| NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | June 7, 2016 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 7, 2016 |
| Award Number: | 1611908 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Paul Tymann
ptymann@nsf.gov (703)292-2832 DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | June 15, 2016 |
| End Date: | May 31, 2020 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $299,904.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $299,904.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
105 JESSUP HALL IOWA CITY IA US 52242-1316 (319)335-2123 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
Department of Computer Science Iowa city IA US 52242-1419 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | IUSE |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
Most economic forecasts foresee a shortage of qualified computer scientists and engineers by the year 2020, leading to growing interest in computer science courses at many universities. Yet the usual first course for computer science majors typically consists of learning to program, and necessarily involves at least several challenging programming assignments, which can lead to poor student engagement and eventual disenchantment. Growing enrollments only exacerbate the challenges inherent in these courses, which often have low retention rates and are particularly unpopular among female students. One promising technique to improve engagement and retention is to allow students to work on programming assignments in pairs, i.e., pair programming. Pair programming is not a new concept itself, but quantitative measures of the resulting student learning are few. The significance of this award is a cluster-randomized control trial on the effectiveness of pair programming in the introductory computer science curriculum.
This project will consider differential effects for female and male students across different introductory computing courses using 2,000 undergraduates. Outcomes of interest include level of programming skill, attitudes toward computing, course attrition rates, course grades, selection of and performance in subsequent computational coursework, and changes in undergraduate major. The project investigation will study the effects of pair programming on student short-term and long-term programming skills, computing attitudes, academic achievement, and persistence in computer science, particularly paying attention to female students.
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
"Paired programming" is a popular Computer Science (CS) practice where students enrolled in a CS course solve practical programming exercises or homework assignments with a partner. This approach is supported by some prior evidence about how group learning activities, like paired programming, lead to more actively engaged students and better learning outcomes, especially among women and members of underrepresented racial and socioeconomic groups. Collaborative learning may also lead to better long-term outcomes, such as higher retention within the major or at the college or university.
Surprisingly, the evidence that support the educational effectiveness of paired programming is not very strong. This project provided one of the few rigorous studies of the outcomes of paired programming, and it explored several distinct questions in a multi-year, large-scale experiment.
More than 1500 undergraduates enrolled in three introductory computer science courses over a two-year period were included in the study. Each course was delivered in a large lecture/small discussion section format. Half of the discussion sections were randomized to receive paired programming, where enrolled students completed programming assignments with a randomly assigned partner. The remaining discussion sections had students complete programming assignments by themselves. Study measures included precollege achievement data (high school grades, ACT or SAT scores, AP coursework, etc.), demographic data (sex, race, ethnicity, parental education, etc.), short-term outcomes (course grades, various forms of engagement, interest and confidence in CS, etc.) and long-term outcomes (choice of major/minor, future CS course enrollment, future CS course performance, etc.).
We used the data collected to explore several fundamental questions about paired programming. Our findings were generally mixed. We found that pair programming has virtually no overall short-term or long-term impact on students' grades or their future participation in CS coursework.
Paired programming led to a modest reduction in grades for the introductory course and the likelihood of majoring in computer science among all students. We found that students paired with a more experienced partner had poorer outcomes, including lower effort exerted on the assignment, lower understanding of concepts from the lab, and less interest in computer science overall. On the other hand, students of either sex paired with a female partner demonstrated better attendance and greater confidence in their completed assignments; these advantages were largest for female students.
Last Modified: 07/17/2020
Modified by: Alberto M Segre
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