Exploring the effects of pair-programming in a high school computer course

• Main Authors: Chang, Jen-Fu, 張仁輔
• Other Authors: 吳正己
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/81659152605939837085

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 資訊教育學系 === 97 === This study explored the effects of using pair-programming strategy to help high school students learning programming concepts. In a pair-programming duo, one serves as the driver, who types at the computer or writes down a design; the other partner serves as the navigator, who looks for defects in the work of the driver with an objective point of view. A quasi-experiment design was implemented in this study. Four classes of high school students, totaling 145 students, participated in this study. Two classes of 76 students paired in the computer lab to learn programming (the pair group), whereas the other two classes of 69 students learned programming individually (the control group). Students’ post-experiment achievement test scores, replies on questionnaires, and conversations during lab activities as well as researcher’s class observations and focus group interview data were collected and analyzed. The findings of the study were: (1) the pair-programming group performed significant better than the control group in the post-experiment achievement test, (2) no significant difference was found on students’ attitudes toward learning programming between the pair group and control group, (3) the drivers usually took more responsibility on problem-solving process than the navigators, (4) the dialog patterns exhibited in the pair group, in order of frequency, were didactic, debugging, and debating, and (5) pair-programming tended to lead students toward productive learning behaviors.