[Year 12 SofDev] Multiple choice exam question confusion
Andrew Shortell
shortell at get2me.net
Sun Nov 3 07:33:48 UTC 2019
hi All
just as an observation:
The option in D in 2016 was not there in 2017.
Therefore IMHO we must look for another interpretation of the question
Thus in 2017 option C & D are clearly nothing to do with DFD
So A or B …? A has nothing to do with flow so that leaves B. Personally I do not like B as an answer but it is the least bad and has SOMETHING to do with flow.
B was 47% and A was 2%
in 2016 68% got it right because the answer was more obvious
Notice also in 2018:
there was no question like that; one might presume that perhaps it is possible that the examiners chose another topic because that topic has already scored reasonably well in two successive years so perhaps teachers were teaching it well to students who were, in turn, actually learning it well (even some of the EAL students).
Experience (only since 1991 in Info Sys / SofDev) tells me that it is likely but NOT CERTAIN that the question might pop up again just to make sure that teachers are still teaching it well.
This has been a recognisable pattern in SofDev over the last 27 years and as this is the last year of the current study design the current examiners would be UNlikely to stray too far from accepted conventional usage in this context (but NOT impossible).
When the exam paper is being prepared it is my understanding that a TEAM of EAL vetters go over it very very carefully.
So, in future, when you see something that YOU feel is disadvantageous to EAL students then you should give that feedback to VCAA fairly early as, generally, all exam papers are finished by March/April so that they can be ever so carefully checked, checked again and then again and then someone actually sits the paper (usually a teacher who does not have the subject that year) and then it is all checked again.
Practice exam papers from other sources are generally written by one person and checked by one person though the VITTA papers were produced by a team of 4 which is partly why we did 3 of them at a time. I have no idea what DLTV does.
if you take 27 years of exam papers in this subject you can see some very interesting things. Though I still miss Mike Brooks’ drawings.
So Michael it will be interesting to see if this student of yours exceeds 43 study score - a definite possibility given the amount of study being done!
Cheers Andrew
(At Lalor SC till Christmas)
> On 31 Oct 2019, at 1:32 pm, Adrian Janson <janson.adrian.a at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Yes I agree. My students who have English as their second language would struggle with the subtleties of these questions...
>
>
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> On Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 1:30 PM Cooper, Michael J <cooper.michael.j at edumail.vic.gov.au <mailto:cooper.michael.j at edumail.vic.gov.au>> wrote:
> Thanks for the quick reply Adrian,
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>
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> I agree -
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> Data flow diagrams must always show VS purpose of a data flow diagram is to display
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>
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> They feel pretty similar to me
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>
>
> Michael Cooper
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> ICT Coordinator & Network Support
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>
>
> <image001.png>
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> braybrooksc.vic.edu.au <http://braybrooksc.vic.edu.au/>
>
>
> From: sofdev <sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au <mailto:sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au>> On Behalf Of Adrian Janson
> Sent: Thursday, 31 October 2019 1:20 PM
> To: Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing List <sofdev at edulists.com.au <mailto:sofdev at edulists.com.au>>
> Subject: Re: [Year 12 SofDev] Multiple choice exam question confusion
>
>
>
> Hi Michael,
>
>
>
> There is a difference in the questions here. One is asking for the purpose of a DFD and one is asking about what a DFD must always show. While this will be of no consolation to your students and mine, the questions are different.
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> IMO - I dislike questions like this as we seem to be assessing the grammar and the comprehension of students more than their ability to apply the KK and skills.
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>
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> Cheers,
>
> Adrian
>
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 1:16 PM Cooper, Michael J <cooper.michael.j at edumail.vic.gov.au <mailto:cooper.michael.j at edumail.vic.gov.au>> wrote:
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> Hi fellow SD teachers,
>
>
>
> One of my more conscientious students noticed this in the 2016 and 2017 VCAA SD papers during revision and I thought I should get some clarification:
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>
> 2016 Multiple Choice question 18:
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> A data flow diagram can be used as a tool when designing software. Data flow diagrams must always show
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> A. the decisions that are made when sub-modules are called.
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> B. the sequence of tasks involved in completing a project.
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> C. where data originates and where it is stored.
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> D. the specific data flows between processes.
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> The answer in the Examiners report is D.
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> 2017 Multiple choice question 8
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> The purpose of a data flow diagram is to display
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> A. the organisation of data in storage.
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> B. where data originates and where it is stored.
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> C. the sequence of tasks involved in completing a project.
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> D. the order in which the processes within a system occur
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>
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> The answer in the Examiners report is B.
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> In the 2016 paper, option C has the EXACT same text as option B in 2017, however it was not the answer.
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> The examiners report made a note on question 8 for the 2017–
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> significant number of students confused the purpose of a data flow diagram. The purpose of a data flow diagram is to display where data originates and where it is stored.
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>
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> Based on this information, I should be telling the students to follow the description in the examiner’s report, correct?
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>
>
> Michael Cooper
>
> ICT Coordinator & Network Support
>
>
>
> <image001.png>
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