Personal Characteristics and Explanations in Technology-Enhanced Environments: An Exploratory Study in Computer Science Education

Personal Characteristics and Explanations in Technology-Enhanced Environments: An Exploratory Study in Computer Science Education | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Personal Characteristics and Explanations in Technology-Enhanced Environments: An Exploratory Study in Computer Science Education Esther Félix, Franck Amadieu, Julien Broisin This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3888008/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The study of explainable artificial intelligence in education is a major preoccupation of the research community. In this paper, we introduce explanations in a competency-based system, in the context of computer education. Our overall aim is to increase learners' understanding of the levels of mastery of their competencies that are computed automatically, and thus to increase their trust in the system. In particular, we are investigating which of the students' personal characteristics affect their consultation and understanding of the explanations, and what impact these explanations have on their perception and behavior within the system. Our study focuses on 98 first-year computer science students in higher education and combines qualitative and quantitative analyses. The quantitative analyses show significant correlations between certain characteristics studied and the use, perception and understanding of explanations on the one hand, as well as learners' general perception of the system on the other hand. For example, students with a low perception of their ability to succeed are less likely to access and understand explanations, and students with low engagement and performance are less likely to understand explanations. Qualitative analyses, meanwhile, help us to identify certain learner needs in terms of the content, form, and timing of explanations: combining local and counterfactual explanations; combining textual and visual formats; providing explanations in real time. Artificial Intelligence Explainability Personal Characteristics Computer Education Technology-Enhanced Learning Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3888008","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":270127587,"identity":"9d72b615-d561-48b1-99f8-83efb0f2ac33","order_by":0,"name":"Esther Félix","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA20lEQVRIie3OMQuCQBTA8Xc80EW49Yl9iJMgGgS/iuDqELSHcZBL0OqHaTAOWl2dQgicbWtw6BSCptOx4f7D8ZbfvQdgs/1nzvhwcFkOvQAPgLUzAifi58hyVmriAYqlRI96BcwSzut7+7oCccRTEO0eq1h/0puIX6ZuWHZAvmRynYn9eBiWJiIadAKvgoNQ7PjMRKIJV8bD4lo5wVABxYrlajsRRCMRkDoBaCJQb4ElhJp0458rIlJMhueRqBnCL7eO3lVEvCj0MCSxW0gz+S77mRcBm81msxn7AAdgNidt98VWAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Toulouse Institute of Computer Science Research","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Esther","middleName":"","lastName":"Félix","suffix":""},{"id":270127588,"identity":"b50ff1f4-99b1-4098-bccb-b711c3414504","order_by":1,"name":"Franck Amadieu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Laboratoire Cognition, Langues, Langage, Ergonomie","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Franck","middleName":"","lastName":"Amadieu","suffix":""},{"id":270127589,"identity":"761822f2-eb90-4008-8d80-16cde3717088","order_by":2,"name":"Julien Broisin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Toulouse Institute of Computer Science Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Julien","middleName":"","lastName":"Broisin","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-01-22 13:15:41","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3888008/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3888008/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104962761,"identity":"b68495a9-688c-4899-8319-4d9739d4df7b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-19 09:13:56","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":816994,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"IJAIED01.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3888008/v1_covered_ccdc2945-dfa5-41c0-91ee-5facfc9b6674.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Personal Characteristics and Explanations in Technology-Enhanced Environments: An Exploratory Study in Computer Science Education","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Artificial Intelligence, Explainability, Personal Characteristics, Computer Education, Technology-Enhanced Learning","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3888008/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3888008/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The study of explainable artificial intelligence in education is a major preoccupation of the research community. 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