Gabriel Castelblanco

Self-Regulation, Scaffolding, and the Illusion of Improvement: A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of an LLM-Based Programming Help Tool

This study intentionally delayed the introduction of an LMS-integrated LLM tool, CodeHelp, until after early-semester assessments and substantial measures of student effort had already been collected, suggesting that engagement with LLM-based tools reflects underlying self-regulatory behaviors and that the tool functions as a form of technological scaffolding primarily activated by already-engaged learners.