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2009 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 2009 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 2009 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 students are advised that, in December 2008, the Board of Studies approved changes to the examination specifications and assessment requirements for a number of courses. These changes will be implemented for the 2010 HSC cohort. Information on a course-by-course basis is available on the Board’s website.

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 mark allocated to the question and the answer space (where this is provided on the examination paper), are a guide to the length of the required response. A longer response will not in itself lead to higher marks. Writing far beyond the indicated space may reduce the time available for answering other questions.

Candidates need to be familiar with the Board’s 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. Overall candidates performed well in this question. Most candidates identified the correct answer as 2 records. Some responded to the question in a literal sense answering along the lines of ‘1. live in NSW and 2. earn over $80000’.
    2. Better responses correctly identified the record which was correctly sorted by the address field, and understood the concept of descending order.
    3. In better responses, candidates appropriately described the modifications required for the presented table in order to achieve an effective sort based on surnames. Better responses correctly identified that a new field was required and then offered clear and appropriate field names in order to achieve the required sort. Candidates are reminded that ‘adding a new column’ reflects inappropriate use of terminology. The correct terminology was to ‘split the name field’. Candidates were required to provide the characteristics and features a user would implement for the database table to achieve the required sort, based on surname.
    1. Better responses to this part of the question clearly demonstrated through graphical representation, an effective form layout. They used all of the fields from the table in the question and implemented valid form components such as text boxes, drop-down boxes, navigation buttons or an image place-holder. Some candidates did not understand the term ‘form’. Weaker responses constructed data dictionaries and spreadsheet tables.
    2. Most candidates identified ‘State’ as the correct field although ‘Salary’ was also accepted. Candidates needed to support their selection with a valid statement.

      The better responses to this part explained what was the advantage and provided valid and suitable detail to support the stated advantage. Candidates are reminded that there are many advantages when entering data via a database form. Weaker responses identified the advantages without properly expanding on the function or purpose of a database form.

Question 17

    1. In the better responses, candidates outlined the process taken by the user to copy and paste the logo from the word-processed file to the slideshow presentation. Weaker responses did not identify the source or the destination, or correctly identify the two steps.
    2. In the better responses, candidates accurately outlined the process to scan the photographs and insert the resulting image files into the slide show. Mid-range responses identified the steps, but did not outline them. Weaker responses did not correctly identify either the step of scanning or inserting the photos.
    3. In the better responses, candidates outlined the steps of retrieving images from the camera via a connection to the computer followed by the insertion of the image files into the slideshow.
  2. Better responses provided characteristics and features of two differences between the two file formats. Mid-range responses identified the differences but either failed to describe them or described them incorrectly. Weaker responses identified one difference without relating it to a file format.

Question 18

  1. Most candidates were able to determine the necessary details recorded by a help desk operator.
  2. The better responses to this part clearly identified why this problem was better suited to one-to-one instruction and provided the benefits for this scenario. Weaker responses responded to the scenario and offered a set of written steps in order to recover the lost shortcut.

Question 19

  1. Better responses from candidates identified two different items of information other than location. Weaker responses identified one item of information relating to the scenario.
  2. Better responses provided characteristics and features describing the role of WorkCover in relation to occupational health and safety. Weaker responses identified a characteristic.
  3. Better responses recognised the errors in the policy document and rewrote the policy extract correcting the incorrect statements. Mid-range responses corrected some but not all of the incorrect issues. Weaker responses did not identify who was responsible for each issue in the policy.

Section III

Question 20

Most candidates understood the fundamental differences between online and paper-based documents in comparing and contrasting the ‘multimedia content’ feature, in that you could use animation, video and audio. In better responses, the candidates explicitly stated similarities and differences. Weaker responses identified multimedia but did not compare and contrast.

Most candidates generalised the concept of ‘text format’ without relating the properties of the text as it related to a website or paper-based document. There was also some confusion between an online document and a website.

Candidates did not differentiate between ‘text format’ and ‘layout’ of the two types of media. Many weaker responses did not identify the navigational elements of online and paper-based documents. The better responses compared online navigation with the paper-based contents and index pages in depth.

Many candidates confused the actual use of a user’s guide with that of the ‘usability’ of the two types of documents. Weaker responses discussed the usability of the user guide rather than comparing and contrasting the usability of online and paper-based documents. In general, the candidates who were able to compare and contrast did well but many candidates took a ‘how to make the user guide’ approach and in doing so only identified features in their explanation and gave their opinion of the best form of media to use. In better responses, candidates were able to give explicit examples of the similarities and differences between online and paper-based documents.

Question 21

Most candidates demonstrated an adequate understanding of all four components of the question with the last component relating to client feedback showing a comprehensive depth of understanding. Most candidates identified at least two components with multiple elements and identified all components but did not provide multiple elements for each component. Weaker responses were unable to identify multiple elements in the diagnostic component.

Most responses identified and listed elements for the operating system and client feedback components, in a comprehensive manner. Weaker responses indicated a lack of understanding of the purpose and function of an operating system. Many candidates included unnecessary examples of various operating systems for different platforms.

Many candidates showed confusion between installation steps and the customisation process. Many candidates misunderstood the last component of the question, asking for feedback about the operating system rather than the service provided by the IT department. While many candidates failed to use appropriate IT terminology, candidates who showed a deeper knowledge of the terminology generally achieved higher marks.

Candidates appeared to lack an understanding of basic diagnostic testing as many described diagnostic tools rather than the tests that could be used to test the successful installation of an operating system.

Better responses showed clear structure and organisation and included well-reasoned solutions for each component. They also demonstrated good use of a well-organised and structured report layout according to industry standards.

Question 22

This question was well answered by candidates who had an in-depth knowledge of a file server and its operations.

The better responses included an evaluation which demonstrated more in-depth knowledge in the following areas, with justifications and in a report structure.

  • The better responses addressed the issues of temperature and humidity control with air conditioning, good ventilation and security of the server room.
  • Most candidates used examples of uninterruptable power supply (UPS) and surge protectors and justified their choice. In addition to this, many candidates mentioned backup generators and supported this by stating it as ‘power backup’ for the server.
  • The better responses mentioned virus protection, data backup, system compatibility and routine maintenance with good evaluation of how these methods would protect the server and its data.
  • Better responses included logins with passwords, levels of access and authorised access to the server room.

Some of the weaker responses failed to cover all four components. Weaker responses may have identified the factors to be considered prior to file server installation but failed to evaluate the methods of protecting the server, ie they talked about environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity but failed to make judgements about how to prevent or protect the server from these conditions.

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