Pair Programming for Teaching Mobile Development (Abstract Only)

Pair Programming is an agile practice that has numerous studies showing its benefits for education. The emergence of mobile software design education raises questions about the effectiveness of Pair Programming in this evolving field. Developing for mobile is different than regular desktop/web development in three major areas: having more than one screen to work on (i.e. computer screen and mobile device screen), connectivity issues (dealing with Bluetooth, GPS and location data, smart watches, and sensors), and User Experience (UX) issues. Our research probes unique challenges for Pair Programming when used in mobile software design classes, focusing on five mobile design topics: dealing with interface and data managements (as in fragments), using camera, handling multi-device connectivity, using sensors and collecting GPS data, and using microphones and speakers. The study highlights successes and challenges for Pair Programming for mobile applications, with the objective of providing a set of recommendations for instructors considering using Pair Programming in their mobile development classes.