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2010 HSC Notes from the Marking Centre — Information Technology

Contents

Introduction

This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of the Stage 6 course in Information Technology. It contains comments on candidate responses to the 2010 Higher School Certificate examination, indicating the quality of the responses and highlighting their relative strengths and weaknesses.

This document should be read in conjunction with the relevant syllabus, the 2010 Higher School Certificate examination, the marking guidelines and other support documents which have been developed by the Board of Studies to assist in the teaching and learning of Information Technology.

Teachers and candidates are reminded that if candidates are undertaking the 240-hour VET Industry Curriculum Framework in Information Technology and they want to undertake the HSC examination in Information Technology, they need to be entered separately for the examination through Schools Online (Administration) by the due date that is published in the Higher School Certificate Events Timetable.

General comments

Teachers and candidates should be aware that examiners may ask questions that address the syllabus outcomes in a manner that requires candidates to respond by integrating their knowledge, understanding and skills developed through studying the course.

Candidates need to be aware that the marks allocated to the question and the answer space (where this is provided on the examination paper), are guides to the length of the required response. A longer response will not in itself lead to higher marks. Writing in excess of the space allocated may reduce the time available for answering other questions.

Candidates need to be familiar with the Glossary of Key Words which contains some terms commonly used in examination questions. However, candidates should also be aware that not all questions will start with or contain one of the key words from the glossary. Questions such as ‘how?’, ‘why?’ or ‘to what extent?’ may be asked, or verbs may be used which are not included in the glossary, such as ‘design’, ‘translate’ or ‘list’.

Section II

Question 16

  1. In the best responses, candidates clearly identified the cells whose data would change as a result of the change in data in cell B4. Responses which contained lengthy sentences to describe the effects of changing the data in cell B4 often missed a key reference.
  2. Responses for this part demonstrated a knowledge and understanding of the importance of relative and absolute cell referencing in spreadsheets. The best responses indicated a change in the relative cell reference and no change in the absolute cell reference as required by the question.

    In weaker responses, candidates generally made an error by indicating the data in their formula. This was often evident in this type of answer where the candidate indicated a correct relative change in cell reference, but changed the absolute component to indicate the data value in cell C6.
  3. There were a number of acceptable responses for this question.

    Better responses clearly identified the steps required to create the graph correctly and then clearly indicated an acceptable method to incorporate that graph into a word-processed document.

    Weaker responses generally indicated an error in the graph construction phase or omitted the steps required to place the graph into the word-processed document.

    Candidates are reminded that marks are not awarded for restating the question or assuming steps within a process.
    1. The best responses were clear in the steps required to convert a spreadsheet file to CSV. Candidates are reminded that specific details such as ‘change the file type’, are required, rather than just writing ‘use save as’ with no further detail.
    2. Responses to this question indicated that while many candidates understand how to convert a spreadsheet file to CSV, many did not clearly understand the benefits of doing so. The best answers listed two separate benefits clearly rather than one benefit with a reason for the benefit.

Question 17

  1. The best responses identified ‘subject’ as the key element and presented a clear explanation of its importance.

    Poorer responses generally identified a missing element with minimal explanation, or explained the importance of the missing element without correctly identifying it.

    A number of candidates correctly identified ‘priority’ as an alternate missing element, with the quality of responses mirroring those identifying ‘subject’.
  2. Better responses in this section identified a range of clear reasons for using memo rather than face-to-face communication, in the situation presented. They identified the time benefits and the written record associated with a memo.

    Poorer responses included simplistic reasons such as, ‘it is easier’ and, ‘it would waste time’, without further elaboration. There was also a common confusion between memo and email among these responses.
  3. Most candidates drew a clear distinction between email and fax in answering this part. The better responses commonly cited accessibility of email off-site, the ability to send the OHS policy as an attachment and reduced printing costs, as key advantages of email. Better responses also included further elaboration on these advantages.

  4. Poorer responses simply listed a relevant advantage without any further elaboration.

Question 18

  1. Most candidates provided three commonsense and/or common items or materials that were needed.

    Responses that did not gain full marks mentioned processes rather than items or materials.
  2. Most candidates provided a procedure before and after the keyboard cleaning.

    Poor responses failed to provide a reason or justification for the given procedure. Some responses described the whole process of cleaning a keyboard or the action of cleaning a keyboard which was not what the question asked.
  3. Better responses were clearly set out and systematically described/listed at least three advantages.

Question 19

  1. Better responses presented two distinct maintenance procedures relevant to maintaining a hard disk drive.

    Poorer responses simply identified a single procedure or focused on the physical cleaning of the equipment, as opposed to maintaining the ability of the hard drive to reliably store data.
  2. Better responses to this part of the question adequately described the process and purpose of defragmentation. Few responses, however, demonstrated a clear understanding of technical terms.

    Poorer responses identified one aspect of the defragmentation process or its purpose.
  3. Most candidates clearly identified two distinct reasons for manufacturers providing software updates and indicated a valid purpose for these updates.

    In poorer responses, candidates had difficulty in identifying reasons for the updates from a manufacturer’s perspective.
  4. Better responses identified a number of reasons, providing a justification for their choices. Weaker responses described consequences in general terms.

Section III

Question 20

The majority of candidates answered this question using a basic report structure. In better responses, candidates clearly outlined multiple elements of all areas addressed by the scenario.

Poorer responses failed to cover all four sections or referred to elements not related to the scenario indicated by the question.

In outlining the procedures of upgrading RAM modules, better responses were able to comprehensively describe elements addressing safety from electrical power, avoiding component damage by grounding, checking compatibility and inserting RAM into spare slots.

The majority of responses described the processes of physically connecting a printer to the computer and installing the required drivers. Better responses also included checking the packing list and adding consumables to the printer.

A significant proportion of the candidates did not know the procedures involved in evaluating the upgrades to a satisfactory level. Better responses indicated appropriate diagnostics to evaluate the upgrade of the RAM and installation of the printer. For example, POST, Memory Test utilities or print a test page.

Poorer responses either did not indicate any diagnostic tools or identified diagnostics not related to the scenario.

In responding to the updating of the logs, better responses described how the logs were being recorded, either in an electronic document or on a sheet of paper, and then outlined the details that should have been recorded in each of the logs.

Poorer responses often confused updating the logs with running the system update utility to update software.

Section IV

Question 21

  1. Better responses recognised the operating system role in ‘managing’ both software and hardware. Hardware could have included hard drive file structure, RAM allocation and peripheral devices. Software could have included loading drivers for hardware and loading/running software applications.

    Although stating that an operating system provided an interface or ‘GUI’ was considered important, candidates needed to mention the interaction with both software and hardware. Providing an example of an operating system such as ‘Windows XP’ did not answer the question.
  2. Better responses recognised the significance of the following in effectively running an operating system on a 5-year-old laptop: limited RAM size, limited hard drive capacity and CPU speed.

    Most candidates identified RAM and hard drive capacity as factors that would influence the choice of an operating system, but did not always explain the significance. Responses that discussed the issue of platform compatibility issues, ie Mac/PC also gained marks.

    Low-range responses mentioned the ‘age’ of the hardware causing issues or clearly recognising minimum system requirements. Specific terms such as RAM and hard drive should be used rather than the general term ‘memory’.
  3. Candidates who performed well in this part of the question recognised that ‘full’ is a term in the syllabus that relates to installation options of an operating system. They also recognised that other options included ‘custom’ and ‘typical’. It was important to clearly explain the consequences for both the laptop and the user.

    Mid-range responses were lacking in precise IT terminology and only discussed the consequences of the laptop and failed to consider the effect on the user.

    Many candidates missed ‘recently formatted hard drive’ in the question and discussed upgrade, backup or loss of data. Candidates suggesting the purchase of new hardware also misinterpreted the question.

20110107

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