Effective Pair Programming – Practical advice to get students collaborating James Franklin jfranklinedu james@axsied.com Axsied Ltd / Royal Russell School www.axsied.com/pair-programming

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Industry Tertiary Secondary Primary

Enjoyment “Fun, it’s more fun with a partner.” (Jack) “Yeah – it’s more enjoyable” (Josh) “I really like the idea... I love it when I am with someone whom I know and I work well with.” (Benjamin) “IT WAS AWESOME. And I hope I do it again” (Joseph) 94% wanted to do it again – “Yes – that would be excellent”

Clock / 5 minutes “I thought it was very good. I think the techniques which you use with the stop-watch are really, quite, effective and efficient; because then there was no arguing and wasting time; because there was an easy split and it was equal” (Josh) “I also thought it was a good amount of time. I think maybe if it was only two minutes it would be a bit too short and might get a bit annoying but if [it] was like 10 minutes then the same person might be typing for ages” (James)

Two keyboards “Because you don’t have to move it around all the time and you can easily negotiate between whom is typing.” (Benjamin) “Because then we can just switch and not have to faf around.” (Emily)

Ability of pair “I’d go for someone who has the same ability as me, because if they have done it longer and they’re more experienced at it they know a lot better than me; they might just take over and not let me do anything. If there is someone that has less ability than me, then they might just sit back and watch me do everything, so I wouldn’t like that either.” (Jack) “... if she was better then she might be thinking like, she can keep doing things and not letting me have a go, because she might be on top of herself a bit.” (Sophie) “I would say the same amount still. It makes me feel comfortable.” (Jack)

Final tips Same ability 5 minute timer Dual keyboard www.axsied.com/pair-programming Take a “tips” handout for the best tips!