A comparison of the biology majors to the engineering majors (i.e., students majoring in biomedical or chemical engineering) on all six questions demonstrated that the overall differences between the two groups were highly significant ( N = 17 biology majors, N = 14 engineering majors; multivariate analysis of variance, p < 0.003).
They showed a highly significant improvement in their sense of competence in programming ( p < 0.0004) and a strong trend toward an increased sense of competence in biology ( p < 0.03) and a more positive attitude toward programming ( p < 0.023; post hoc t tests using the Bonferroni correction).
Although biology and engineering majors did not differ significantly in their attitudes toward or their sense of competence in computer programming, the engineers showed a clear trend toward a higher sense of competence in mathematics ( p = 0.057).