Pair Programming

A common misconception that comes up is when a student or teacher see two individuals on one computer they think of it as an inferior way of learning. This is not the case and here are the advantages demonstrating how paring is a good way of learning.

Before explaining why pairing is a good way of learning, we will explain the paring technique we use.

Technique:

Pairing technique takes the form of one student at the keyboard and the other student sitting beside her.  The student at the keyboard is taking directions from the student beside him/her. A simple timer is used to regulate the rotations. Rotations will take place every five minutes and as each rotation takes place, each student will work with the same partner. The teachers will also rotate to model system.

Reasoning:

( The reasons given are not given in any particular order of importance)

Setup:

Pairing allows twice as many students per computer. It reduces the amount of computers instructors have to set up, although it is very important to keep in mind that instructors will need the same amount of chairs compared to the number of students.

Class unity:

Unity is important because it allows the class to be on the same page. It is harder to have unity when students are working independently especially when it involves a large group of students. Pairing affectively reduces the amount of independently working students by ½.

Skill equalization:

Students come in with different skill levels, making it difficult for instructors to teach them simultaneously. The teamwork pairing offers helps to level the playing field for all the students. The best part is that it does not penalize the more advanced students because as they explain the material to their classmates, they gain a deeper understanding.

Focus:

Pairing encourages students to pay attention to the class materials presented and not diverge their attention towards facebook or other entertainment websites. When working with a partner, students tend to put forth their best efforts.

Social:

Pairing offers a more friendly and sociable atmosphere, which we hope to dispute the misconception that programming is associated with being anti-social. This is especially important for girls, who usually work better in groups where they are able to communicate and discuss with one another.

Reduces frustrations:

In programming, encountering bugs cause a huge amount of frustration for everyone. When students are individually working, it is easy to overlook bugs or mistakes. However, with two pairs of eyes attentively working together, the amount of bugs or errors present are greatly reduced. Often times a concept may be confusing to one of the students in the pair, but not the other. By working together their frustrations are reduced.

Body Chemistry:

Rotations are implemented by instructors because after 15 minutes of sitting down, one’s body chemistry shifts and slows down. By requiring the kids to stand up every 15 minutes, we help prevent this shift in their body from taking place. This is the reason behind why instructors do not wish for students to merely just pass the keyboard over.

Greater peripheral vision:

According to cognitive science studies, negative emotions hinder one’s ability to engage in broader visual perception. (http://www.unc.edu/peplab/broadening.html )

For example, a study tracked the duration of time people spent looking at a picture according to their emotional state. The more unhappy one is feeling, the less likely the individual will be able to see the entire screen. It is difficult to learn when one is not able to be able to see options available to them.

Creativity:

Studies in cognitive science have also presented the fact that one’s creative abilities may be limited when working in solitude.  (http://ascc.artsci.wustl.edu/~ksawyer/groupgenius/ ) However, creativity is able to flourish when one is given the opportunity to bounce ideas off others.

These are the reasons why instructors prefer pairing as part of the teaching technique for teaching kids programming.