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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Hi Frank<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Past exams give you what the examiners
have asked over the years at an algorithm level.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>All of the SACs are statistically moderated
against the exam.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>The lack of depth specified in the study
design gives the examiners incredible scope to ask at any level.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Then consider how many students would
answer it well. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Look carefully at the examiners reports
over the last twelve years. Look especially at the success rate on the algorithm
questions. Look at the questions concerned.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Think carefully about the point of asking
a question where only a few percent of students get above zero. The point of the
exam is to spread students in to a long line using the filter of the knowledge
learnt in this subject so that they can be given a study score and thus get put
into a long line for uni entrance. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Cynical – yes , practical –yes
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>The practice exams with parameter passing –
an attempt to lift the bar. ( I know, I wrote that algorithm) <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Eventually we will get to that stage. But
first we have to educate the teachers and there are teachers in this subject
who are not confident teaching parameter passing, linked lists, stacks, queues,
LIFO, FIFO, multi d arrays. There is a lot of PD that needs to be done before
we can ask questions at that depth in the exam.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Meanwhile I teach all of those, make it interesting
and for those students who are not up to it I make very sure that they can do a
bit more than the minimum that we have seen on the exam. Their SAC results for
u3o3 and u4o1 are not as good as the programmer students but programming itself
only makes up a small part of those SACs. Most of the marks are in planning,
documentation etc. The programmer students hate those aspects and often leave
them out.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>So it evens up….<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>(Off the soap box and stagger off to
lunch. I hate getting up at 4 a.m. to mark papers but it is the only quiet time
in the house)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><font size=2 color=blue
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>Andrew
Shortell</span></font></st1:PersonName><font color=navy><span
style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><font size=2
color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:blue'>Braemar</span></font></st1:PlaceName><font size=2 color=blue
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">College</st1:PlaceType></span></font></st1:place><font color=navy><span
style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div style='border:none;border-left:solid blue 1.5pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 4.0pt'>
<div>
<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabindex=-1>
</span></font></div>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
is-bounces@edulists.com.au [mailto:is-bounces@edulists.com.au] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Frank Van Den Boom<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Thursday, 16 November 2006
10:29 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> is@edulists.com.au<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> FW: [Year 12 Its] New IS
study design query</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>I was a bit surprised to only get one
response to the question below a couple of weeks ago. Does that mean that
nobody else finds this difficult to judge?<br>
Imagine you were an experienced IT practioner and you came in to teach this
course with no prior knowledge of it and you were trying to figure out what
depth was required in programming. So you look at the following :</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>1. Study design - very hard to know (see
comments in original message) </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>2. 2006 IS exam - nothing beyond nested
IF's - nothing involving arrays, records, files. One question with a loop was
only concerned with identifying variable types, but not control or data
structures.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>3. Previous exams - basic use of 1-dim
array, basic looping</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>3. VITTA practice exams - suggest you need
to have a solid understanding of arrays, records, file processing and parameter
passing. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>4. Text books - cover algorithms for
stacks, queues, linked lists etc</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>At the end of the day, past exams to me
are the only general indicator of the depth to cover. Is there a reason
why the study design can't spell this out more clearly?</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>Frank</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabIndex=-1>
</span></font></div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font
size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
is-bounces@edulists.com.au [mailto:is-bounces@edulists.com.au] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Frank Van Den Boom<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Wednesday, 25 October 2006
12:41 PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> is@edulists.com.au<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [Year 12 Its] New IS
study design query</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Today I started looking more closely at the revised study
design to plan for next year. One of the things that struck me is that it is
difficult to know what the minimum content requirements are in a number of
areas. For example-data structures. I don't think it specifically mentions any
particular data structure. U4O1 key knowledge includes "methods of
organising files....serial, sequential, random" which implies the need to
cover records. Arrays are not specifically referred to and while, it would be
pretty dumb to omit them, are 1-dim arrays enough, or might exams expect
ability to work with multi-dim arrays? What about sets, pointers....</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Another KK point --> 'Forms and uses of data structures
to organise and manipulate data'. Which data structures?? What types of uses??
- all the oldies like sorting, linked lists, queues, binary searches etc
are possible here.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Now I know we have the flexibility to cover as much of this
as we want to for the kids who are really into it, particularly for those who
already have a reasonable programming foundation as they enter the course. But
what I don't know is what the minimum requirement is. This becomes more
important when most of your group have little to no programming experience.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>What do you think about this?</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Frank</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>_______________________________________________ <br>
<a href="http://www.edulists.com.au">http://www.edulists.com.au </a>IT Systems
Mailing List kindly supported by <br>
<a href="http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au">http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au </a>- Victorian
Curriculum and Assessment Authority and <br>
<a href="http://www.vitta.org.au">http://www.vitta.org.au </a>- VITTA Victorian
Information Technology Teachers Association Inc
_______________________________________________ <br>
<a href="http://www.edulists.com.au">http://www.edulists.com.au </a>IT Systems
Mailing List kindly supported by <br>
<a href="http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au">http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au </a>- Victorian
Curriculum and Assessment Authority and <br>
<a href="http://www.vitta.org.au">http://www.vitta.org.au </a>- VITTA Victorian
Information Technology Teachers Association Inc<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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