{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4407681763","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3641554.3701844","title":"Integrating Small Language Models with Retrieval-Augmented Generation in Computing Education: Key Takeaways, Setup, and Practical Insights","display_name":"Integrating Small Language Models with Retrieval-Augmented Generation in Computing Education: Key Takeaways, Setup, and Practical Insights","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-02-12","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4407681763","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3641554.3701844"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1145/3641554.3701844","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3641554.3701844","pdf_url":null,"source":null,"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Proceedings of the 56th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1","raw_type":"proceedings-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":false,"oa_status":"closed","oa_url":null,"any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5099978327","display_name":"Zezhu Yu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8472-3517"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I185261750","display_name":"University of Toronto","ror":"https://ror.org/03dbr7087","country_code":"CA","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I185261750"]}],"countries":["CA"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Zezhu Yu","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I185261750"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5032870304","display_name":"Suqing Liu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5558-256X"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I98251732","display_name":"McMaster University","ror":"https://ror.org/02fa3aq29","country_code":"CA","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I98251732"]}],"countries":["CA"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Suqing Liu","raw_affiliation_strings":["McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I98251732"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5032890999","display_name":"Paul Denny","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5150-9806"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I154130895","display_name":"University of Auckland","ror":"https://ror.org/03b94tp07","country_code":"NZ","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I154130895"]}],"countries":["NZ"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Paul Denny","raw_affiliation_strings":["The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I154130895"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5061949058","display_name":"Andreas Bergen","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6557-2534"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I185261750","display_name":"University of Toronto","ror":"https://ror.org/03dbr7087","country_code":"CA","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I185261750"]}],"countries":["CA"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Andreas Bergen","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I185261750"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5017029944","display_name":"Michael Liut","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2965-5302"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I185261750","display_name":"University of Toronto","ror":"https://ror.org/03dbr7087","country_code":"CA","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I185261750"]}],"countries":["CA"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Michael Liut","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I185261750"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":2,"institutions_distinct_count":5,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5099978327"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I185261750"],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":4.7137,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":2,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.93684603,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":98,"max":99},"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":"1302","last_page":"1308"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10028","display_name":"Topic Modeling","score":0.9991999864578247,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10028","display_name":"Topic Modeling","score":0.9991999864578247,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12128","display_name":"AI in Service Interactions","score":0.9987000226974487,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11714","display_name":"Multimodal Machine Learning Applications","score":0.9833999872207642,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1707","display_name":"Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/key","display_name":"Key (lock)","score":0.7686743140220642},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.750288724899292},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/multimedia","display_name":"Multimedia","score":0.3899439573287964},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/data-science","display_name":"Data science","score":0.3541638255119324},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/information-retrieval","display_name":"Information retrieval","score":0.3529316782951355},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/operating-system","display_name":"Operating system","score":0.079144686460495}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C26517878","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q228039","display_name":"Key (lock)","level":2,"score":0.7686743140220642},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.750288724899292},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C49774154","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q131765","display_name":"Multimedia","level":1,"score":0.3899439573287964},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2522767166","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2374463","display_name":"Data science","level":1,"score":0.3541638255119324},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C23123220","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q816826","display_name":"Information retrieval","level":1,"score":0.3529316782951355},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C111919701","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9135","display_name":"Operating system","level":1,"score":0.079144686460495}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1145/3641554.3701844","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3641554.3701844","pdf_url":null,"source":null,"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Proceedings of the 56th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1","raw_type":"proceedings-article"}],"best_oa_location":null,"sustainable_development_goals":[{"score":0.75,"id":"https://metadata.un.org/sdg/4","display_name":"Quality Education"}],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G4865764193","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"RGPIN-2024-04348","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320323817","funder_display_name":"Universitas Brawijaya"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G8094654084","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"LEAF Grant","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320323817","funder_display_name":"Universitas Brawijaya"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320323817","display_name":"Universitas Brawijaya","ror":"https://ror.org/01wk3d929"}],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":18,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W1984938651","https://openalex.org/W2149690512","https://openalex.org/W3045491806","https://openalex.org/W3174809957","https://openalex.org/W4247987692","https://openalex.org/W4323037544","https://openalex.org/W4386321390","https://openalex.org/W4390189088","https://openalex.org/W4390490882","https://openalex.org/W4390985631","https://openalex.org/W4391584331","https://openalex.org/W4396833177","https://openalex.org/W4398796607","https://openalex.org/W4400267611","https://openalex.org/W4400267753","https://openalex.org/W4400268471","https://openalex.org/W4400643163","https://openalex.org/W6603468762"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W4391375266","https://openalex.org/W2899084033","https://openalex.org/W2748952813","https://openalex.org/W2390279801","https://openalex.org/W4391913857","https://openalex.org/W2358668433","https://openalex.org/W4396701345","https://openalex.org/W2376932109","https://openalex.org/W2001405890","https://openalex.org/W4396696052"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Leveraging":[0],"a":[1,32,69,81,108],"Large":[2],"Language":[3,36],"Model":[4,37],"(LLM)":[5],"for":[6,111],"personalized":[7,207],"learning":[8],"in":[9,64,80,158],"computing":[10,46],"education":[11],"is":[12,175],"promising,":[13],"yet":[14],"cloud-based":[15],"LLMs":[16,60],"pose":[17],"risks":[18],"around":[19],"data":[20,67,97,150],"security":[21],"and":[22,30,62,100,125,144,170,198,206],"privacy.":[23],"To":[24],"address":[25,154],"these":[26],"concerns,":[27,137],"we":[28],"developed":[29],"deployed":[31,73],"locally":[33],"stored":[34],"Small":[35],"(SLM)":[38],"utilizing":[39],"Retrieval-Augmented":[40],"Generation":[41],"(RAG)":[42],"methods":[43],"to":[44,202,209],"support":[45],"students'":[47],"learning.":[48],"Previous":[49],"work":[50],"has":[51],"demonstrated":[52],"that":[53,163],"SLMs":[54,74],"can":[55],"match":[56],"or":[57],"surpass":[58],"popular":[59],"(gpt-3.5-turbo":[61],"gpt-4-32k)":[63],"handling":[65],"conversational":[66],"from":[68,132],"CS1":[70],"course.":[71],"We":[72,128,153],"with":[75,84],"RAG":[76,115,159,181],"(SLM":[77],"+":[78,114],"RAG)":[79],"large":[82],"course":[83],"more":[85,204],"than":[86],"250":[87],"active":[88],"students,":[89],"fielding":[90],"nearly":[91],"2,000":[92],"student":[93],"questions,":[94],"while":[95],"evaluating":[96],"privacy,":[98],"scalability,":[99],"feasibility":[101],"of":[102,191],"local":[103],"deployments.":[104],"This":[105],"paper":[106],"provides":[107],"comprehensive":[109],"guide":[110],"deploying":[112],"SLM":[113],"systems,":[116,160],"detailing":[117],"model":[118],"selection,":[119],"vector":[120],"database":[121],"choice,":[122],"embedding":[123],"methods,":[124],"pipeline":[126],"frameworks.":[127],"share":[129],"practical":[130],"insights":[131],"our":[133,179],"deployment,":[134],"including":[135],"scalability":[136],"accuracy":[138],"versus":[139],"context":[140,168],"length":[141],"trade-offs,":[142],"guardrails":[143],"hallucination":[145],"reduction,":[146],"as":[147,149],"well":[148],"privacy":[151],"maintenance.":[152],"the":[155],"\"Impossible":[156],"Triangle\"":[157],"which":[161],"states":[162],"achieving":[164],"high":[165],"accuracy,":[166],"short":[167],"length,":[169],"low":[171],"time":[172],"consumption":[173],"simultaneously":[174],"not":[176],"feasible.":[177],"Furthermore,":[178],"novel":[180],"framework,":[182],"Intelligence":[183],"Concentration":[184],"(IC),":[185],"categorizes":[186],"information":[187],"into":[188],"multiple":[189],"layers":[190],"abstraction":[192],"within":[193],"Milvus":[194],"collections":[195],"mitigating":[196],"trade-offs":[197],"enabling":[199],"educational":[200],"assistants":[201],"deliver":[203],"relevant":[205],"responses":[208],"students":[210],"quickly.":[211]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":2}],"updated_date":"2026-04-09T08:11:56.329763","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}