Table 4 Novices vs. advanced students (ns denotes not significant)

Completed problems

19.63 (1.54)

20.53 (1.17)

U = 35, p = .037

Time/problem (min)

2.67 (.80)

2.82 (.44)

ns

Pre-test (%)

58.39 (21.09)

77.11 (22)

U = 76, p = .011

Post-test (%)

57.92 (28.3)

85.48 (10.75)

U = 63.5, p = .003

Improvement

ns

ns

Normalized gain

.09 (.53)

.30 (.46)

ns

Pre-test code writing

45 (37.59)

65.26 (40.74)

ns

Post-test code writing

46.25 (41.13)

88.42 (14.25)

U = 76.5, p = .011

Improvement code writing

ns

W = 75, p = .039

Pre-test output questions

84.11 (19.62)

97.37 (7.88)

U = 84.5, p = .024

Post-test output questions

84.9 (17.86)

83.99 (21.17)

ns

Improvement output questions

ns

W = 10, p = .022