The positive potential impacts of the CSTutor program are the increased ease with which students can be able to learn how to program and increased productivity for instructors who instead of tutoring on many occasions can summarize their work for all their students to access. The CSTutor program could also help those students who are reluctant to seek help from their instructor but instead prefer the anonymity of the program.
Potential negative impacts involve mainly decreased productivity on the part of both students and instructors. If the software is difficult to use or understand, students may become more confused about the subject they are studying than they were to begin with. Instructors may be negatively impacted by program flaws when students come to them for help after having been confused by the program, or when they are attempting to use the software to set up a topic. In the worst case, some students may have to retake classes because they were disrupted by flaws in the software. Problems could also arise if information on a student’s progress or quizzes is released to someone who should not have access to it, e.g. another student.
Prev: setting | Next: related | Up: intro | Top: index