[Year 12 IT Apps] ITA exam - B10b (i)

Thu Nov 7 11:27:56 EST 2013

Hi Glenda.

I read "boat hours" as a *running total* of all hires because the sample
data does not show any boat appearing more than once.
There seemed to be no need in the question for a record of *each* hire.

And yes, I agree about 2NF.
Would a database engineer *ever* sit down and say, "OK. I'm deliberately
going to design this database for 2NF, but not 3NF!"
Quibbling over the dividing line between 2NF and 3NF seems to be a pedantic
point for professors to pontificate.

And as for the kids... I can't imagine breathless year 11s filling in their
year 12 subject selection sheets saying, "I'm going for IT Applications
because I hear we learn how second normal form is different to third normal
form. Golly!  I can't wait. It's like design elements, but a whole lot more
dull and confusing."

Cheers
Mark

On 7 November 2013 10:49, Harper, Glenda J <
harper.glenda.j at edumail.vic.gov.au> wrote:

>  Just picking up on the normalisation question (7a):
>
> The ‘(2NF)’ note is pretty much irrelevant (and few ‘experts’ seem to
> agree on just how to separate the normal forms) because the requirement is,
> quite naturally, to have each non-key fully dependent on a key field.  This
> means that there must be a Boat table and a ‘Hiring’. Table. Captain fields
> can all go into the boat table (1-1 relationship between boat and captain)
> but the boat hours can’t – or each boat could only be hired once.
>
> Tables need to be:
>
> tblBoat: BoatName (key)BoatLocation;  . . . all the rest *except*BoatHours, because this is not fully dependent on the Pkey; for every boat,
> there will be many hires (boat hours)
>
> tblHire: HireCode (key - could be autonumber); BoatName (foreign key);
> BoatHours . . .  and any other hire specifics – date, time . . ..
>
>
>
> Anyway, Mark, thanks heaps for all of your hard work (and enjoy that beer!)
>
>
>
>
>
> *Glenda Harper*
>
> *Educational Leader – Timetable and e-Learning*
>
> *Carwatha College P-12*
>
> harper.glenda.j at edumail.vic.gov.au
>
> *Ph:   9795 5848*
>
> *Fax: 9790 1712*
>
>
>
> *From:* itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:
> itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au] *On Behalf Of *Mark
> *Sent:* Thursday, 7 November 2013 10:27 AM
> *To:* Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
> *Subject:* Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] ITA exam - B10b (i)
>
>
>
> Remember that what is in the textbook is not gospel, and the study design
> does not mandate detailed working knowledge of PHP, PERL etc (unless you
> count it as being buried under "software requirements for setting up
> websites" in U3O1 KK4.)
>
>
>
> It doesn't even expect students to know the most fundamental concepts of
> HTML or CSS !
>
>
>
> *Warning - rant coming up...*
>
>
>
> And while I'm on the matter, I think that in the new study design ITA
> *should* man up and include basic HTML and CSS knowledge. It would not
> encroach upon SD's territory, and it would give students more to do in
> exams and SACs than minutely dissecting the definitions of words in
> questions.
>
> And some of the mandated definitions themselves are open to dispute, e.g.
> the study design says that 'efficiency' includes ease of use, but I would
> argue that ease of use is not a productivity issue, it's a quality issue
> and should be under effectiveness.
>
>
>
> Similarly, the study design dictates that evaluation criteria must be
> developed during the design phase of the PSM. Why? It does not make sense.
> Solution requirements are determined during analysis.  Why should the
> corresponding evaluation criteria not be determined then as well? Why wait
> until the solution is being assembled to decide how to determine if it's
> going to be a success or not?  Yet every year, kids are grilled on when
> evaluation criteria are determined. It's not like medical school where
> there are jolly good reasons for doing things a particular way: several ITA
> key knowledge dotpoints are largely a matter of opinion by VCAA and should
> not be examined as if they were fundamental laws of nature.
>
>
>
> The VCAA format of ERD diagrams is a case in point - it seems totally
> arbitrary. The choice of the Chen style is arbitrary. Its use of shading to
> represent key fields is not only arbitrary, it seems to be a VCAA invention
> that you will not find in the real Chen style.  Please set me right on this
> point if you know better. Yet students gain or lose marks on their final
> exam for whether or not they know this obscure, unconventional formatting
> 'convention'.
>
>
>
> After going through this year's exam carefully, I am getting more and more
> worried that ITA is becoming bogged down in intricate questions of subtle
> definitions (e.g. what is included under 'function design elements', and
> losing the bigger picture of the importance of IT applications (with a
> lowercase "a").
>
>
>
> Databases are done to death.  The normalisation theory is important to
> students to *apply*, but expecting them to distinguish between 2NF and
> 3NF is unnecessarily dull and narrow. University students should do that...
> not year 12s.
>
> Fortunately, this year's normalisation question was far more reasonable
> than that of 2012, but it still wanted students to only apply 2NF.  Why?
>  Surely students should aim for 3NF as a matter of course (and by using key
> fields for each table, 2NF problems effectively automatically disappear.)
>
>
>
> Apart from RDBMS, webpage editors, and possibly spreadsheets, and  what
> other software applications do kids study? Nothing. They can get through a
> year of studying IT applications any only use *two* applications.  Would
> year 12 History: Revolutions feel complete only studying 2 revolutions all
> year?
>
> In the past students needed project management software for their
> Gantt/PERT charts, and applications like 'Inspiration' for showing the
> representation of thinking, but they are gone now.
>
>
>
> We're left with databases and webpage editors - and up to 40% of the
> exam's marks come from these. See the marking breakdown<http://vceit.com/p/postmortem-2013i.htm#marking>I worked out.
>
>
>
> - Where is graphics editing? Sure it can be used when making a webpage,
> but it's not *required*. Where is theory on picture and video formats?
> Kids work every day with JPG, MKV etc but it's nowhere in the key knowledge.
>
> - What about audio? Kids use MP3 all day, but do they know the differences
> between it and FLAC? Why could this not be incorporated?
>
> - What about artificial intelligence?
>
> - What about HDD/SSD, USB, SATA, CPU/GPU? Applications cannot run without
> them, yet only the OS is mentioned in the study design. The closest we get
> to meaty hardware is vague "key hardware and software components"
> references relating to networking in U3O1, which could include years of
> study (yet only attract one mark for proxy servers in the 2013 exam.)
>
> - What other IT topics or applications do you think should make an
> appearance?
>
>
>
> *Rant finishes*
>
>
>
> I feel better now. I hope I haven't hurt anyone's feelings, as I usually
> seem to do.
>
>
>
> Now to pack away the dancing girls and head for the beach. Ah, retirement
> can be hard.
>
>
>
> Regards
>
> Mark
>
>
>
> On 6 November 2013 18:57, Howard, David <dhoward at stmichaels.vic.edu.au>
> wrote:
>
> Hi Mark,
>
>
>
> My only thought so far is that there is a small section in the text book
> about PHP and ASP being used to make web pages dynamic…
>
>
>
> I am glad that I am not marking the exam this year!
>
>
>
> David
>
>
>
> *From: *Mark <mark at vceit.com>
> *Reply-To: *Year List <itapps at edulists.com.au>
> *Date: *Wednesday, 6 November 2013 6:45 pm
> *To: *Year List <itapps at edulists.com.au>
> *Subject: *Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] ITA exam - B10b (i)
>
>
>
> I'm now feeling that the examiners did really expect kids to say,
> basically, "Type the price into a web page editor with a QWERTY keyboard,
> save the HTML file, and upload it to the web server with FTP."
>
>
>
> Sigh.
>
>
>
> On 6 November 2013 17:26, Mark <mark at vceit.com> wrote:
>
> Hi all. I'm nearing the end of the post mortem, but this is turning into
> one of the dodgiest ITA exams I've seen in some time.
>
>
>
> Take this delight hiding in section B, Q10b part (i)...
>
>
>
> "i. Describe how the manager can identify and display on a web page the
> cheapest fruit available."
>
>
>
> I'd like you all to pause for a moment and plan an answer to that in your
> heads. I'll wait.
>
>
>
> Finished? Are you sure?
>
>
>
> "Yes, a quick =MIN(C2:C5) formula," you say.
>
>
>
> But have you noticed the words "*and display on a web page*"?
>
>
>
> Try answering it *now*.
>
>
>
> Assuming that someone doesn't just *look* at the price onscreen and *type*it into a webpage manually with a webpage editor, do the examiners want
> kids to explain some ColdFusion, DDE link, SQL, or PHP code to magically
> extract a value from a spreadsheet/database and inject it into a dynamic
> web page?
>
>
>
> And even if we *did* just use the MIN function, it would only display the
> *value* of the lowest price, not the *name* of the cheapest fruit...
> that's an achievable, but very different kettle of fish.
>
>
>
> And it's worth all of *2 marks*!
>
>
>
> Beyond belief.
>
>
>
> I'm dying to see what the examiner's report gives as a model answer...
>
>
>
> --
>
> --
>
> Mark Kelly
>
> mark AT vceit DOT com
>
> http://vceit.com
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Mark Kelly
>
> mark AT vceit DOT com
>
> http://vceit.com
>
>
>
> Day 19, I have successfully conditioned my master to smile and write in
> his book every time I drool.- Pavlov's Dog
>
>
>
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-- 
--
Mark Kelly
mark AT vceit DOT com
http://vceit.com

Day 19, I have successfully conditioned my master to smile and write in his
book every time I drool.- Pavlov's Dog
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