Abstract:

This study was conducted to investigate the perspectives of undergraduate students on the use of pair programming as a collaborative learning technique in undergraduate programming modules at an institution of higher learning. A qualitative approach with a purposive sampling method was used in which an online questionnaire was distributed to undergraduate students who were enrolled in 2023. This study was conducted on 40 undergraduate students enrolled at a South African institution of higher learning in Gauteng Province. Out of the 40 students who participated in the study, 25 of them were enrolled in the C++ programming semester module for first-year, while 15 of them were enrolled in the Java programming semester module for third-year. Students were allowed to pair themselves, given programming activities, and then given the online questionnaire to respond to after they had completed their programming activities. In the results, it was observed that most of the students from both groups had challenges working together because they have different levels of programming skills and they found it hard to stay focused. What was common for both levels was that they found the approach interesting, and beneficial and recommended that the technique should be integrated as a collaborative learning tool earlier in the classroom. Additionally, the study results revealed that though challenges were faced by the participants, most of them indicated that the use of pair programming is important as it improves teamwork, communication, participation, problem-solving, and students’ deeper comprehension of programming concepts. For example, eighty-four percent (84%) and seventy percent (70%) of the first-year and third-year students respectively, agreed that using pair programming in the programming activities improved their collaboration and communication skills. In addition, sixty percent (60%) and seventy percent (70%) of the first-year and third-year students respectively, agreed that using pair programming improved their problem-solving skills. The study's limitation is that it was carried out at only one institution of higher learning and not at any of the software development organisations where such skill is practiced, suggesting the sample size might not have been fully representative. It is, therefore recommended that a similar study be conducted at other institutions of higher learning as well as in industry organisations that are involved in software development. Furthermore, it is recommended that all high schools should offer computer applications technology (CAT) or programming as a subject to expose every learner to programming at an early stage before higher education and to also address the digital-age gap, seeing that all systems across various sectors are technology-driven. This in our view would give learners some leverage when they enter into University to further their studies in Computer Science and Information Technology or a place of work as software developers.

Keywords:

Pair programming, collaborative learning, higher education, undergraduate students, university, academic performance, programming concepts.