[Year 12 SofDev] Thoughts on the CSE/IARTV SD exam

[Mark KELLY]

Hi all. A couple of passing observations about the exam that might be useful
if there is a second edition...

B3c- "Name a search that could be used to find a specified surname" (in a
list of surnames)
The suggested answer is "Linear search", which leads students to the
following questions about issues that might arise, etc.
The problem is that I, and many of my students, chose "Binary search", which
made the following questions sound pretty odd indeed because those questions
also assumed that students opted for linear search in 3c. My kids had to
struggle to suggest answers for the following questions.


B4. "Agreement on the scope of a solution can cause tension between software
developers and their clients.
a. Define what is meant by the scope of a solution.
b. Managers often have expectations for more and more to be included in the
scope, even as the solution is being developed. Outlike three common causes
of such tension"

Question 4a is fine, but 4b had me and my kids really confused. Does the
'tension' in the question relate to the tension in the introduction to the
question? If so, the question is "Give 3 causes of disagreement about
scope."
Or does it mean "Give 3 causes why managers change scope during development"
(which is what the sample answer suggests).
My kids gave a mixture of confused answers depending on which meaning of the
question they derived.


-- 
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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