[Year 12 IT Apps] Exam question B7

Tue Nov 15 14:56:24 EST 2011

I was a bit baffled by B7, too. I really wanted to just sketch out a design for the answer and annotate that to explain it.  Maybe it's just me, but I would have found it perplexing to try and put my explanation in words in the time allotted and space provided.

Jackson Bates
Waverley Christian College

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Today's Topics:

   1. Exam question B7 (Mark KELLY)
   2. Re: Exam question B7 (Mann, Warrick D)
   3. Year 12 Unit Plan (yearly) (Mann, Warrick D)
   4. Re: Puts down the rifle... (ATKINSON-BUCK, Damien)

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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:32:41 +1100
From: Mark KELLY <kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au>
Subject: [Year 12 IT Apps] Exam question B7
To: "Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List"
        <itapps at edulists.com.au>
Message-ID:
        <CAGLnYS56Wg=Xt4FXczPxW4hsUzO2SFMEnrSoCrr5Ajtpu0m0tg at mail.gmail.com>
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A new thread for a new question - I was strangling in that massive thread on all sorts of different questions. Let's use different threads for different questions, eh?

--

Anyway - Question B7, the 8 mark beast - the best-selling item for each month over 6 months. It's got me knocking my head on the furniture.

The best selling item each month over a 6 month period - in one report?
That's not easy!

How is the data stored? Is it a raw list of transactions with each row containing item ID, sale date and sale amount?

You'd need to somehow group all sales by month, calculate a sales total for each item in that month, then plot that item's sales in a chart. But it's not easy to do...

In an empty column you extract the month from the date with
=MONTH(Saledate) to get a month number (1=January, 2=February).
Create a filter on the 'month' column and select the month you're interested in.
Use =SUMIF(items,1,salesamounts) to get the sales total for item 1, a similar formula for item 2 etc. That would give the total sales for each item in each month.
Use the MAX( ) function to find the highest sales value for all items that month.
Use the INDEX( ) function to extract the item number corresponding to that maximum sales value.
Copy the value, item and month to another part of the spreadsheet and create a chart of the items' sales figures.

That's pretty unreasonable.

Perhaps they want a pivot table? Do they want a line graph showing the monthly sales of each item on separate lines? That would still require grouping the monthly sales figures.

Am I overthinking it?
Have I missed the bleedin' obvious?

My head hurts.

--
Mark Kelly
Manager of ICT, Reporting, IT Learning Area McKinnon Secondary College McKinnon Rd McKinnon 3204, Victoria, Australia Direct line / Voicemail: +613 8520 9085, Fax +613 9578 9253 kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au VCE IT Lecture Notes: http://vceit.com
Moderator: IT Applications Edulist <http://www.edulists.com.au/>

Want a good time? Call 0112358. Ask for Mr Fibonacci.
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Message: 2
Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 02:57:45 +0000
From: "Mann, Warrick D" <Mann.Warrick.D at edumail.vic.gov.au>
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] Exam question B7
To: "Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List"
        <itapps at edulists.com.au>
Message-ID:
        <008D7CB93D093D4C9B651AEF35DAD140177ACD40 at EDUMBX04.education.vic.gov.au>

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Hi Mark,

I would actually agree with you, this would actually be better suited to a database.

One way could be to use 2 different sheets. 1 summary sheet, and then a summary of that sheet?? Still quite messy.

Warrick

From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Mark KELLY
Sent: Tuesday, 15 November 2011 1:33 PM
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: [Year 12 IT Apps] Exam question B7

A new thread for a new question - I was strangling in that massive thread on all sorts of different questions. Let's use different threads for different questions, eh?

--

Anyway - Question B7, the 8 mark beast - the best-selling item for each month over 6 months. It's got me knocking my head on the furniture.

The best selling item each month over a 6 month period - in one report? That's not easy!

How is the data stored? Is it a raw list of transactions with each row containing item ID, sale date and sale amount?

You'd need to somehow group all sales by month, calculate a sales total for each item in that month, then plot that item's sales in a chart. But it's not easy to do...

In an empty column you extract the month from the date with =MONTH(Saledate) to get a month number (1=January, 2=February).
Create a filter on the 'month' column and select the month you're interested in.
Use =SUMIF(items,1,salesamounts) to get the sales total for item 1, a similar formula for item 2 etc. That would give the total sales for each item in each month.
Use the MAX( ) function to find the highest sales value for all items that month.
Use the INDEX( ) function to extract the item number corresponding to that maximum sales value.
Copy the value, item and month to another part of the spreadsheet and create a chart of the items' sales figures.

That's pretty unreasonable.

Perhaps they want a pivot table? Do they want a line graph showing the monthly sales of each item on separate lines? That would still require grouping the monthly sales figures.

Am I overthinking it?
Have I missed the bleedin' obvious?

My head hurts.

--
Mark Kelly
Manager of ICT, Reporting, IT Learning Area McKinnon Secondary College McKinnon Rd McKinnon 3204, Victoria, Australia Direct line / Voicemail: +613 8520 9085, Fax +613 9578 9253 kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au<mailto:kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au>
VCE IT Lecture Notes: http://vceit.com
Moderator: IT Applications Edulist<http://www.edulists.com.au/>

Want a good time? Call 0112358. Ask for Mr Fibonacci.

Important - This email and any attachments may be confidential. If received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Before opening or using attachments check them for viruses and defects. Regardless of any loss, damage or consequence, whether caused by the negligence of the sender or not, resulting directly or indirectly from the use of any attached files our liability is limited to resupplying any affected attachments. Any representations or opinions expressed are those of the individual sender, and not necessarily those of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:07:14 +0000
From: "Mann, Warrick D" <Mann.Warrick.D at edumail.vic.gov.au>
Subject: [Year 12 IT Apps] Year 12 Unit Plan (yearly)
To: "Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
        (itapps at edulists.com.au)"       <itapps at edulists.com.au>
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        <008D7CB93D093D4C9B651AEF35DAD140177ACD87 at EDUMBX04.education.vic.gov.au>

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Hi All,

Does anyone have a Unit ? Unit plan that they wouldn't mind sharing?

(Cross post: Does anyone have a Unit ? Unit plan??)

Cheers
Warrick

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Message: 4
Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:12:44 +0000
From: "ATKINSON-BUCK, Damien" <Damien.ATKINSON-BUCK at ivanhoe.com.au>
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] Puts down the rifle...
To: "Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List"
        <itapps at edulists.com.au>
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        <3E17F75B626F994B87071361E4FD0D744D7B8227 at MICKEY-MBX.igs.vic.edu.au>
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Thanks David,
            Re-reading it, I see my mistake. Missed the replace bit. There ends up no hard drive backup, just the online backup. So yes B is correct.
Cheers
Damien

Damien Atkinson-Buck
Member of Academic Staff (Secondary)
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From: Howard, David [mailto:dhoward at stmichaels.vic.edu.au]
Sent: Tuesday, 15 November 2011 9:53 AM
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] Puts down the rifle...

Hi Damien,

Good point about all data, however, couldn't that be read as "all data that is part of the incremental backup" not as "all data being a full backup".

A, C and D are all definitely efficiency measures IMHO

Cheers

David

From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of ATKINSON-BUCK, Damien
Sent: Tuesday, 15 November 2011 9:26 AM
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] Puts down the rifle...

Hi David,
I agree with those except am a bit stumped on Q17.
A, C & D are definitely efficiency,  although C could at a stretch go towards timeliness, but B states that ALL of the data is backed up ONLINE at the end of each week.
The question says that only the incremental backups are online, so it can't be B either

Damien Atkinson-Buck
Member of Academic Staff (Secondary)
________________________________

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From: Howard, David [mailto:dhoward at stmichaels.vic.edu.au]
Sent: Tuesday, 15 November 2011 8:31 AM
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] Puts down the rifle...

I'm with Mark on this one. Definitely A.

Validation can ensure that I input a date of birth for example that is reasonable, say 12/08/1981 but is it accurate, no!

Here are my multiple choice answers.

1 B
2 A
3 D
4 D
5 A
6 A
7 B
8 A
9 A - not so confident on that one
10 A
11 C
12 C
13 B
14 B
15 D
16 C
17 B
18 B
19 C
20 C

David Howard
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From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Mark Scott
Sent: Tuesday, 15 November 2011 8:14 AM
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] Puts down the rifle...

Validation deals with data entry.

Options B, C and D are all testing to ensure data manipulation is correct/accurate etc.

Only option A clearly deals with data entry (i.e. the most correct option)

thanks
Mark Scott
Luther College

"The busier you get, the slower you walk" anon

From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Michael Torsello (Mr)
Sent: Tuesday, 15 November 2011 8:03 AM
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] Puts down the rifle...

Dear wiser colleagues
Can someone help me with MC question 8?

An effective validation technique is evident when ... all answers seem to support the presence of an effective validation technique.

A - at first glance the answer but is reasonableness the best evidence of validation?
B- an accurate report suggests accurate input data, doesn't it?
C- least likely but again "reasonably"? What does that mean? If data can be sorted is it valid?
D -calculated files gives correct answers! Is this evidence of GIGO - not garbage in, garbage out, but good in, good out?

I'm confused!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With Thanks
Michael Torsello
Director of Computing
St Margaret's School, Berwick
Berwick Grammar School, Officer
Ph: (03) 9703 8111

P Save paper and trees. Do you need to print this email?

From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au<mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au> [mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au]<mailto:[mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au]> On Behalf Of Ben Hines
Sent: Monday, 14 November 2011 4:32 PM
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] Puts down the rifle...

Yeah I just found that, thanks

From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au<mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au> [mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au]<mailto:[mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au]> On Behalf Of Howard, David
Sent: Monday, 14 November 2011 3:39 PM
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] Puts down the rifle...

A - Scope see page 17 of the study design.

From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au<mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au> [mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au]<mailto:[mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au]> On Behalf Of Ben Hines
Sent: Monday, 14 November 2011 2:37 PM
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] Puts down the rifle...

I cannot believe that number question. No one would normally type numbers in as numerals, set the data type to text and then order from A -> Z.

I doubt anyone would get the answer to that unless they have accidentally done it in the past.

Because you have entered them as text, the sort will only look at the left most number to order them (just like with normal ones).

Answer according to Access is B....

Question 5 in the Multiple Choice? What's the consensus on that one?

Ta

[Description: Description: ben_sig]
Mr Ben Hines

VCE Maths/ICT Teacher
Senior School Campus - Christian College Geelong
*(03) 52411577 (ext. 212)

From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au<mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au> [mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au]<mailto:[mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au]> On Behalf Of Howard, David
Sent: Monday, 14 November 2011 2:15 PM
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] Puts down the rifle...

I don't have the paper in front of me, but after a quick chat to my students, plain to see that they had differing opinions on the sorting of numbers as text question in the multiple choice.

I'm not marking this year by the way.

From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au<mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au> [mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au]<mailto:[mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au]> On Behalf Of Mark KELLY
Sent: Monday, 14 November 2011 1:52 PM
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: [Year 12 IT Apps] Puts down the rifle...

I'm reading the paper now.

Section A looks pretty free of rabies.

I have put the gun down after reading the normalisation question...  Thank Dog sanity prevailed on that one!

Damn that ERD question - three marks and they had to draw an entire diagram from scratch!  Grrr.

The 8 mark question appeared, as we expected.  And it was approachable.

Overall, I think I might give the dog a bone.

--
Mark Kelly
Manager of ICT, Reporting, IT Learning Area McKinnon Secondary College McKinnon Rd McKinnon 3204, Victoria, Australia Direct line / Voicemail: +613 8520 9085, Fax +613 9578 9253 kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au<mailto:kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au>
VCE IT Lecture Notes: http://vceit.com
Moderator: IT Applications Edulist<http://www.edulists.com.au/>

Want a good time? Call 0112358. Ask for Mr Fibonacci.

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