A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: Exploring Diagram and Video-Based OOP Exercises to Counter LLM Over-Reliance

Much research has highlighted the impressive capabilities of LLMs, like GPT and Bard, for solving introductory programming exercises. Recent work has shown that LLMs can effectively solve a range of more complex object-oriented programming (OOP) exercises with text-based specifications. This raises concerns about academic integrity, as students might use these models to complete assignments unethically, neglecting the development of important skills such as program design, problem-solving, and computational thinking. To address this, we propose an innovative approach to formulating OOP tasks using diagrams and videos, as a way to foster problem-solving and deter students from a copy-and-prompt approach in OOP courses. We introduce a novel notation system for specifying OOP assignments, encompassing structural and behavioral requirements, and assess its use in a classroom setting over a semester. Student perceptions of this approach are explored through a survey (n=56). Generally, students responded positively to diagrams and videos, with video-based projects being better received than diagram-based exercises. This notation appears to have several benefits, with students investing more effort in understanding the diagrams and feeling more motivated to engage with the video-based projects. Furthermore, students reported being less inclined to rely on LLM-based code generation tools for these diagram and video-based exercises. Experiments with GPT-4 and Bard's vision abilities revealed that they currently fall short in interpreting these diagrams to generate accurate code solutions.