A Grounded Theory on the Teacher and Student Roles in Pair Programming

Abstract: Context: Pair programming is an established (agile) practice and is practiced throughout the industry. Objective: Understand under what circumstances knowledge transfer can harm a pair programming session. Method: Grounded Theory Methodology based on 17 recorded pair programming sessions with 18 developers from 5 German software companies accompanied, by 6 interviews with different developers from 4 other German companies. Results: We define the student and teacher roles to help developers deal with a one-sided knowledge gap. We describe pitfalls to avoid and develop a grounded theory centered around the Power Gap in pair programming. Conclusions: Knowledge transfer can be harmful when developers don't pay attention to their partners needs and desires. If developers don't pay attention to the Power Gap and keep it in check, Defensive Behavior may arise that leads to a vicious cycle impacting the knowledge transfer, the Togetherness and the code quality in a negative way.