CHAPTER 10

Examination Advice
fhe examination for IT AppJications is held in November of each year. your
success 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
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 examinarion has been allocated two hours, with an inrtral
rcading ume of l5 minutt.s.
. 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 short-
answer 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!

I Examination Advice tOg
I Make sure you know the time
atowed for each answer
I
' ;T'ilffli:"#ff"ons orl the paper is not impo nant. They can varygreatl;
I o Section 1 is worth 20 marks
I and should take you about 15
*"r.r. ,rj
|
I

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

' check the clock' Make sure

you do nor run over-time on atiy
I fr"":H:"y I
IO4 IT Applications

o 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 nrrcefiAnc

r 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
written, the marker cannot give you the matks. Take the time to ensure your
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.