The Impact of Remote Pair Programming in an Upper-Level CS Course

Abstract

Pair programming has been highlighted as an active learning technique with several benefits to students, including increasing participation and improving outcomes, particularly for female computer science students. However, most of the literature highlights the effects of pair programming in introductory courses, where students have varied levels of prior programming experience and thus may experience related group issues. This work analyzes the effect of pair programming in an upper-level computer science course, where students have a more consistent background education, particularly in languages learned and best practices in coding. Secondly, the effect of remote pair programming on student outcomes is still an open question and one of increasing importance with the advent of Covid-19. This work utilized split sections with a control and treatment group in a large, public university. In addition to comparing pair programming to individual programming, results were analyzed by modality (remote vs. in person) and by gender, focusing on how pair programming benefits female computer science students in confidence, persistence in the major, and outcomes. We found that pair programming groups scored higher on assignments and exams, that remote pair programming groups performed as well as in person groups, and that female students increased their confidence in asking questions in class and scored 12\% higher in the course when utilizing pair programming.