Publications

Peer-reviewed publications

2027

1. EMSE

   LLMs’ Reshaping of People, Processes, Products, and Society in Software Development: A Qualitative Exploration with Early Adopters

   Benyamin Tabarsi^†, Heidi Reichert^†, Sam Gilson, and 3 more authors

   Empirical Software Engineering, 2027

   † Equal contribution. Published online August 7, 2026; journal issue dated 2027.

   Link Bib

   @article{tabarsi2026llms,
     title = {LLMs' Reshaping of People, Processes, Products, and Society in Software Development: A Qualitative Exploration with Early Adopters},
     author = {Tabarsi, Benyamin and Reichert, Heidi and Gilson, Sam and Limke, Ally and Kuttal, Sandeep and Barnes, Tiffany},
     journal = {Empirical Software Engineering},
     volume = {32},
     number = {1},
     pages = {21},
     year = {2027},
     publisher = {Springer},
     doi = {10.1007/s10664-026-10917-0},
     note = {† Equal contribution. Published online August 7, 2026; journal issue dated 2027.},
   }

2026

1. AI-HCI

   Human-Centered Design of LLM-Powered Educational Chatbots: A Study with Secondary Teachers

   Heidi Reichert, Daniel Briceno, Benyamin Tabarsi, and 1 more author

   In Artificial Intelligence in HCI: 7th International Conference, AI-HCI 2026, Lecture Notes in Computer Science 16746, 2026

   Link Bib

   @inproceedings{reichert2026humancentered,
     title = {Human-Centered Design of LLM-Powered Educational Chatbots: A Study with Secondary Teachers},
     author = {Reichert, Heidi and Briceno, Daniel and Tabarsi, Benyamin and Barnes, Tiffany},
     booktitle = {Artificial Intelligence in HCI: 7th International Conference, AI-HCI 2026, Lecture Notes in Computer Science 16746},
     pages = {516--535},
     year = {2026},
     publisher = {Springer},
     doi = {10.1007/978-3-032-31048-4_32},
   }

2. AIED

   Adversarial Assignment Perturbation: Effects on Help-Seeking Behaviors in Student Generative AI Chatbot Use

   Sam Gilson, Benyamin Tabarsi, and Tiffany Barnes

   In Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED 2026), Part V, 2026

   Link Bib

   @inproceedings{gilson2026adversarial,
     title = {Adversarial Assignment Perturbation: Effects on Help-Seeking Behaviors in Student Generative AI Chatbot Use},
     author = {Gilson, Sam and Tabarsi, Benyamin and Barnes, Tiffany},
     booktitle = {Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED 2026), Part V},
     pages = {440--449},
     year = {2026},
     publisher = {Springer},
     doi = {10.1007/978-3-032-29770-9_48},
   }

3. SIGCSE

   MerryQuery in the Loop: How Students Use and Perceive a GenAI-Powered Assistant in an Introductory Programming Course

   Benyamin Tabarsi

   In Proceedings of the 57th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2, 2026

   Link Bib

   @inproceedings{tabarsi2026merryquery,
     title = {MerryQuery in the Loop: How Students Use and Perceive a GenAI-Powered Assistant in an Introductory Programming Course},
     author = {Tabarsi, Benyamin},
     booktitle = {Proceedings of the 57th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2},
     pages = {1685--1686},
     year = {2026},
     publisher = {ACM},
     doi = {10.1145/3770761.3777164},
   }

2025

1. AAAI Demo

   MerryQuery: A Trustworthy LLM-Powered Tool Providing Personalized Support for Educators and Students

   Benyamin Tabarsi, Aditya Basarkar, Xukun Liu, and 2 more authors

   In Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Apr 2025

   Best Demo Link Bib PDF Website

   Best Technical Demonstration Award at AAAI 2025

   @inproceedings{tabarsi2025merryquery,
     title = {MerryQuery: A Trustworthy LLM-Powered Tool Providing Personalized Support for Educators and Students},
     author = {Tabarsi, Benyamin and Basarkar, Aditya and Liu, Xukun and Xu, Dongkuan DK and Barnes, Tiffany},
     booktitle = {Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence},
     volume = {39},
     number = {28},
     pages = {29700--29702},
     month = apr,
     year = {2025},
     doi = {10.1609/aaai.v39i28.35372},
   }

2. AAAI

   Developing LLM-Powered Trustworthy Agents for Personalized Learning Support

   Benyamin Tabarsi

   In Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Apr 2025

   Doctoral Consortium.

   Link Bib

   @inproceedings{tabarsi2025developing,
     title = {Developing LLM-Powered Trustworthy Agents for Personalized Learning Support},
     author = {Tabarsi, Benyamin},
     booktitle = {Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence},
     volume = {39},
     number = {28},
     pages = {29301--29302},
     month = apr,
     year = {2025},
     doi = {10.1609/aaai.v39i28.35228},
     note = {Doctoral Consortium.},
   }

2024

1. FIE

   Empowering Secondary School Teachers: Creating, Executing, and Evaluating a Transformative Professional Development Course on ChatGPT

   Heidi Reichert, Benyamin Tabarsi, Zifan Zang, and 8 more authors

   In 2024 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2024

   Link Bib

   @inproceedings{reichert2024empowering,
     title = {Empowering Secondary School Teachers: Creating, Executing, and Evaluating a Transformative Professional Development Course on ChatGPT},
     author = {Reichert, Heidi and Tabarsi, Benyamin and Zang, Zifan and Fennell, Cheri and Bhandari, Indira and Robinson, David and Drayton, Madeline and Crofton, Catherine and Lococo, Matthew and Xu, Dongkuan and Barnes, Tiffany},
     booktitle = {2024 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)},
     pages = {1--9},
     year = {2024},
     organization = {IEEE},
     doi = {10.1109/FIE61694.2024.10893106},
   }

2. VL/HCC

   Jigsaw: A Visual Tool for Decomposing and Planning Programming Problems

   Heidi Reichert, Benyamin Tabarsi, Thomas Price, and 1 more author

   In 2024 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC), 2024

   Best Paper Link Bib

   Best Research Paper Award at IEEE VL/HCC 2024

   @inproceedings{reichert2024jigsaw,
     title = {Jigsaw: A Visual Tool for Decomposing and Planning Programming Problems},
     author = {Reichert, Heidi and Tabarsi, Benyamin and Price, Thomas and Barnes, Tiffany},
     booktitle = {2024 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC)},
     pages = {236--247},
     year = {2024},
     organization = {IEEE},
     doi = {10.1109/VL/HCC60511.2024.00034},
   }

3. ICER

   Scaffolding Novices: Analyzing When and How Parsons Problems Impact Novice Programming in an Integrated Science Assignment

   Benyamin Tabarsi, Heidi Reichert, Nicholas Lytle, and 2 more authors

   In Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research V. 1, 2024

   Link Bib

   @inproceedings{tabarsi2024scaffolding,
     title = {Scaffolding Novices: Analyzing When and How Parsons Problems Impact Novice Programming in an Integrated Science Assignment},
     author = {Tabarsi, Benyamin and Reichert, Heidi and Lytle, Nicholas and Cateté, Veronica and Barnes, Tiffany},
     booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research V. 1},
     pages = {42--54},
     year = {2024},
     publisher = {ACM},
     doi = {10.1145/3632620.3671110},
   }

4. SIGCSE

   Experience Helps, but It Isn’t Everything: Exploring Causes of Affective State in Novice Programmers

   Heidi Reichert, Sandeep Sthapit, Benyamin Tabarsi, and 3 more authors

   In Proceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2, 2024

   Link Bib

   @inproceedings{reichert2024experience,
     title = {Experience Helps, but It Isn't Everything: Exploring Causes of Affective State in Novice Programmers},
     author = {Reichert, Heidi and Sthapit, Sandeep and Tabarsi, Benyamin and Limke, Ally and Price, Thomas and Barnes, Tiffany},
     booktitle = {Proceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2},
     pages = {1792--1793},
     year = {2024},
     publisher = {ACM},
     doi = {10.1145/3626253.3635508},
   }

2023

1. VL/HCC

   Exploring Novices’ Struggle and Progress During Programming Through Data-Driven Detectors and Think-Aloud Protocols

   Benyamin Tabarsi, Heidi Reichert, Rachel Qualls, and 2 more authors

   In 2023 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC), 2023

   Link Bib

   @inproceedings{tabarsi2023exploring,
     title = {Exploring Novices' Struggle and Progress During Programming Through Data-Driven Detectors and Think-Aloud Protocols},
     author = {Tabarsi, Benyamin and Reichert, Heidi and Qualls, Rachel and Price, Thomas and Barnes, Tiffany},
     booktitle = {2023 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC)},
     pages = {179--183},
     year = {2023},
     organization = {IEEE},
     doi = {10.1109/VL-HCC57772.2023.00029},
   }

2. ICER

   Investigating the Impact of On-Demand Code Examples on Novices’ Open-Ended Programming Experience

   Wengran Wang, John Bacher, Amy Isvik, and 9 more authors

   In Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research V. 1, 2023

   Link Bib

   @inproceedings{wang2023investigating,
     title = {Investigating the Impact of On-Demand Code Examples on Novices' Open-Ended Programming Experience},
     author = {Wang, Wengran and Bacher, John and Isvik, Amy and Limke, Ally and Sthapit, Sandeep and Shi, Yang and Tabarsi, Benyamin and Tran, Keith and Catet{\'e}, Veronica and Barnes, Tiffany and Martens, Chris and Price, Thomas},
     booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research V. 1},
     pages = {464--475},
     year = {2023},
     publisher = {ACM},
     doi = {10.1145/3568813.3600141},
   }

2022

1. Cluster

   ROGI: Partial Computation Offloading and Resource Allocation in the Fog-Based IoT Network Towards Optimizing Latency and Power Consumption

   Benyamin Tabarsi, Ali Rezaee, and Ali Movaghar

   Cluster Computing, 2022

   Link Bib

   @article{tabarsi2023rogi,
     title = {ROGI: Partial Computation Offloading and Resource Allocation in the Fog-Based IoT Network Towards Optimizing Latency and Power Consumption},
     author = {Tabarsi, Benyamin and Rezaee, Ali and Movaghar, Ali},
     journal = {Cluster Computing},
     volume = {26},
     number = {3},
     pages = {1767--1784},
     year = {2022},
     publisher = {Springer US},
     doi = {10.1007/s10586-022-03710-3},
   }

2. VL/HCC

   Pinpoint: A Record, Replay, and Extract System to Support Code Comprehension and Reuse

   Wengran Wang, Gordon Fraser, Mahesh Bobbadi, and 5 more authors

   In 2022 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC), 2022

   Link Bib

   @inproceedings{wang2022pinpoint,
     title = {Pinpoint: A Record, Replay, and Extract System to Support Code Comprehension and Reuse},
     author = {Wang, Wengran and Fraser, Gordon and Bobbadi, Mahesh and Tabarsi, Benyamin and Barnes, Tiffany and Martens, Chris and Jiao, Shuyin and Price, Thomas},
     booktitle = {2022 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC)},
     pages = {1--10},
     year = {2022},
     organization = {IEEE},
     doi = {10.1109/VL/HCC53370.2022.9833105},
   }

3. CSEDM

   How to Catch Novice Programmers’ Struggles: Detecting Moments of Struggle in Open-Ended Block-Based Programming Projects using Trace Log Data

   Benyamin Tabarsi, Ally Limke, Heidi Reichert, and 4 more authors

   In Proceedings of the 6th Educational Data Mining in Computer Science Education (CSEDM) Workshop, 2022

   Bib

   @inproceedings{tabarsi2022catch,
     title = {How to Catch Novice Programmers' Struggles: Detecting Moments of Struggle in Open-Ended Block-Based Programming Projects using Trace Log Data},
     author = {Tabarsi, Benyamin and Limke, Ally and Reichert, Heidi and Qualls, Rachel and Price, Thomas and Martens, Chris and Barnes, Tiffany},
     booktitle = {Proceedings of the 6th Educational Data Mining in Computer Science Education (CSEDM) Workshop},
     year = {2022},
   }

4. CSEDM

   How, When, and Why Do Novices Struggle in Programming? Exploring the Experiences and Perceptions of Common Programming Moments in Block-Based Environments

   Heidi Reichert, Ally Limke, Benyamin Tabarsi, and 3 more authors

   In Proceedings of the 6th Educational Data Mining in Computer Science Education (CSEDM) Workshop, 2022

   Bib

   @inproceedings{reichert2022and,
     title = {How, When, and Why Do Novices Struggle in Programming? Exploring the Experiences and Perceptions of Common Programming Moments in Block-Based Environments},
     author = {Reichert, Heidi and Limke, Ally and Tabarsi, Benyamin and Price, Thomas and Martens, Chris and Barnes, Tiffany},
     booktitle = {Proceedings of the 6th Educational Data Mining in Computer Science Education (CSEDM) Workshop},
     year = {2022},
   }

Under review

1. Under Rev.

   One Prompt Away: A Semester of High-Assistance, Course-Grounded GenAI Help in Introductory Programming for Engineering Students

   Benyamin Tabarsi, Michelle Jiang, Xiaoyi Tian, and 3 more authors

   2026

   Under review.
2. Under Rev.

   Different Starting Points, Different Roles: Teacher Learning in Co-Designing Generative AI Tools

   Joey Huang, Jiwon Lee, Benyamin Tabarsi, and 3 more authors

   2026

   Under review.
3. Under Rev.

   AI Coaching for Parent-Teen Sexual Health Communication: From Barriers to Design Implications

   Wenbo Li, Benyamin Tabarsi, Michelle Jiang, and 2 more authors

   2026

   Under review.
4. Preprint

   Student-Facing LLM Tools in Computing Education: A Systematic Literature Review of Roles, Designs, Evaluations, and Impacts

   Benyamin Tabarsi, Tahreem Yasir, Heidi Reichert, and 6 more authors

   2026

   Under review. Preprint available on SSRN.

   Link Bib PDF

   @article{tabarsi2026studentfacing,
     title = {Student-Facing LLM Tools in Computing Education: A Systematic Literature Review of Roles, Designs, Evaluations, and Impacts},
     author = {Tabarsi, Benyamin and Yasir, Tahreem and Reichert, Heidi and Tian, Xiaoyi and Gadireddy, Shiva and DiMarco, Clara and Briceno, Daniel and Battestilli, Lina and Barnes, Tiffany},
     year = {2026},
     note = {Under review. Preprint available on SSRN.},
   }

5. Under Rev.

   Evaluation of Adaptive Immediate Feedback for Programming: A Multi-Study Conceptual Replication

   Thomas Price, Samiha Marwan, Inaas Asad, and 7 more authors

   2026

   Under review.
6. Under Rev.

   Domain Shift in Knowledge Tracing for Students in Opportunity Zones

   Michelle Jiang, Benyamin Tabarsi, and Tiffany Barnes

   2026

   Under review.

In preparation

1. In Prep.

   Elementary Students’ Conceptions and Designs of Compassionate AI in a Teacher-Led Classroom Challenge

   Benyamin Tabarsi, Deniz Ozturk, Carrie Robledo, and 4 more authors

   2026

   To be submitted.
2. Preprint

   SafeTalk: Designing and Evaluating an AI-Based Coaching Platform for Parent-Teen Sexual Health Conversations

   Wenbo Li, Benyamin Tabarsi, Tahreem Yasir, and 4 more authors

   2026

   To be submitted. An earlier version is available as arXiv:2602.00017.

   arXiv Bib

   @article{li2026safetalk,
     title = {SafeTalk: Designing and Evaluating an AI-Based Coaching Platform for Parent-Teen Sexual Health Conversations},
     author = {Li, Wenbo and Tabarsi, Benyamin and Yasir, Tahreem and Kumar, Aryan Santhosh and Widman, Laura and Xu, Dongkuan and Barnes, Tiffany},
     year = {2026},
     note = {To be submitted. An earlier version is available as arXiv:2602.00017.},
   }

3. In Prep.

   Characterizing Teaching Staff and LLM Responses to Forum Queries in Introductory Programming: A Dataset and Pedagogical Framework

   Benyamin Tabarsi, Michelle Jiang, Susanna Quayle, and 6 more authors

   2026

   To be submitted.
4. Preprint

   Teachers and Developers Building Together: The ExLAIM Six-Week Co-Design Program for Developing AI-Supported Classroom Tools

   Benyamin Tabarsi, Sam Gilson, Faaz Mohamed, and 10 more authors

   2026

   To be submitted. Preprint available.

   Bib PDF

   @article{tabarsi2026codesigning,
     title = {Teachers and Developers Building Together: The ExLAIM Six-Week Co-Design Program for Developing AI-Supported Classroom Tools},
     author = {Tabarsi, Benyamin and Gilson, Sam and Mohamed, Faaz and Marques, Matheus and Sharma, Lokesh and Quayle, Susanna and Ackerman-Lowery, Nicole and Briceno, Daniel and Basarkar, Aditya and Tian, Xiaoyi and Huang, Joey and Xu, Dongkuan and Barnes, Tiffany},
     year = {2026},
     note = {To be submitted. Preprint available.},
   }

Other preprints

1. Preprint

   When Verification Hurts: Asymmetric Effects of Multi-Agent Feedback in Logic Proof Tutoring

   Tahreem Yasir, Sutapa Dey Tithi, Benyamin Tabarsi, and 5 more authors

   2026

   Preprint.

   arXiv Bib

   @article{yasir2026verification,
     title = {When Verification Hurts: Asymmetric Effects of Multi-Agent Feedback in Logic Proof Tutoring},
     author = {Yasir, Tahreem and Tithi, Sutapa Dey and Tabarsi, Benyamin and Droujkov, Dmitri and Rajapaksha, Sam Gilson Yasitha and Tian, Xiaoyi and Ramesh, Arun and Barnes, Tiffany},
     year = {2026},
     note = {Preprint.},
   }

2. Preprint

   Enhancing Mathematical Problem Solving in LLMs through Execution-Driven Reasoning Augmentation

   Aditya Basarkar, Benyamin Tabarsi, Tiffany Barnes, and 1 more author

   2026

   Preprint.

   arXiv Bib

   @article{basarkar2026enhancing,
     title = {Enhancing Mathematical Problem Solving in LLMs through Execution-Driven Reasoning Augmentation},
     author = {Basarkar, Aditya and Tabarsi, Benyamin and Barnes, Tiffany and Xu, Dongkuan},
     year = {2026},
     note = {Preprint.},
   }