[Year 12 IT Apps] VITTA Practice Exams Indiscrepancies

Thu Oct 18 15:35:44 EST 2012

Hi Benn.  The study design occasionally gives examples or mandated lists of
things under a particular Key Knowledge (KK) heading.  That helps us
understand what the heading means, and what's within scope.

Many key knowledge topics, however, lack examples or mandated items, so
it's up to us to work out what's relevant.  That's where this list helps us
to discuss the KK and decide what to teach.  The textbook writers face the
same decisions, usually well before a new study design comes into effect,
and have to decide what to include before this helpful discussion starts.

That's one reason texts may disagree about details of what to include and
what to leave out.  As a teacher, you use your own knowledge of the
technologies and your interpretation of the study design to use the text
effectively with your kids.

Cheers
Mark

On 18 October 2012 15:20, POLLOCK, Benn(POL) <POL at wantirnacollege.vic.edu.au
> wrote:

> Thank You Mark and David for prompt replies.
>
> The first place I looked was the SD and did notice that only text
> (string), number, date/time, Boolean (true/false) where listed. Was just
> after some clarification as it's confusing as when the kids look on Page
> 100; they see Currency as a Data Type. I know there was an amendment to
> the SD which removed currency as a Data Type, but as they can choose
> currency as a 'Data Type' in Access, you would hope that the examiners
> would accept either number or currency as the correct answer.
>
> As with the naming conventions, as a first year teacher of IT-Apps, how
> can the students be tested on names of conventions that aren't
> specifically listed in the SD or the Textbook? I'm quite puzzled at this
> being new to the profession and the subject. I taught my students the
> same way the textbook does, prefixing the tables/queries/reports etc
> with lower case 'tbl' then the name such as 'CustomerID'. I was not sure
> of the actually name of this convention, but now I know.. Thanks! :)
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
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> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. VITTA Practice Exams Indiscrepancies (POLLOCK, Benn(POL))
>    2. Re: VITTA Practice Exams Indiscrepancies (Mark KELLY)
>    3. Re: VITTA Practice Exams Indiscrepancies (Howard, David)
>    4. Photoshop PD Opportunities (Cameron Ross)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:53:06 +1100
> From: "POLLOCK, Benn(POL)" <POL at wantirnacollege.vic.edu.au>
> Subject: [Year 12 IT Apps] VITTA Practice Exams Indiscrepancies
> To: <itapps at edulists.com.au>
> Message-ID:
>
> <29963D9395C11C428DA4E6DA314566380380E62A at want4.wantirnacollege.vic.edu.
> au>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hello All,
>
> A few queries regarding the practice exams from the VITTA. My students
> and I have had quite some debate over quite a few of the answers
> provided to the exams in the 2012 Exam Pack.
>
> In a response to one of the questions, it asks for the student to fill
> in the table with the correct data type. The field name is
> "ProductCost($)". All my students put "Currency" as the appropriate data
> type, however the VITTA answers sheet lists the correct answer as
> "Number", however I believe that Currency is listed as a Data Type in
> the text.
>
> Also, another sub question to this was to identify the naming convention
> used. The correct answer provided was CamelCase or CamelBack. I can't
> seem to find these naming conventions anywhere within the text, or
> remember covering them with my students throughout the year. There is
> also a multiple choice question in the same practice exam which ask
> students to choose the correct naming convention used - the responses
> include, Camel Case, Camel Back, Hungarian Notation and Positional
> Notation. Once again, can't see to find any reference to any of these in
> the texts. Have I missed something? If it's not in the text, how can
> students expect to answer these questions? These are just some of the
> recent discrepancies I've had with these VITTA practice exams.
>
> Cheers,
> Benn
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:13:43 +1100
> From: Mark KELLY <kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au>
> Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] VITTA Practice Exams Indiscrepancies
> To: "Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List"
>         <itapps at edulists.com.au>
> Message-ID:
>
> <CAGLnYS5B6x4W=hkx5Dydyaci3Z21seoDH39fyjiZ=UAKjiTKVg at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hi Benn. Remember that no textbook is the ultimate authority: the study
> design is. And it defines the mandated data types as follows:
>
> ITA = text (string), number, date, currency, logic (Boolean) Units 1+2 =
> string, character, integer, floating point SD = string, character,
> integer, floating point, Boolean
>
> So 'number' would be correct for ITA, even if your kids knew other more
> suitable types like currency or single precision. I bet real VCAA
> markers would have accepted those alternatives since they're very common
> in many languages. The VITTA solution may just have chosen to be
> conservative and sticking to what the types that the study design lists.
>
> (Dog only knows why they're different for each study... it reminds me of
> the multiple problem solving models we had before the SDLC was given the
> toss.)
>
> CamelCase and Hungarian Notation are the two main naming conventions.
> They may not be listed in the study design, but they are commonly
> accepted in the industry, and the study design often does not list
> examples or mandated types of things.
> As always, we have to be careful using any non-VCAA document - even
> VITTA's
> - because (as far as I know) no commercial text, assessment task etc is
> officially given a VCAA seal of approval.  The closest we get is
> outcomes that pass auditing.
>
> But then again, vetting texts and tasks might be an excellent service
> that VCAA could offer authors to ensure VCE materials are top-notch...
>
> Mark
>
> On 18 October 2012 11:53, POLLOCK, Benn(POL)
> <POL at wantirnacollege.vic.edu.au
> > wrote:
>
> > Hello All,
> >
> > A few queries regarding the practice exams from the VITTA. My students
>
> > and I have had quite some debate over quite a few of the answers
> > provided to the exams in the 2012 Exam Pack.
> >
> > In a response to one of the questions, it asks for the student to fill
>
> > in the table with the correct data type. The field name is
> > "ProductCost($)". All my students put "Currency" as the appropriate
> > data type, however the VITTA answers sheet lists the correct answer as
>
> > "Number", however I believe that Currency is listed as a Data Type in
> > the text.
> >
> > Also, another sub question to this was to identify the naming
> > convention used. The correct answer provided was CamelCase or
> > CamelBack. I can't seem to find these naming conventions anywhere
> > within the text, or remember covering them with my students throughout
>
> > the year. There is also a multiple choice question in the same
> > practice exam which ask students to choose the correct naming
> > convention used - the responses include, Camel Case, Camel Back,
> > Hungarian Notation and Positional Notation. Once again, can't see to
> > find any reference to any of these in the texts. Have I missed
> > something? If it's not in the text, how can students expect to answer
> > these questions? These are just some of the recent discrepancies I've
> had with these VITTA practice exams.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Benn
> >
> > ___
> >
> --
> Mark Kelly - kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au
> Manager of ICT, Reporting, IT Learning Area McKinnon Secondary College
> McKinnon Rd McKinnon 3204, Victoria, Australia
> Phone: +613 8520 9085, Fax +613 9578 9253 VCE IT Lecture Notes:
> http://vceit.com
> Moderator: IT Applications Edulist
> <http://edulists.com.au/itapps/index.htm>
> Visit Diigo links for ITA <http://groups.diigo.com/group/vce-info-tech>
> and SD <http://groups.diigo.com/group/vce-sd>
> --
> My personal best for the 100 metre sprint is 11.9 metres.
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:52:00 +1100
> From: "Howard, David" <dhoward at stmichaels.vic.edu.au>
> Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] VITTA Practice Exams Indiscrepancies
> To: "Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List"
>         <itapps at edulists.com.au>
> Message-ID: <D019E85933645D48BDC3EECEEAB63457637A47EDCC at smgs-exch>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hi Benn,
>
> The study design states for Unit 3 ITA that the data types are:
>
> data types---> including text (string), number, date/time, Boolean
> (true/false)
>
> I would go by the study design, not the text.
>
> What naming conventions did you teach your students if I may ask?
>
> Regards
>
> David
>
>
> David Howard
> Head of IT & Learning Technologies
> St Michael's Grammar School
>
>
> 25 Chapel Street, St Kilda VIC 3182 Australia
>
> Phone +61 3 8530 3272
> Fax +61 3 9510 3161
> Email dhoward at stmichaels.vic.edu.au
> Website www.stmichaels.vic.edu.au
> CRICOS Provider 00345G
>
>
>
>
> Please consider the environment before printing this email.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au
> [mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of POLLOCK, Benn(POL)
> Sent: Thursday, 18 October 2012 11:53 AM
> To: itapps at edulists.com.au
> Subject: [Year 12 IT Apps] VITTA Practice Exams Indiscrepancies
>
> Hello All,
>
> A few queries regarding the practice exams from the VITTA. My students
> and I have had quite some debate over quite a few of the answers
> provided to the exams in the 2012 Exam Pack.
>
> In a response to one of the questions, it asks for the student to fill
> in the table with the correct data type. The field name is
> "ProductCost($)". All my students put "Currency" as the appropriate data
> type, however the VITTA answers sheet lists the correct answer as
> "Number", however I believe that Currency is listed as a Data Type in
> the text.
>
> Also, another sub question to this was to identify the naming convention
> used. The correct answer provided was CamelCase or CamelBack. I can't
> seem to find these naming conventions anywhere within the text, or
> remember covering them with my students throughout the year. There is
> also a multiple choice question in the same practice exam which ask
> students to choose the correct naming convention used - the responses
> include, Camel Case, Camel Back, Hungarian Notation and Positional
> Notation. Once again, can't see to find any reference to any of these in
> the texts. Have I missed something? If it's not in the text, how can
> students expect to answer these questions? These are just some of the
> recent discrepancies I've had with these VITTA practice exams.
>
> Cheers,
> Benn
>
> _______________________________________________
> http://www.edulists.com.au - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe IT
> Applications Mailing List kindly supported by
> http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/infotech/itapplications3-4.html -
> Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority <br>
> http://www.vitta.org.au  - VITTA Victorian Information Technology
> Teachers Association Inc <br> http://www.swinburne.edu.au/ict/schools -
> Swinburne University
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:27:02 +1100
> From: Cameron Ross <C.Ross at balcombegrammar.vic.edu.au>
> Subject: [Year 12 IT Apps] Photoshop PD Opportunities
> To: "itapps at edulists.com.au" <itapps at edulists.com.au>
> Message-ID:
>
> <ADBD636EDF962E4AB0F6B86D7399B14316184B1D at CGSWHITE.intranet.crancc.vic.e
> du.au>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> Sorry for the cross posts
>
> I have just been advised that I am teaching an IT subject based around
> Photography next year.  If possible does anyone know if there are any
> Photoshop PD's currently running with either VITTA or ATOM?
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Cameron Ross
> VCE IT / Maths Teacher
> [cid:image001.jpg at 01CDAD3C.A2191C10]
> 389 Nepean Highway, Mt Martha 3934
> Tel: 03 5970 1100 Fax: 03 5974 2755
> Email: c.ross at balcombegrammar.vic.edu.au
> www.balcombegrammar.vic.edu.au
>
>
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>

-- 
Mark Kelly - kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au
Manager of ICT, Reporting, IT Learning Area
McKinnon Secondary College, McKinnon Rd, McKinnon 3204, Victoria, Australia
Phone: +613 8520 9085, Fax +613 9578 9253
VCE IT Lecture Notes: http://vceit.com
Moderator: IT Applications Edulist <http://edulists.com.au/itapps/index.htm>
Visit Diigo links for ITA <http://groups.diigo.com/group/vce-info-tech> and
SD <http://groups.diigo.com/group/vce-sd>
--
My personal best for the 100 metre sprint is 11.9 metres.
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