[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-83134-en":3,"doc-seo-83134-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},83134,1099514067438,"River Wang","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/100002539ee87300030?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1780474512215547542",6,"Technology","Flowcode An AI-Powered Programming Environment for Scaffolding Iteration in Creative Computing Education","Flowcode supports learning to code through remixing found examples in creative coding communities. The work addresses two challenges: understanding existing code structure and extending it to implement learners’ own design ideas. Flowcode combines a flowchart view to visualize code structure with a chat interface tailored to learning-oriented AI use. Results from two studies with new creative coders examine how visualization and intentional friction affect productive interaction with AI for computing education.","Flowcode: An AI-Powered Programming Environment for Scaffolding Iteration in Creative Computing Education  \nTiffany Tseng  \nBarnard College, Columbia University New York, United States [ttseng@barnard.edu](ttseng@barnard.edu)  \nMeitalia Factor  \nBarnard College, Columbia University New York, United States [mef2241@barnard.edu](mef2241@barnard.edu)  \nLiliana Hanem Seoror Columbia University  \nNew York, United States [ls3594@columbia.edu](ls3594@columbia.edu)  \nRona Darabi  \nColumbia University New York, United States [rjd2160@columbia.edu](rjd2160@columbia.edu)  \nJeevika Adda  \nColumbia University New York, United States [ja3951@columbia.edu](ja3951@columbia.edu)  \nKiley R Matschke  \nColumbia University New York, United States [kmatschk@barnard.edu](kmatschk@barnard.edu)  \narXiv :2607 .0672 1v 1 [ cs .HC] 7 Jul 2026  \nTiffany Fu  \nColumbia University New York, United States [tlf2131@columbia.edu](tlf2131@columbia.edu)  \nAnnie Lin  \nBarnard College, Columbia University New York, United States [anlin@barnard.edu](anlin@barnard.edu)  \nAlekhya Maram  \nBarnard College, Columbia University New York, United States [am5721@barnard.edu](am5721@barnard.edu)  \nArya Sinha  \nBarnard College, Columbia University New York, United States [aps2212@barnard.edu](aps2212@barnard.edu)  \nAbstract  \nBuilding upon found examples is a popular way people learn to code, especially in creative coding communities where sharing projects and remixing are common practices. But effectively doing so requires being able to 1) understand how existing code works, and 2) extend it by writing code that implements your own ideas, practices that can be challenging for new creative coders. We explored how to support these two processes through the design of Flowcode, a creative coding programming environment that integrates a flowchart for visualizing code structure and a chat interface tailored to support learning to code over vibe coding. We share how we iterated on the design ofFlowcode over two studies with new creative coders, reflecting on the roles visualization and friction may play in enabling productive AI-use in computing education.  \nCCS Concepts  \n• Human-centered computing → Interactive systems and tools.  \nKeywords  \ncreative coding, computing education, code assistants, large language models  \n1 Introduction  \nExamples play a fundamental role in how people design, helping creators get inspired, learn from prior work, and build off of to create something new [16, 24] . With software development and design, the web has greatly facilitated the use of examples given the ability to quickly distribute, inspect, and remix code samples [5, 6, 26, 55, 66] . Prior work in computing education has found positive associations between remixing code and exposure to and use of  \nnew programming concepts [12], aligning with the pedagogical practice of providing worked examples [8, 37]. However, effectively remixing found samples depends on one’s ability to both understand code written by another creator, and iterate on found examples to realize one’s personal design goals, practices that may be especially challenging to students who are still learning to program or utilize unfamiliar programming frameworks [60] .  \nOur work examines how to foster code understanding and iteration in the context of creative coding, or using code to create visual art. With creative coding, there is a strong ethos of sharing andremixing code as exemplified in online communities like OpenProcessing1 and CodePen2 , community showcases [1], and integrated examples built into IDEs like Processing [46] . Prior work has shown that engaging in creative coding can positively affect learners’ intentions and interests in computing, particularly for traditionally underrepresented communities [3, 41, 62] . Because of this, making it easier for creative coders to understand and build on top of shared creative coding projects may contribute to encouraging more diversity in computing.  \nA potential pathwa","cbCaikGfzMPcfMpb","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikGfzMPcfMpb","pdf",9621249,1,14,"English","en",105,"# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Examples and Remixing in Creative Coding\n## Challenges in Understanding and Iterating Code\n## Role of Large Language Models and Code Assistants\n## Motivating Flowcode Design and Iteration Studies","[{\"question\":\"What learning problems does Flowcode target in creative computing education?\",\"answer\":\"Flowcode targets understanding existing code and extending it to realize learners’ own creative design goals when remixing found examples.\"},{\"question\":\"How does Flowcode combine visualization and AI support?\",\"answer\":\"Flowcode integrates a flowchart to visualize code structure and a chat interface that provides learning-oriented code assistance for iterative development.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the two user studies contribute to the paper’s findings?\",\"answer\":\"The studies with new creative coders examine how visualization supports code understanding and how introducing friction can improve the review and use of AI-generated explanations, reducing unproductive “vibe 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