Check Points Examination Advice

CHAPTER 10

Examination Advice fhe examination for IT AppJications is held in November of each year. your at the examination will depend on the consistency and quahty of your efforts in the ourcomes conducted throughout the year a.rd the study'you undertake specifically fot the examination. Your examination preparation *tti U" intensive at the end of the year, but hopefully rvill have co-ml.rced much ea4ier than Term 4. working through the contents of thrs book wll help you to idenu$ the skills, knowledge and understandrng you are requred to possess arrd ,vili success

provide you wrth all-impotant practice ur ansrvering examinerion style questions. The advice in this chapter should assist you in familiarisrng yourself with the structure and nature of the examilation.

Structure of the examination o The end-of-year rcading ume

examinarion has been allocated two hours,

of l5 minutt.s.

with an inrtral

. The

examinarion is on the whoie IT Applicatiofls course and, therefore. includes material from unit 3 and Unit 4. Any work encountered in any of the practical compoflents of the outcomes, which arc specific to a skill in using a q,pe of softwarc, is not assessable rn the examrnarion.

o In preparing for the examination

you wrli need to consider the examination criteria, the areas of study and the outcomes for unit 3 and Unit 4.

o The

examination will consist of two sections. The first section rvill contain a number of mulnple-choice questions. The second section will consist of shortanswer questions and extended-response questions. Both sections will have qucstions that assess yout understandrng of the key knorvledge associated u,rth

each outcome.

o The muluple-choice

section of the examination was introduced tn 2003 ancl is worth 20 marks. Aim to complete this section in 15 mrnutes.

o

Section 2 is worth 70 marks, so the total available matks rn the examination are90. Allow 1.5 minutes for each mark.

o For

some questions you will need to respond to stimulus material includrng problem staremenrs, organisadonal profiJes, desrgn brjefs, newspapcr ardcles and visual rmages.

102

IT Applications

Examination strategies In the weeks prior to the examination, attempt as many questions from this book as possible. In addidon, the strategies listed below should pfepafe you to make efficient use of your time in the examination.

Be organised before starting the examination Have the necessafy equipment (pens, pencils, efasef, ruler) available and tead the front covet instructions qurckly Sample front covers for all examination papers ate available to schools in late Septimber. Your teacher should be able to show you the cover for your IT Applications examination well before the date of the examination.

Number 1 task during reading time There witl be sevetal questions in Section 2 for which you afe to make a choice as to which paft you are going to answef. These questions will be idennfied on the front cover of the examination paper. During yout reading time make sure to read the altetnative questions and make a decision on which part you will respond to.

Adding value to your reading time When you afe reading the questions you should do so acUvely. This means that as you read, you should be making conneclions between the words on the page and the knowiedge you have gained from your study of Infotmation Technology. All of the information provided in the questions has a purpose and there will be some wofds that should make bells ring very loudly and focus your thinking in a parncular ar:ea. Fot instance, if you read that thete are many efrors currendy teing made in data entfy fof an lnformation system, you mrght st4rt to drink aboul vahdation procedures. Another example might be the mention of security coflcefflS relating to accessing an organisation's network, in whrch case you should immediately thrnk about the adequacy of login and passwotd ptocedures' Reading time gives you the opporturuty to get the feel of the examination papef, and hopefully dtaw confidence that you will be able to handle most of the ,.rponr.r wrth telauve ease,.You may think about the order in which you will attempt questions, of mofe likely, identifii ones that rrray cause some problems and that yo.l -uy possibly slrrp until the end of the examination' If you have time, you may wsh to spend some moments at the end of reading time focussing on one of the longer fesponse questions. You may formrrl*ate in your mind key elements of your fesponse, and immedrately begin this quesuon when wtidng time is declared. Hopefully the ideas will be fresh and you may make a flyrng start to ofle of the hardet questtons'

You have

15

minutes of reading time. Use it!

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Examination Advice tOg

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Make sure you know the time atowed for each answer

' ;T'ilffli:"#ff"ons orl the paper is not impo nant. They can varygreatl; o Section 1 is worth 20 marks and should take you about 15 *"r.r.

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*",'*#.$i.'.tr;;jiru***J:.**#-Y,?::,*:,T; '

fr"":H:"y

check the clock' Make sure you do nor run over-time

on atiy

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IO4

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IT Applications

The space provided on the examinauon paper for your response grves a good indicauon of how much you are expccted to write. If sevetal Lnes are drawn then you should be wrinng mote than one phtase or dot point.

Question unclear?

If

a quesuon appears unclear to you, demonstrate to the examiner that you do understand the concept by providrng as fuIl a response as possible. If, for example, you are uflsute whether the examinet wiJl deem a given statement to bc a problem or a solution, provide in your response a ptoblem statement and an associated solution statement. Thete is no reason why you cannot write a brief explanatory note to the examiner aiongside your fesponse.

Format of your answers

r

z\nswers may be written in poinr form. This is ideal for list, statc, and indicare f\mc

r

nrrcefiAnc

Be r.ery careful when you are required to explarn or descdbe a siruation ot issue. While you cafr tespond to these in potnt form, there is a tendency not to provide a full answer. A pangraph response is more likely to pror,nde the requued explanation or description.

o Do rrot repeat the question

in your answer. This is a waste of trme and space. Besides, the examiner wrll be readi.ng several hundred answers to the same question, and will not need to be reminded rvhat the question is!

o

Some responses may requre you to draw a chart or diagram, or to add to an existrng diagram.

o If you wtsh to change

any part of your afrswer, make sute you clearly cross out the material that you no longer wish to be assessed.

r Your handwriting must be legible. If the marker

carinot read what you have Take the time to ensure your written, the marker cannot give you the matks.

work can be read.

Final words of advice Try to telax in the examinauon. The examinet rs not gorng to try to trick you. If you have been working consistendy throughout the year and have been doing reasonably Ln the School Assessed Coursewotk (SACs), you should have a good knowledge base for the examination. Be confident in your orvn abilities.