The Skill-Application Paradox: stopped competitive programmers self-report higher theoretical confidence than active peers yet show significantly weaker practice habits and peer support¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2031: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Stopped students reported higher math skill (3.88 vs 3.41) and data structure understanding (3.57 vs 3.09) than active students. → Azuad Islam Ruhan 2026

Evidence¶

Azuad Islam Ruhan 2026¶

Azuad Islam Ruhan, Golam Mostofa Naeem, Rakibul Islam Rafi, Sherin Afrin Mim, Nazira Bani Opi, Dewan Fahad Chowdhury, and Md. Rejaul Korim Sadi. (2026). Predicting Student Attrition in Competitive Programming: A Large-Scale Study Integrating Survey Insights and Global Behavioral Logs. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.28618 doi:10.48550/arxiv.2608.28618

q2 · i? · associational · r1

Multi-institutional survey across 10 Bangladeshi universities (n=73 analyzed here; 22 active, 51 stopped). Independent-samples t-test shows stopped students rate their math skill higher (t=−2.29, p= 0.025); data structure understanding shows the same direction (3.57 vs 3.09).

"Students who had stopped CP reported a mean math skill rating of 3.88 (out of 5), compared to 3.41 among currently active students (t=−2.29,p= 0.025)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Self-Efficacy — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Secondary students report near-maximum confidence in passive digital tasks but sharply lower confidence in active creation and algorithmic logic — related
• Learners' task-specific self-efficacy beliefs predict whether they initiate, persist through, and recover from difficulty on academic tasks. — a broader claim this one bears on
• Engineered practice-balance features outperform raw activity counts: the Intensity Ratio ranks third among Codeforces predictors, and upsolving habit dominates the survey model — related
• Frequent generative AI use enhances perceived confidence and efficiency but increases technological dependence among university students — related
• Perceived collaboration among peers positively predicts academic engagement, but competitive climates can undercut collaboration — related
• True attrition in competitive programming is preceded by an 83.71% reduction in monthly contest participation — related