Beginners in programming solve tasks by creating programs which correctness could be evaluated by an automatic system. To do so, it must recognize all correct solutions and be able to decide whether the pupil's solution corresponds to them. This paper introduces an alternative method of assessing the gradation of programming tasks-Variance of Program Builds count (VPB). This is based on the fact that building a program takes the form of its successive iteration. In that case, the number of times such a program was built by the solver can be monitored. The variance of the program builds count can be considered as a criterion of the difficulty of the task. This variance is the highest in the age group for which the task is most suitable. If a series of tasks has a slow gradation in difficulty, all the tasks should be most suitable for the same age group. If the gradation is faster, each task should be most suitable for slightly older pupils than the preceding task. The VPB method was applied to a series of graded programming tasks in order to ascertain whether these tasks satisfied the requirement of increasing difficulty. The tasks were completed by 24,806 pupils from grades 4 to 9. The method identified an issue with the gradation of the series. This was in line with the opinions of two independent experts. Using the VPB method can be regarded as beneficial for the refinement of a series of programming tasks, with the objective of optimising its gradation.
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