Experimental Set Up

• 1999 at the University of Utah
• 41 students in a senior-level Software Engineering course
• Divided into two groups
  • 13 (the control group) did all assignments individually
  • 28 (the experimental group) worked in two-person, collaborative teams on same assignments
  • Groups of similar abilities (same mix of high, average, low achievers based on grade point averages)
  • Experimental group given additional assignments to balance work load
• Prior interest in pair programming
  • Some in control group has expressed interest in pair programming
  • All in experimental group has expressed interest in trying Pair programming (many curious but somewhat reluctant)
• Student background
  • All had significant coding experience
  • Most had industry internship experience
  • Most had written small compilers, OS kernels, interpreters
• All students received same instruction
  • Attended same classes
  • Participated in same discussions of pros and cons of pair programming

created May 16, 2003 last revised November 7, 2003

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