Using Generative AI in Software Design Education: An Experience Report

TL;DR

This paper reports on integrating Generative AI, specifically ChatGPT, into an undergraduate software design course, highlighting benefits, challenges, and lessons learned for effective educational deployment.

Contribution

It provides an empirical experience report on using GenAI in software design education, a relatively unexplored area beyond coding.

Findings

Students found ChatGPT helpful in the design process.

Students recognized the need to critique AI responses.

Key lessons for educators on deploying GenAI effectively.

Abstract

With the rapid adoption of Generative AI (GenAI) tools, software engineering educators have grappled with how best to incorporate them into the classroom. While some research discusses the use of GenAI in the context of learning to code, there is little research that explores the use of GenAI in the classroom for other areas of software development. This paper provides an experience report on introducing GenAI into an undergraduate software design class. Students were required to use GenAI (in the form of ChatGPT) to help complete a team-based assignment. The data collected consisted of the ChatGPT conversation logs and students' reflections on using ChatGPT for the assignment. Subsequently, qualitative analysis was undertaken on the data. Students identified numerous ways ChatGPT helped them in their design process while recognizing the need to critique the response before incorporating it into their design. At the same time, we identified several key lessons for educators in how to deploy GenAI in a software design class effectively. Based on our experience, we believe students can benefit from using GenAI in software design education as it helps them design and learn about the strengths and weaknesses of GenAI.