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Veronica Pimenova

Publications and source records attributed to Veronica Pimenova.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Leveling the Playing Field: Temporal Video Segmentation for Individuals with ADHD in Computing Education

Individuals with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often face significant barriers in computing education. In asynchronous learning environments, instructional videos can impose high extraneous cognitive load, often relying on assumptions about sustained attention and working memory that do not align with ADHD neurocognitive profiles. In this work, we evaluate a post-hoc video processing intervention that segments instructional content into single-instruction chunks followed by fixed-length pauses to reduce cognitive load. In a within-participants controlled study with 17 individuals with ADHD and 10 without, we find that the intervention has an equalizing effect. Although it improved performance for all participants, gains were larger for those with ADHD, reducing their errors and hesitations to levels comparable to those of participants without ADHD under the same intervention. These results align with the goals of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), by showing that cognitively-aligned, post-hoc instructional video modifications can reduce performance disparities across diverse neurocognitive profiles.

cs.HC

Reflections and Recommendations on AI Adoption Practice from a Mixed-Ability Research Group

Generative AI tools have recently been rapidly adopted by academics in mixed-ability research teams for both personal and professional tasks. While previous work on adoption of AI-based workflows has focused on collaboration and productivity, the perceptions of AI use within research teams remains divided. Through qualitative analysis of interviews of the five members of our mixed-ability research team, we discuss the motivations, challenges, and practices surrounding the use of generative AI in our lab. We reflect on experiences that shaped recommendations for balanced AI use that enable mixed-ability team workflows: (1) managing disability tax & crip time, (2) homogenizing identity, (3) risk disclosure of private information, (4) self-experimentation and miscellaneous tasks, and (5) information seeking. We build upon these themes to present AI practice recommendations we established for our lab to promote AI workflow adoption while preserving agency and disability identity.

cs.HC

Good Vibrations? A Qualitative Study of Co-Creation, Communication, Flow, and Trust in Vibe Coding

Vibe coding, a term coined by Andrej Karpathy in February 2025, has quickly become a compelling and controversial natural language programming paradigm in AI-assisted software development. Centered on iterative co-design with an AI assistant, vibe coding emphasizes flow and experimentation over strict upfront specification. While initial studies have begun to explore this paradigm, most focus on analyzing code artifacts or proposing theories with limited empirical backing. There remains a need for a grounded understanding of vibe coding as it is perceived and experienced by developers. We present the first systematic qualitative investigation of vibe coding perceptions and practice. Drawing on over 190,000 words from semi-structured interviews, Reddit threads, and LinkedIn posts, we characterize what vibe coding is, why and how developers use it, where it breaks down, and which emerging practices aim to support it. We propose a qualitatively grounded theory of vibe coding centered on conversational interaction with AI, co-creation, and developer flow and joy. We find that AI trust regulates movement along a continuum from delegation to co-creation and supports the developer experience by sustaining flow. We surface recurring pain points and risks in areas including specification, reliability, debugging, latency, code review burden, and collaboration. We also present best practices that have been discovered and shared to mitigate these challenges. We conclude with implications for the future of AI dev tools and directions for researchers investigating vibe coding.

cs.SE