Wheel-spinning refers to the failure to master a skill in a timely manner or after a considerable number of practice opportunities. Several past studies have developed wheel-spinning models in the areas of Mathematics and Physics. However, no models have been made for the context of novice programming. The purpose of this study was to develop wheel-spinning models in the context of novice programming and to identify the indicators of wheel-spinning. In this study, we developed five wheel-spinning models that had acceptable performance with data from 114 Filipino students using a meaningful gamification system. Following intuition, the number of problems correctly solved was negatively correlated with wheel-spinning, while overall number of problems attempted and consecutive mistakes were indicative of wheel-spinning.