Curriculum vitae
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Contact
Sam Gilson · PhD student in computer science · Game2Learn lab, North Carolina State University
Advisor: Dr. Tiffany Barnes
sagilson@ncsu.edu · Website · ORCID · GitHub
Education
North Carolina State University — PhD student in Computer Science; entered in 2023.
Georgia Institute of Technology, College of Computing — Undergraduate study, 2016–2020; GPA 3.96.
Appointments
North Carolina State University — Graduate Student Research Fellow, Game2Learn lab; began in 2023.
Microsoft — Software Engineer I–II, Azure Linux Image Builder, 2020–2023.
Research
Computer science education, generative AI help-seeking, and AI literacy, with a focus on undergraduate discrete mathematics and proof writing.
Published papers and posters
LLMs' reshaping of people, processes, products, and society in software development: a qualitative exploration with early adopters
Benyamin Tabarsi; Heidi Reichert; Sam Gilson; Ally Limke; Sandeep Kuttal; Tiffany Barnes
Published journal article · Empirical Software Engineering, volume 32, article 21 · Citation year 2027 · First online 2026-08-07
DOI 10.1007/s10664-026-10917-0
Adversarial Assignment Perturbation: Effects on Help-Seeking Behaviors in Student Generative AI Chatbot Use
Sam Gilson; Benyamin Tabarsi; Tiffany Barnes
Published conference paper · Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED 2026), LNAI 16585, pp. 440–449 · Citation year 2027 · First online 2026-06-27
DOI 10.1007/978-3-032-29770-9_48
Confirming Correct, Missing the Rest: LLM Tutoring Agents Struggle Where Feedback Matters Most
Tahreem Yasir; Wenbo Li; Sam Gilson; Sutapa Tithi; Xiaoyi Tian; Tiffany Barnes
Published workshop paper · Proceedings of the 21st Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications (BEA 2026), pp. 819–840 · Citation year 2026
Designing AI-Resistant Assignments via Iterative Perturbation to Promote Interactive Learning
Sam Gilson
Published poster · Proceedings of the 57th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V.2 (SIGCSE TS 2026), p. 1745 · Citation year 2026
How Do Undergraduates Interested in Computer Science Use Online, On-Demand CS Coursework?
Sam Gilson; Tiffany Barnes; Mahzabin Tamanna; Saminur Islam
Published conference paper · Proceedings of the Twelfth ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale (L@S ’25), pp. 271–275 · Citation year 2025
Preprints and work under review
When Verification Hurts: Asymmetric Effects of Multi-Agent Feedback in Logic Proof Tutoring
Tahreem Yasir; Sutapa Dey Tithi; Benyamin Tabarsi; Dmitri Droujkov; Sam Gilson; Yasitha Rajapaksha; Xiaoyi Tian; Arun Ramesh; DongKuan Xu; Tiffany Barnes
arXiv preprint · arXiv:2603.27076 · Citation year 2026 · First online 2026-03-28
Perturbed Assignments and Subgoal-Labeled AI Literacy Instruction in Undergraduate Discrete Mathematics
Sam Gilson
Preprint; submitted to the SIGCSE TS 2027 Student Research Competition · Preprint · Citation year 2026
Free-tier Large Language Models on the MATH Benchmark: Implications for AI Literacy Instruction
Sam Gilson
Manuscript under review; submitted to the AERA 2027 annual meeting · Manuscript under review
Talks
Perturbed Assignments and Subgoal-Labeled AI Literacy Instruction in Undergraduate Discrete Mathematics — SPLICE LLM Working Group, 9 October 2026.
Making research easier to find — Game2Learn lab, North Carolina State University, 7 October 2026.
Applications of AI Literacy to GenAI-Assisted Game Development — Guest lecture, CSC 484/584 Game AI, North Carolina State University, 17 September 2026.
Teaching
CSC 151, Java Programming — Instructor of record, Central Carolina Community College, Spring and Fall 2026.
CSC 226, Discrete Mathematics — Instructor of record, North Carolina State University, Summer 2025 and Summer 2026.
CSC 216, Software Development Fundamentals — Instructor of record, North Carolina State University, Summer 2024.
CSC 484/584, Game AI — Guest lecturer, North Carolina State University, Fall 2026.
Award
Excellence in Teaching Award for STEM, Central Carolina Community College, 2026; CSC 151, Spring 2026.
Research software
Perturbation Workbench — Browser tool for recording questions, rubrics, and attempts during iterative assignment perturbation. The instructor runs the chatbot queries and grades the responses.
PDF Redactor — Browser tool for finding identifiers, reviewing redaction boxes, and exporting a rebuilt PDF.