[Year 12 SofDev] Exam pseudocode marking - effectiveness or efficiency?

[Andrew Shortell]

in an exam it is hard enough to get them to do pseudo code so if it works then one should cheer and award marks

when it specifically asks for optimised efficient code then maybe we might choose to be critical 
- of course very few would actually get any marks and so it would be a wasted question - silly approach

Andrew

Andrew Shortell
Educator
CRC Melton


shortell at get2me.net (This List)
@acsbear8 (twitter)






> On 4 Aug 2016, at 1:44 pm, Paragreen, Chris J <paragreen.chris.j at edumail.vic.gov.au> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
>  
> In an exam situation, I think correctness is more important than efficiency. Provided the student is following the rules of pseudocode (begin/end use of indentation etc.) and the logic is correct, they should be fine. <>
>  
> Chris
> From: sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au <mailto:sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au> [mailto:sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au <mailto:sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au>] On Behalf Of Mark
> Sent: Thursday, 4 August 2016 1:26 PM
> To: Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing List <sofdev at edulists.com.au <mailto:sofdev at edulists.com.au>>
> Subject: [Year 12 SofDev] Exam pseudocode marking - effectiveness or efficiency?
>  
> Hi all
>  
> In the SD sample exam, B2, students are asked to write pseudocode. 
> I expect the marker would want to see an answer like this:
>  
> Begin
>    If Student in Student Details File Then
>       If Competition_Score >= 50 Then
>          If Competition_Score >= 95 then
>             Award <image001.jpg> ​"High Distinction"
>          Else
>             Award <image001.jpg> ​ "Pass"
>          EndIf
>       Print “Certificate” Award
>    EndIf
> End
>  
> It got me to wondering. If - instead of the 'else' a student wrote something like 
>  
> Elseif Competition_Score >=50 
>  
> which also would work (but would be redundant since the second IF construct already tested for this) would the student be penalised?
>  
> It's good to see SD exams recently recognising and testing students' ability to optimise code, but is optimisation and efficiency a criterion in assessing students' pseudocode?
>  
> Regards,
> Mark
>  
> -- 
>  
> Mark Kelly
>  
> mark at vceit.com <mailto:mark at vceit.com>
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