The benefits of pairing by ability

An analysis of data from 259 CS1 students is performed to compare the performance of students who were paired by demonstrated ability to that of students who were paired randomly or worked alone. The results suggest that when given individual programming tasks to complete, lowestquartile students who were paired by ability perform better than those who were paired randomly and those who worked alone. Categories and Subject Descriptors K.3.2 [Computer and Information Science Education]: Computer science education; D.2.3 [Software Engineering]: Coding Tools and Techniques General Terms Experimentation, Human Factors Keywords Pair programming, pairing methodology, collaborative learning

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2010
• Where: SIGCSE
• Authors: Grant Braught, John MacCormick, Tim Wahls
• Keywords: Computer Science Education, Education, Individual Programming Tasks, Science Education, SIGCSE 2010