Towards SocratiCode: Designing a Generative AI-Based Programming Tutor for K-12 Students through a 4-Week Participatory Design Study

Abstract: Generative AI creates new opportunities for programming education, but many existing systems remain overly directive, producing lengthy explanations and premature solutions that can overwhelm K-12 novices. In this paper, we present a participatory design study of how an adaptive tutorial system, SocratiCode, evolved toward a Socratic tutoring model for beginner programming instruction. Drawing on weekly learner feedback, we iteratively refined the system over a four-week study with two K-12 students learning Python. Across iterations, the system shifted from flexible tutorial generation toward a more dialogic form of support characterized by guided questioning, reflection prompts, misconception checks, incremental hints, and mandatory pauses for learner input. Our preliminary observations suggest that this Socratic shift improved explanation clarity, supported problem-solving engagement, and better aligned instruction with novice learners' needs, especially when combined with human guidance. We argue that generative AI in K-12 programming education may be most effective not as an answer engine, but as a Socratic, adaptive learning companion embedded within a human-guided instructional framework.