Code warriors and code-a-phobes: a study in attitude and pair programming

This paper reports on how first-year students who have programmed before see their programming interest and ability and how this self-perception relates to their performance in the introductory programming course. In particular we examine how this self-perception is reflected in their reactions to the pair-programming technique for developing software.Students who had programming experience before University were given a survey that placed them on a scale that we have called Code Warrior to Code-a-phobe. We then placed them in 'opposite' and 'similar' pairs for a pair programming exercise and surveyed their reactions. There was evidence that students who have considerable self-confidence do not enjoy the experience of pair programming as much as other students and that students produce their best work when placed in pairs with students of similar self-confidence levels.