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. 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 that those partners who work together in person.
If you and a classmate want to work together, one of you should submit your request through the "Homework Team Requests" forum in the myWPI Discussion Board.