Knowledge transfer in pair programming: An in-depth analysis

Abstract

Whilst knowledge transfer is one of the most widely-claimed benefits of pair programming, little is known about how knowledge transfer is achieved in this setting. This is particularly pertinent for novice−expert constellations, but knowledge transfer takes place to some degree in all constellations.We ask "what does it take to be a good "expert" and how can a "novice" best learn from a more experienced developer?". An in-depth investigation of video and audio excerpts of professional pair programming sessions using Interaction Analysis reveals: six teaching strategies, ranging from "giving direct instructions" to "subtle hints";; and challenges and benefits for both partners. These strategies are instantiations of some but not all teaching methods promoted in cognitive apprenticeship; novice articulation, reflection and exploration are not seen in the data. The context of pair programming influences the strategies, challenges and benefits, in particular the roles of driver and navigator and agile prioritisation which considers business value rather than educational progression. Utilising these strategies more widely and recognizing the challenges and benefits for both partners will help developers to maximise the benefits from pairing sessions. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 1 Introduction "Two heads are better than one" is a common idiom referring to the advantages of collaborative work. *ManuscriptThe value of collaboration is explicitly encouraged in software development through a practice known as pair programming. Pair programming (PP) is a software development technique where two developers work closely together to solve a development problem [41,1].Several benefits of PP have been claimed including improved understandability and maintainability of code and design [35,37], decreased defect rates [24,18,23,10,25] and knowledge transfer [21,20,23,32,34,35,36,38,40]. This paper focuses on knowledge transfer in PP. This is common when a more experienced developer teaches a less experienced developer, for example, to bring new staff up to speed [3,42]. However, given that developers never have identical knowledge, a certain degree of knowledge transfer would be expected within every PP constellation.Pairing with someone who has a different knowledge level can be problematic [2,7] and developers tend to interact differently in this situation in comparison to pairing with other developers with similar knowledge levels [9,7]. For example, Plonka et al. [29] showed that less knowledgeable developers (novices) can disengage in PP sessions and can sometimes not follow their more knowledgeable partner (expert). These three questions are addressed through a qualitative analysis (using Interaction Analysis [19]) of video recordings of professional developers working together on their day to day t...

Relação Entre Orientação Para Objetivos, Partilha Do Conhecimento E Capacidade Absortiva Em Equipas Ágeis

“…Além de metodologias ágeis, como Scrum, serem baseadas na espiral do conhecimento (Schwaber & Beedle, 2002), existem características das metodologias ágeis que incentivam a partilha do conhecimento (Santos et al, 2015). Uma das técnicas utilizadas nas metodologias ágeis, por exemplo, o pair programming é uma prática ágil que propõe uma forma efetiva de partilhar conhecimento, porque enquanto as pessoas programam juntas, elas partilham; ao trocar as duplas de programação, o conhecimento é rapidamente espalhado para toda a equipe (Plonka, Sharp, Van der Linden & Dittrich., 2015;Sungkur & Ramasawmy, 2014). Outras práticas que incentivam a partilha do conhecimento são as preparações de iteração e planejamento de release utilizadas no método ágil de Extreme Programming (Beck, 2000) e as reuniões propostas pelo método Scrum, como as reuniões diárias e retrospectivas (Schwaber & Beedle, 2002;Sungkur & Ramasawmy, 2014).…”

“…Ao mesmo tempo, possuem mecanismos para que o ambiente seja propício para o aprendizado, de forma que os membros das equipas aprendam uns com os outros (Plonka et al, 2015;Schwaber & Beedle, 2002 Este trabalho contribui teoricamente identificando a necessidade de testar as relações entre os três construtos empiricamente levando em consideração as características do contexto. Como contribuição gerencial, o trabalho dá um direcionamento para gerentes identificarem a orientação da sua equipa e, com isso, fazerem planos de ação para as estratégias de partilha, aquisição e uso do conhecimento na equipa.…”

Optimising Pair Programming in a Scholastic Framework: A Design Pattern Perspective

“…The quantitative analysis performed by them can be extended further to get better insights on software code metrics and its comparison with solo programming. Plonka et al (2015) carried out a systematic inquiry on pair programming and discussed the manner in which pairing influences the strategies, challenges and benefits of driver and navigator. Their work urged developers to utilize the maximum benefits from pairing sessions by throwing more light on expert-novice constellations (Plonka et al, 2015).…”

“…Plonka et al (2015) carried out a systematic inquiry on pair programming and discussed the manner in which pairing influences the strategies, challenges and benefits of driver and navigator. Their work urged developers to utilize the maximum benefits from pairing sessions by throwing more light on expert-novice constellations (Plonka et al, 2015). Two other possible combinations could be expert-expert and novice-novice.…”

What does it mean to use a method? Towards a practice theory for software engineering

“…Dispersed practices still exist, but they change character; for example, the practice of asking and giving of explanations will also be observed in software engineering, but it changes character and meaning. An example can be found in the dialogs between long-term project members and newcomers in the pair programming sessions analysed by Plonka et al [58], where the explanations are the base for both knowledge sharing and improvement of the existing code. To say that software engineering is a social practice suggests that it consists of coordinated activities that are connected through a.)…”