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Strategies to Optimize Student Success in Pair Programming Teams

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Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

Computer Science Education and AI research

Tagged Division

Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)

Page Count

18

DOI

10.18260/1-2--44272

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/44272

Download Count

326

Paper Authors

biography

Ayesha Johnson University of South Florida, College of Nursing

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I am an assistant professor of statistics in the College of Nursing at the University of South Florida. My research interests include educational methods, and health equity. I have experience in data analysis for various types of research designs.

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biography

Zachariah J Beasley P.E. University of South Florida Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-0146-2739

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Dr. Zachariah Beasley received his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of South Florida with a focus on sentiment analysis in peer review. He is the first author of nine peer-reviewed papers and a reviewer of three software engineering and natural language processing textbooks. Dr. Beasley has received the ASEE State of Engineering Education in 25 Years Award and USF Spirit of Innovation Award. He plays the guitar at his church and has spent five summers as a volunteer English teacher in Taiwan. Dr. Beasley joined the University of South Florida in August 2020 as an Assistant Professor of Instruction and is a USF STEER STEM Scholar.

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Abstract

Pair programming is an active learning technique where two students share a single screen to complete a project synchronously. The practice confers several benefits; however, its full potential is undercut when pair breakdown occurs. The strategies for optimal pairing of students to alleviate this breakdown, allowing students to effectively collaborate and communicate, are multi-faceted and remain an area with a large gap in knowledge. Strategies can be further complicated by unexpected events requiring a shift from traditional learning environments. Our work identifies strategies to optimize student success by examining pair performance in two sections of an upper-level computer science course at a public university where a majority of students (69%) chose to pair program remotely. Data on several key factors were gathered and analyzed for their effect on pairs: programming confidence and experience, gender, preferences toward deadlines, communication style, and leadership style. These factors were examined for their effect on assignment and exam scores using backward stepwise regression. We found that paired students with similar programming confidence performed 11% (p=.036) higher on assignments, while students in pairs with dissimilar communication styles scored 14% (p = .006) higher than those whose styles were similar. On exams, being in a pair with similar, but not the same, preference toward others leading resulted in a 10% higher average score (p=.014). Some factors impacted male and female students differently. Male students in pairs with similar preference toward others leading scored 11% higher on exams (p=.016), while female students in pairs with the same preference toward deadlines scored on average 13% higher on exams (p=.032). These findings show that similarity in some factors (confidence), while diversity in others (working styles, communication styles) are needed to optimize student success in pair programming teams and support women in computer science.

Johnson, A., & Beasley, Z. J. (2023, June), Strategies to Optimize Student Success in Pair Programming Teams Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--44272

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