ProgTutor: A Robotic-Based Framework to Support Teaching and Learning of Programming Fundamentals

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Javier Ortega-Morla, Antonio Leis, Alma Mallo, Laura Morán-Fernández, Sara Guerreiro-Santalla, Alejandro Paz-Lopez, Beatriz Pérez-Sánchez, Noelia Sánchez-Maroño, Alejandro Rodríguez-Arias, Oscar Fontenla-Romero, Francisco Bellas

Published: 2025, Last Modified: 27 Feb 2026IEEE Trans. Learn. Technol. 2025EveryoneRevisionsBibTeXCC BY-SA 4.0
Abstract: The initial version of ProgTutor, a learning framework designed to teach the fundamentals of computer programming in a personalized and applied manner, is presented here. The main contribution of this tool is the integration of an adaptive learning system with a 3-D robotic simulator, used to face realistic challenges in a user-friendly fashion. ProgTutor provides automated evaluations and feedback on coding errors, ensuring that learners receive the support they need to progress effectively. In addition, it features dynamic learning paths tailored to each student’s pace, offloading tasks such as automated evaluation and adaptive sequencing to the tool so that students and teachers can concentrate on judgment. ProgTutor also enhances the teachers’ capacities as educators, as they can focus their attention on those students with more learning difficulties. Therefore, it functions as intelligence augmentation rather than automation, with teachers remaining in the decision loop. This article introduces the conceptual and functional design of ProgTutor, and it includes piloting results with high school students during the academic course 2023–2024, focused on their acceptability of the tool and on the analysis of the real impact that this type of system could have over the formal educational landscape in the future.