MyBotBuddy

MyBotBuddy is an adaptive Generative AI chatbot developed to support secondary school students’ programming learning. Functioning as an intelligent virtual tutor within Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, the system replaces direct code generation with structured, multi-tiered pedagogical scaffolding. Through progressive hints, guided inquiry, and clear conceptual explanations, MyBotBuddy encourages novice programmers to trace computational logic, analyse syntax, and independently debug errors, thereby fostering self-directed problem-solving and coding confidence. The evaluation integrates the Technology Acceptance Model with Epistemic Network Analysis to examine both students’ perceptions of the technology and the dynamics of their learning interactions. Grounded in TAM, the study investigates how interactive scaffolding influences students’ perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and intention to adopt AI-supported learning tools. Complementing this, ENA maps the co-occurrence of cognitive learning behaviours and affective states across conversational turns to examine differences in Human-AI interaction patterns.