Can Pair Programming Reduce the Computing Gender Gap? Fostering "Intrepid Exploration" Among Middle School Students

• In Event: Poster Session 1
  In Poster Session: Discipline-Based Research in Computing and Robotics

Abstract

It is widely assumed that girls like to collaborate and will be more engaged and learn more when they work with a partner which would suggest that the practice of pair programming—where two people collaborate on one computer—would be a natural way to attract girls to computing. In this first phase of a study, we investigate how pair programming can be used to foster a type of thinking and problem solving we call “intrepid exploration” (IE) and provide examples of what IE looks like in middle school. We report on data from seven single-sex pairs that show both positive (e.g. fearlessness) and negative (e.g. giving up) aspects of IE.

Authors

• Louise Ann Lyon, ETR

• Julie Adams, ETR Associates

• Yethzell Diaz, ETR Associates

• Jill Denner, Education, Training, and Research Associates

• Shannon Campe, ETR Associates