[Informatics] Informatics Exam Comments

[Garth, Lucas A]

Hi Judy (and others)

I thought a fair exam from the moment I viewed it.  My students main comment was that it was “relatively easy”, probably because areas they struggled in practice tasks (e.g. normalisation) weren’t really covered in a large mark question.

The questions were decent in the main, particularly with regards the new study design change. It’s hard enough with new content (limited practice exams of VCAA standard) and this year’s Year 12 students will be less confident with databases than next year’s Year 12s due to no formal database outcomes at Year 11.

My students weren’t happy that there was a referencing question (unfair) but I’d let them know it’s going to be on the exam for sure (and only one mark), so bad luck.

There were more legal questions than in the past from what I can tell.  Not a bad thing given the study design changes.

There are a few areas that next year’s exam can really up the intensity if the results are too strong for this year’s. Given that the exam format included many more points of assessment due to the Case Study (in old study design, you’d get 20 MCQ and maybe 10 short answers, here you’re getting this plus another half an exam) – probably fair enough for this year.
(I’m expecting 2017 to be brutal with more depth to the questions and therefore really hard to complete on time.)

On the format, I got confused for a minute with the question after the insert.  If students pulled out the insert they would have been fine, but if not, they may have though the question after insert (Q7) was part of the case study and tried to answer in those terms.  Ideally you’d have the entire first half of the exam before the insert – use blank pages if necessary

Given that my students thought it was fairly easy, I’m not expecting great standardised results, mainly because easier exams float everyone’s boat with higher marks for all and tend to disadvantage students who have slightly lower English skills than average, which is a fact of life at Lalor.

On viewing the exam, questions that were a bit confusing were:
MCQ4 (ambiguity – most would get right answer I think), MCQ7 (all DVs had issues), MCQ16 (could have been worded better – again think most would get right answer), MCQ17 (not confusing but way too much info for a 1/100 mark question – I’d have moved on with a guess, then returned if I had time)
SAQ1b – bit generous half doing an ERD for them, but only 2 marks and clear link to marks, I’m not devastated
SAQ4 – not great having a person with a last name of van Olst in a referencing question – hard enough to just get the referencing order correct

I think with only 5 questions not really clear or confusing that’s a pass mark for sure.

Lucas
Lalor SC



From: informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Judy Zuccon
Sent: Saturday, 12 November 2016 7:20 AM
To: Year 12 VCE Informatics Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: [Informatics] Informatics Exam Comments

Hi  everyone,

I thought I would get the ball rolling discussing the Informatics exam...

I thought it was challenging but fair. However, my students had varied opinions ranging from easy to hard! Oh well!

I liked how the new content was included and covered eg hypothesis, UFDs, project management, data analytics, etc.

The project management question, without predecessors identified, would have made the students think.

Normalisation and Ethics questions were achievable.

It was quite long in comparison to the practice exams (especially for reading the questions)  but most students said they finished the paper.

Multiple Choice Questions 3, 11 and 16 caused the most discussion.

What did others think?

Many thanks
Judy Zuccon






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