[Year 12 IT Apps] Thoughts on the CSE/IARTV ITA exam

[Mark KELLY]

Hi all. Some thoughts on the IARTV ITA exam that might be useful for a
second edition if there is one...

Section A

Q6 - An online form on a webpage requires an order quantity to be entered. A
suitable validation check would be...
The sample answer was "a location check".  Has anyone ever heard of a
location check - and if so, what is it?  Existence?
Fortunately the other 3 options were clearly even more wrong.

Q9 - Evaluating the effectiveness of an information system is typically done
during...
The answer given was "post implementation".  There is no "post
implementation" step in the PSM. Was the question trying to avoid giving its
proper name of "Evaluation" which would've made the answer too easy to spot?

Q10. Efficient processing can be judged by...
The answer given was "D. Accurate processing". The right option should've
been "B. faster processing"

Q11. Copyright law...
The answer given was "D. protects the ideas expressed on a website."
Copyright law, however, does not protect ideas. It protects the way in which
ideas are expressed.

Q15. A clever business use of a spreadsheet is to...
The answer given was "D. Use macros for often repeated actions."
What does "clever" mean, though?  Is the use of macros "clever"? Option B,
"perform processing on data loaded from a data file" could be "clever" too.

Q20. Decisions made in organisations can be classified into the following
groups...
B. strategic, tactical, operational, day-to-day
Is there a textbook somewhere that describes "day-to-day" decisions?  That's
what operational decisions are. I don't know where "day-to-day" comes from.
The study design certainly does not mention them.


Section B

Q1b - "Discuss two key design factors you would include to ensure that the
website user interface was easy to use."
This is pretty vague. Is "design factors" meant to be "design elements",
which kids _are_ expected to know?

Q1c. "Discuss one of the following breaches of social online protocols:
fraudulent identity, cyber bullying... gender or age constraints."
The "Discuss" instruction led my kid to talk about all sorts of things -
what causes the issues, what the issues mean, what effects they have. The
instruction was far too vague.
Secondly, what does "gender or age constraints" mean in that context?

Q6b. I hope the VCAA exam does not have a "convert this table from 1NF to
2NF" type of question. It's fair game, but kids will do very badly on it!

Q7. This was another pretty vague question:
"Detail the types of hardware and software required for online communities
to support their websites.
a. Server
b. Operating system
c. Web server software
d. TCP/IP protocol
e. Firewall
f. Internet connection.

My kids were unsure exactly what the question wanted them to do: discuss
options? explain what the terms meant?
And how many "types" of TCP/IP protocol are there?

Q8. New Telco has been working hard to sell its mobile and data products
across Victoria for some months are now wants to review uptake trends..."
a. The New Telco decision makers need to consider both efficiency and
effectiveness. Define these terms in the New Telco context."

Firstly, what is a "mobile" product?  Mobile phones? Bicycles?
Secondly, my students found the question ambiguous. Do New Telco need to
consider the efficiency and effectiveness of their _products_, or of the
_review_ they intend? Half of my kids answered one way and the other half
answered the other way. I had to give marks to both interpretations.

Q8b was an 8 mark question asking how spreadsheets or RDBMS could help the
org make tactical decisions. This question is too similar to 3c which asked
kids to explain how these tools could be used to support strategic decision
making.


Cheers





-- 
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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