Research has shown that programmers are more productive when they work in pairs. In this course, you are strongly encouraged to work with a homework partner. If you choose to work with a partner, you will keep the same partner throughout the course. Both partners will receive the same grades on their homework assignments.
As an incentive, students who work with a partner throughout the term will receive a 3% bonus on their homework total at the end of the term. (For example, if the total number of points that can be earned on all of the homework assignments totals 1000, 30 bonus points will be added to your homework total, up to a maximum of 1000.)
Working with a partner does not necessarily mean a decrease in the time you will spend on your homework; indeed, it may increase the number of hours you spend on your assignments. But with this increased time comes better understanding (and better exam grades).
Both partners should know how to do all of the homework problems in a given assignment. It is not advisable to split up the work between partners, because each partner will be responsible for learning all the homework material for the exams.
Let me suggest a couple of ways pairs might work together. One way is called "Pair Programming", where one student is the "driver" (at the keyboard) and the other student is the "navigator". The driver and navigator periodically switch roles. The entire assignment is worked out by the pair working together in person. We'll watch a short video in class that describes pair programming. Another way pairs can work is for each student in the pair to do the assignment individually, then meet with your partner in person, discuss the assignment, and decide which solution to submit for credit (you may also, as part of your discussion, decide to rework part of the solution before submitting it).
Partners who try to communicate entirely by electronic means, without face-to-face meetings, are generally less successful than those partners who work together in person.
Requests for homework partners will be accepted (via InstructAssist) beginning on January 22. Each of you will be in one of three homework partner situations: working alone, working with a partner who you identified, or working with a partner who the staff helped you find. Follow this procedure to request a homework partner:
You will only need to go through this process once, for Homework 1. InstructAssist will automatically assign the same sets of partners for all subsequent homework assignments.
You will only need to go through this process once, for Homework 1. InstructAssist will automatically assign the same sets of partners for all subsequent homework assignments.