Evaluating the Effects of Scripted Distributed Pair Programming on Student Performance and Participation

The results presented in this paper contribute to research on two different areas of teaching methods: distributed pair programming (DPP) and computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). An evaluation study of a DPP system that supports collaboration scripts was conducted over one semester of a computer science course. Seventy-four students participated in the study and used the DPP model to solve programming assignments in pairs, rather than individually. Students were divided into two cohorts in order to examine how best to distribute programming tasks to students, to maximize learning outcomes. The results suggest that while the use of DPP improves pass rates and gets positive feedback from students, the use of collaboration scripts yields equal task contributions from each of the student pair. For a small number of students, overall performance was improved by the adaptive assignment of programming activities, designed to engage students equally in diverse roles and activities.