Hybrid Pair Programming - A Promising Alternative to Standard Pair Programming

Pair programming has been widely adopted as an effective pedagogical tool in CS1/2. The successful execution of pair programming depends on each partner contributing similar amounts of work. However, anecdotes from past research observed that some student pairs can contribute a drastically unequal amount towards their assignments. We address this through a pilot of a hybrid pair programming model. Here, students complete two halves of the assignment as independent programmers and then in partnerships. We conducted a randomized experiment on this model in a CS1 class and found that while pairs generally performed better than solo students in the checkpoint, pairs in the second stage who had worked independently during the checkpoint portion tend to be more resistant to sudden increases in difficulty. We found no significant difference on selected exam problems between the control and experiment groups. We identified lower contributors within pairs and these students showed improved scores on most exam questions directly related to their independent checkpoint work. Survey feedback on hybrid pair programming is positive. The hybrid model is easily adopted in CS classes and positions students to better face the obstacles presented by the assignment while allowing them to benefit from pair programming.