[Year 12 IT Apps] ITA 2013 exam

Thu Nov 7 18:05:01 EST 2013

After the first glance of the ITA exam I thought it was "OK". However, after
sitting down, reading it and being confused myself as to what the examiners
were expecting in some questions, I was absolutely baffled. Why do the
examiners keep trying to confuse and mislead students with ambiguous
questions? It's disappointing to see year in, year out (and this is only my
second year teaching ITA). After reading through your post mortem Mark, I
felt sick at particular stages thinking about what on earth my kids would of
actually written for some questions (in particular the 10 mark database
question and the ethics question). The scary thing is, a majority of my kids
were confident that they "smashed it"... Now I'm really concerned come time
I find out their results! =/ 

Thank you once again Mark for providing such an in-depth post mortem. Your
resources and knowledge has been invaluable! :D 

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: ITA 2013 post mortem - Part A (Mark)
   2. ITA 2013 exam - A1 (Mark)
   3. Re: ITA 2013 exam - A1 (Vear, Gary D)
   4. Re: ITA exam - B10b (i) (claire at warrandytehigh.vic.edu.au)

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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 12:52:30 +1100
From: Mark <mark at vceit.com>
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] ITA 2013 post mortem - Part A
To: "Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List"
	<itapps at edulists.com.au>
Message-ID:
	<CACu=8Z0Eg0BPJqJ4u+uzF2h_cEo+pmWOzYEzV9ee++dbh-M8mg at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Ah, I see what you mean now.

On 7 November 2013 12:30, Vear, Gary D
<vear.gary.d at edumail.vic.gov.au>wrote:

>  Hi Mark,
>
> I'm not sure where the need for clarification comes from.
>
> It seems to me that both the study design and textbook clearly refer 
> to *types
> * of online communities in the same way, with each source including 
> the following three:
> (1) social,
> (2) professional/work-based and
> (3) project/interest-based.
>
> In turn, each of these three types of communities supports, to varying 
> degrees, three main *purposes*:
> (1) collaboration,
> (2) knowledge sharing, and
> (3) collective identity.
>
> Since answer D (knowledge-sharing) to question 1 is a purpose (and not 
> a
> type) of online communities, it can safely be ruled out as a potential 
> answer.
>
> The question specifically asks for a "type of online community." Only 
> A
> (social) and C (project-based) represent *types *of online communities 
> as expressed in the study design and textbook, so it comes down to a 
> choice between them. Given the scenario, C strikes me as the best
alternative.
>
>  ------------------------------
> *From:* itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au 
> [itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au] on behalf of Mark [mark at vceit.com]
> *Sent:* Thursday, 7 November 2013 11:42 AM
> *To:* Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
> *Subject:* Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] ITA 2013 post mortem - Part A
>
>
> On 7 November 2013 11:07, Vear, Gary D
<vear.gary.d at edumail.vic.gov.au>wrote:
>
>> if we accept the textbook classification of online communities.
>
>
> Do we? If you are referring specifically to the Potts textbook's 
> classification, remember that no textbook is gospel.
>
>  The study design says in U3O1 KK 1, "types and purposes of online 
> communities including social, work-based, project/interest-based that 
> support the purposes of collaboration, knowledge sharing and 
> collective identity."
>
>  This is actually ambiguous. Does it it mean ...
>
>  "types and purposes of online communities including
> (i) social,
> (ii) work-based,
> (iii) project/interest-based that support the purposes of 
> collaboration, knowledge sharing and collective identity."
>
>  Or does it mean...
>
>  "types and purposes of online communities including
> (i) social,
> (ii) work-based,
> (iii) project/interest-based
> that *(all)* support the purposes of collaboration, knowledge sharing 
> and collective identity."
>
>  I read it the second way.
>
>  Did you read it the first way?
>
>  If you read it the first way, it implies that *only* a 
> project/interest-based community supports collaboration, knowledge 
> sharing and collective identity!
> Neither the social nor work-based communities have need of these things.
> That does not make a lot of sense to me.
>
>  Perhaps Paula can clarify the interpretation of the KK.
>
>  --
> 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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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 13:43:54 +1100
From: Mark <mark at vceit.com>
Subject: [Year 12 IT Apps] ITA 2013 exam - A1
To: "Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List"
	<itapps at edulists.com.au>
Message-ID:
	<CACu=8Z1ZTL2_yuYhrELR+t4KUNW2kOeZoJJ-92Qk91Hsp4Z3aw at mail.gmail.com>
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Hi all. I have taken people's feedback on board and amended my answer to A1.

Then I thought about it a bit more and felt a
rant<http://vceit.com/p/postmortem-2013i.htm#a1>coming on, which I added to
my amended answer.

In short, I still think (D) is better, but accept that the examiners will be
expecting (C) as the answer.

Cheers, and thanks all for the food for thought. It all goes to nourish the
ranting.

--
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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Message: 3
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 03:10:01 +0000
From: "Vear, Gary D" <vear.gary.d at edumail.vic.gov.au>
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] ITA 2013 exam - A1
To: "Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List"
	<itapps at edulists.com.au>
Message-ID:

<378D22CADE5779489ED918EF122958391AA56FFB at EDUMBX03.education.vic.gov.au>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi Mark (and others),

I just revisited your post mortem and noticed the student comment/feedback
at the very bottom.

Hu raises a valid point: not much in the way of questions related to all the
stuff on networking I taught my students. Given all of U1O2 and a big part
of U3O1 are devoted to this topic, it was somewhat surprising to see so
little addressed in the exam.

Is this stuff being earmarked for omission from the next study design? If
not, why was it largely ignored on the end of year exam?

-Gary
________________________________
From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au [itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au] on
behalf of Mark [mark at vceit.com]
Sent: Thursday, 7 November 2013 1:43 PM
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: [Year 12 IT Apps] ITA 2013 exam - A1

Hi all. I have taken people's feedback on board and amended my answer to A1.

Then I thought about it a bit more and felt a
rant<http://vceit.com/p/postmortem-2013i.htm#a1> coming on, which I added to
my amended answer.

In short, I still think (D) is better, but accept that the examiners will be
expecting (C) as the answer.

Cheers, and thanks all for the food for thought. It all goes to nourish the
ranting.

--
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

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: 4
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 14:37:08 +1100
From: <claire at warrandytehigh.vic.edu.au>
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] ITA exam - B10b (i)
To: "'Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List'"
	<itapps at edulists.com.au>
Message-ID:
	<004e01cedb6a$a444ed40$eccec7c0$@warrandytehigh.vic.edu.au>
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Mark's rant:

>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. 

Maybe not SD but would definitely encroach on VET IDM. Hands off our course!
;-)

Enjoying this discussion, very relieved I don't teach ITA anymore and hoping
we IDM'ers aren't having the same one tomorrow evening.

Claire Bloom

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