[Year 12 SofDev] We're allowed to discuss the exam

[Kevork Krozian]

Hi Frank,

 Yes, it was a good paper in the sense that there were a range of questions across the knowledge spectrum.
BUT ....

  On the first reading  - straight after my students walked out and raced across to me to protest - a number of questions were "strange".
For example :

     1.  Section B  Q 3 -- How to test for 150 computers to be logged in without crashing ?   Answer : Log in 150 computers concurrently and see if it crashes ! Bingo FULL Marks.
                                     ditto for the rest of Q 3.

     2. Section B  Q 5 - rather unclear. Was the teacher's job description to develop the admin system and support it or was it done voluntarily over and above the job description ? Depending on the answer to that question , the answer will vary and may be entirely different .

     3. Section B  Q 2  --  The algorithm is problematic and not just because of the use 2 D array, but rather the indexing.  To separate an array reference -- student[5] --  from a subroutine or function call --   calculate(hours, pay_rate ) ---   square brackets are used.  In this "pseudocode" we have the parentheses used for both. This is one layer of confusion we did not need apart from the index reference error.

     4. Section B  Q 2 d) --  Suggest one way  the algorithm could be altered to fix this error ?      By doing a full desk check and identifying the error and correcting it.  As one of my students claimed he wrote much to my disapproval.   Examiners cannot afford loose language like this in an exam.

     5. Section B Q 11 --  The PDA would not render a web page with such large fonts. Most if not all market entry level PDAs and mobile phones are smart enough to resize full sized html pages to a smaller size without any effort. They convert html by downsizing.
     All this leads me to wonder if the mobile device programming task SAC 32  is out of date and out of touch already.  


Take Care


       


Kevork Krozian
IT Manager , Forest Hill College
k.krozian at fhc.vic.edu.au
http://www.fhc.vic.edu.au
Mobile: 0419 356 034

>>> "Frank Van Den Boom" <vandenboomfj at aquinas.vic.edu.au> 15/11/2007 3:43 pm >>>
Overall, I thought it was a good paper. It was refreshing to see some
different sorts of questions as well as the old predictables.

I was surprised to see the 2D array in the algorithm question, even
though the approach to the question tried to make its application more
within reach. Some of you may recall me prompting some discussion
earlier in the year on my issue with the study design often being a
guessing game on what to cover or not to cover i.e. level of depth. The
view on 2D arrays by some at the time was that it was probably out of
scope. So much for our judgement on that one. I chose not to deal with
them at all. If the study design was clear about their inclusion, then I
would have covered them. So how on earth do you know??

Frank

-----Original Message-----
From: sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au 
[mailto:sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Mark Kelly
Sent: Thursday, 15 November 2007 3:04 PM
To: Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: [Year 12 SofDev] We're allowed to discuss the exam

Paula says it's OK to start chatting.

--
Mark Kelly
Manager - Information Systems
McKinnon Secondary College
McKinnon Rd, McKinnon 3204, Victoria, Australia Direct line / Voicemail:
8520 9085 School Phone +613 8520 9000, Fax +613 95789253 kel AT
mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au

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1. Education is an admirable thing, but remember that nothing that is
worth knowing can be taught - Oscar Wilde 2. I make trouble.  You want
some?

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