a large number of examples typically used in a programming class. In this paper, we explore and assess a human-AI collaboration approach to authoring worked examples for Java programming. We introduce an authoring system for creating Java worked examples that generate a starting version of code explanations and presents it to the instructor to edit if necessary. We also present a study that assesses the quality of explanations created with this approach. 

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4. Human-AI Co-Creation of Worked Examples for Programming Classes

   Hassany, Mohammad; Brusilovsky, Peter; Ke, Jiaze; Akhuseyinoglu, Kamil; Lekshmi_Narayanan, Arun_Balajiee (March 2024, Proceedings of 5th Workshop on Human-AI Co-Creation with Generative Models (HA-GEN 20224) at IUI 2024)

   Worked examples (solutions to typical programming problems presented as a source code in a certain language and are used to explain the topics from a programming class) are among the most popular types of learning content in programming classes. Most approaches and tools for presenting these examples to students are based on line-by-line explanations of the example code. However, instructors rarely have time to provide line-by-line explanations for a large number of examples typically used in a programming class. In this paper, we explore and assess a human-AI collaboration approach to authoring worked examples for Java programming. We introduce an authoring system for creating Java worked examples that generates a starting version of code explanations and presents it to the instructor to edit if necessary. We also present a study that assesses the quality of explanations created with this approach. 

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5. The Impact of Connecting Worked Examples and Completion Problems for Introductory Programming Practice

   Akhuseyinoglu, Kamil; Klašnja-Milicevic, Aleksandra; Brusilovsky, Peter (September 2024, European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning, EC-TEL 2025)

   Worked examples have consistently demonstrated their value in education, serving as the model solutions for solving specific problem types. Past studies indicate that combining worked examples with practice problems is more effective than providing either problems or examples in isolation. Despite these findings, the exploration of the effects of grouping worked examples and problems for programming practice is limited, especially in learning environments designed for practice. This paper compares two content organization approaches in a practice system. The first one is explicitly connecting worked examples and completion problems, allowing students to access them in smaller bundles. The other one is delivering the same set of activities separately but keeping an implicit connection by grouping them under a topic. We examined the effects of these two approaches on student engagement and performance in a semester-long classroom experiment conducted in a CS1 programming course. The results indicate that explicitly connecting worked examples and completion problems increased engagement with the completion problems and supported problem-solving performance by leading to higher success rates and persistence. 

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