Slavi Lyubomirov

This study employs a two-part research design to explore the impact of ChatGPT on programming education for engineering undergraduates. Study 1 involved 56 third-year students who completed a questionnaire examining the frequency and purposes of ChatGPT use in text-based programming. While no statistically significant association was found between ChatGPT usage frequency and final grades, high-achieving students tended to use the tool less frequently, whereas lower-performing students relied on it more for support. Study 2 employed a counterbalanced repeated-measures design with nine first-year students divided into two groups, who developed desktop applications with and without ChatGPT. Project assessments and focus-group interviews were used to examine the effects of ChatGPT on creativity, confidence, effectiveness, and teamwork in visual programming. The results indicate that ChatGPT use was associated with reduced task completion time and increased coding efficiency; however, it was also linked to decreased creativity, greater reliance on ready-made solutions, and diminished code readability and collaborative engagement. These results highlight the need for teaching strategies that balance AI integration in programming education. The study recommends incorporating tasks based on the Reverse Bloom’s Taxonomy and activities that allow students to work with and without ChatGPT to encourage critical reflection and responsible AI use.

This research aims to identify a suitable design solution that models the behavior of a human’s center of mass. This solution can be implemented in an exoskeleton structure that is especially designed for children who require walking assistance and rehabilitation. The primary problem posed by exoskeleton designs is representing the effect of ground–foot contact on exoskeleton behavior under kinematic and dynamic conditions. To mitigate this, our main research objective was to develop a mechanical system that demonstrates the human center of mass (CoM) behavior on an exoskeleton designed for children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The research focuses on modeling human CoM behavior under kinematic circumstances and transferring this into a mechanical system conceptual design. The obtained results validate the proposed mechanical system through a comparative analysis between numerical processing, virtual prototyping, and experimental specific methods and procedures.

This research addresses to find a suitable design solution in order to model the behavior of human center of mass and implement this in an exoskeleton structure especially designed for children walking assistance and rehabilitation. One of the most general problems on exoskeleton designs is represented by the ground – foot contact on exoskeleton behavior under kinematic and dynamic conditions. Thus, for solving this, the main research objective is to develop a mechanical system which will substitute the human center of mass CoM behavior on an exoskeleton especially designed for children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The research core focuses on modelling the human CoM behavior under kinematic circumstances and transferring this through a mechanical system conceptual design. The obtained results will validate the proposed mechanical system through a comparative analysis between numerical processing, virtual prototyping and experimental specific methods and procedures.