Divide amongst students in introductory programming courses

[deadowl]

I'm wondering if there are any resources that take an objective point of view at the divide among students in introductory programming courses. I know, at least at my university, it's quite obvious that there is half the class that understands the core concepts well enough to feel that the class is moving too slow, while the other half doesn't understand the same concepts and feel as though the class is moving too fast. Google is not being helpful to me.

[LaRoza]

That happens in most introductory courses, especially on technical issues.

[deadowl]

Yea, no kidding, but the question is: why?

This is what I've found so far, but it doesn't seem very tested:
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=771340

edit (another):
http://tcla.gseis.ucla.edu/divide/politics/margolis.html

Most of these sources focus on females. However, there are also males with the same issue.

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

I don't know of an objective analysis.

However, if you Google on graduation rates, salaries for various carriers, and shortages of qualified people, you may come to your own independent conclusion.

Personally, I think that some people pursue degrees in carriers for which they do not have the strengths needed to achieve success. They pursue carriers because of the financial and job opportunities projected for that carrier -- not how they can use their strengths to be successful in a carrier.

[MaxIBoy]

It's spelled "career." Not to be a jerk, but that post confused me for about five minutes.

My actual post:
I learned python when it was in version 2.2 (I would've been about 10 at the time,) so I had a head start when I took a college-level C++ class last year. I also have a serious problem with impulsiveness, so I kept blurting out answers and then covering my mouth in mortification.

Anyway, I've liked classes where more advanced students can finish their assignments really fast, and meanwhile they're working on a side project for some kind of extra credit.