Pair Programming Partner Evaluation and Choosing Your Next Partner


Pair Programming Partner Evaluation

Now that it is time to switch partners, we want you to evaluate your experience with your current partner by completing the Pair Partner Evaluation Form, below. The evaluation is due at the date and time given in the Course Schedule.

Evaluation Questions

To evaluate your partner,

Although the open response questions are phrased to elicit a yes or no response, you are encouraged to include comments to elaborate on your answer; the goal is to paint us a picture of the nature of your partner’s participation in paired work, and what you think about pair programming (so far).

If you were given approval to work alone instead of in a pair, complete this evaluation about yourself as best as you can, revising it as necessary to make sense in that context. For example, the first question could be interpreted as “Did you come to lab on time and ready to work?”



Pair Partner Evaluation Form

My Name:

My UCI ID Number:

My Partner's Name:

My partner's technical competency is (choose one):

	Much better than mine
	Somewhat better than mine
	About the same as mine
	Somewhat less than mine
	Much less than mine

My partner and I were _______ compatible (choose one option to fill the blank):

	Very
	Reasonably
	Not at all

Open response questions

  1. Did your partner come to the scheduled meetings on time and ready to work? Did you partner notify you if she or he would not be able to attend a meeting or fulfill a responsibility?

  2. Did your partner read the assignment and preparatory materials before coming to the scheduled meetings, showing up either with specific questions or ready to contribute?

  3. Did your partner cooperatively follow the pair programming model (rotating roles of driver and navigator, questioning and making observations as the navigator)?

  4. Did your partner contribute fully, fairly, and actively, to the best of his or her ability, to the completion of the lab assignment?

  5. Was your partner's participation professional and cooperative overall?

  6. Have you found pair programming helpful in completing the programming work and learning about programming in general? If you have previous experience programming alone, do you now prefer working in pairs?

Overall rating of your partner (choose one):

Excellent Consistently went above and beyond-tutored me, carried more than her or his fair share of the load
Very good Consistently did what she or he was supposed to do, was well prepared and cooperative
Satisfactory Usually did what she or he was supposed to do, was acceptably prepared and cooperative
Marginal Often did what she or he was supposed to do, was minimally prepared and cooperative
Inadequate Sometimes failed to show up, usually showed up but was rarely prepared
Deficient Often failed to show up, was unprepared when she or he did show up
Unsatisfactory Consistently failed to show up, was consistently unprepared
Negligent Practically no participation
No Show No participation at all

Other comments:


Choosing your Next Partner

For the next two assignments, you will work with a new partner. Your new partner cannot be your current partner, unless you took on a new partner after Lab Exam 2 was given; in that case, you and your current partner can remain partners for Labs 4 and 5, if you both agree.

As before, we prefer you and your partner chose each other, asking for a TA’s assistance if you cannot find a partner. Report the new partnership via email to 21-questions@ics.uci.edu no later than the date given in the Course Schedule.

Why the Switch


Written by Norman Jacobson, September, 2006; the section on partner evaluation was adapted
   from text in Informatics 41 Fall 2006 Pair Programming Guidelines
  by David G. Kay, used with permission (and thanks!)
Section on switching partners added, and other edits made, by Norman Jacobson, December, 2006.
Minor revisions, by Norman Jacobson, January 2007.
Replaced the questionnaire with a significantly revised one that appears in the NCWIT Pair
   Programming in a Box module, and other minor edits, by Norman Jacobson, September 2008.
Edited to remove some redundant text; revised rating names to better describe the indicated behaviors,
  by Norman Jacobson, December 2008.
Minor edit to make clear that completed evaluations are emailed to the TA who grades the student's lab exams,
  by Norman Jacobson, November 2009.
Revised to make submission requirements more explicit and to reflect this quarter's staffing, and to allow
  newly-formed partnerships to continue into Labs 4 & 5, by Norman Jacobson, December 2009.
Minor typos fixed, by Norman Jacobson, September 2010.