A2AS AICT Chief ExaminerPrincipal Moderator Report MayJune Series 2013 13163

CCEA GCE - Applied ICT (SA) (DA)(Summer Series) 2013

Chief Examiner’s and Principal Moderator’s Report

applied

single award and double award

Foreword This booklet contains the Chief Examiner’s and Principal Moderator’s Reports for CCEA’s General Certificate of Education (GCE) in Applied ICT Single and Double Award from the Summer Series 2013. CCEA’s examining teams produce these detailed reports outlining the performance of candidates in all aspects of the qualification in this series. These reports allow the examining team an opportunity to promote best practice and offer helpful hints whilst also presenting a forum to highlight any areas for improvement. CCEA hopes that the reports will be viewed as a helpful and constructive medium to further support teachers and the learning process. This booklet forms part of the suite of support materials for the specification. Further materials are available from the specification’s microsite on our website at www.ccea.org.uk

Contents

Assessment Unit AS 1: Information and Communication

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Assessment Unit AS 2: Software Applications and Tools

4

Assessment Unit AS 3: Organisations and Information Systems

6

Assessment Unit AS 4: Web Design

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Assessment Unit AS 5: Spreadsheets for Business Applications

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Assessment Unit AS 6: Internet and Business

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Assessment Unit A2 7: Investigating Systems

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Assessment Unit A2 8: Database Development

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Assessment Unit A2 9: Website Design and Management

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Assessment Unit A2 10: Multimedia Technology

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Assessment Unit A2 11: Application Software Development

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Assessment Unit A2 12: Visual Programming

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Assessment Unit A2 13: Networking and Communications

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Assessment Unit A2 14: Implementing a Business Solution

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Contact details

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Subject CodeQAN QAN

2652100/4260/x 100/4259/3

A CCEA Publication © 2013

CCEA GCE Applied ICT (Single and Double Award) (Summer Series) 2013

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GCE APPLIED ICT (SINGLE AND DOUBLE AWARD)

Principal Moderator’s Report Assessment Unit AS 1 Information and Communication This unit is designed to ensure that candidates have a full and complete understanding of the nature, importance and use of information and communication within an organisation. This understanding must be demonstrated in the portfolio of work that candidates are required to produce as prescribed by the Assessment Evidence for the unit.

Candidates were required to produce a portfolio of work that included:

A Management Report explaining the nature, importance and use of information in a business organisation and the importance of ICT in documenting and communicating this information. Candidates were required to demonstrate their understanding of the manner in which information is circulated within an organisation, between organisations and between organisations and clients. The report required the examination and evaluation of a range of standard business documents from a range of organisations.

Candidates were also required to demonstrate four different ways in which information can be communicated for a range of different purposes in an organisation. This required the design of:

• An online document;

• A data collection document;

• An information booklet containing at least three pages;

• A slide presentation.

Portfolios from centres were generally well presented. Most Candidate Record Sheets were very well completed and signed by the teacher and candidate. The majority of centres provided very good annotation highlighting where assessment objectives were achieved. These were well related to the page referencing in the Candidate Record Sheets.

Marking was generally fair and consistent although there were a few cases were marking was slightly high in some of the higher ranking candidates. Marking was mostly within tolerance.

Navigation of portfolios is always greatly enhanced by the inclusion of an accurate contents page. This inclusion is expected of any candidate scoring highly in AO1.

Excellent use of ICT was evident across most portfolios. Candidates achieving highly in AO1 demonstrated a high standard of presentation that included good use of pagination; paragraphing; headers and footers; page numbering; integrated graphics; fonts and textual styles; formats and layouts; templates and a range of special features.

Some candidates make excellent use of appendices referencing them correctly in the portfolios. Candidates also included suitable bibliographies. Candidates who demonstrate poor use of spelling and grammar, use of paragraphing and pagination and other techniques are unlikely to be placed in Mark Band 4.

As emphasised in previous reports, it is essential that candidates commence their report with a full discussion of the nature, importance and use of information within organisations. This places the subsequent examination of documents in a suitable context and demonstrates understanding of important concepts. Some candidates however commenced their portfolios with the analysis of documents without any discussion or explanation.


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Centres are advised to instruct candidates to examine three different types of document from each of two organisations. Comparisons must be between similar documents in all cases.

Analysis of documents should be factual and specific. Candidates must demonstrate their understanding of the intended purpose of each document in the organisation. Candidates must apply appropriate evaluative techniques when conducting their analysis of the documents and draw valid conclusions as a result of their findings. Full justification of strengths and weaknesses and the likely impact on an audience must be explained.

Documents produced by candidates should be professional and fit for purpose. They should include high quality solutions demonstrating understanding of the problem. Not all candidates achieved this.

Candidates should demonstrate thorough understanding of legislation and its application to achieve marks. Candidates must not reproduce hand out material without explanation

To achieve high marks in AO4, candidates must use relevant detailed language and provide detailed evaluations. Evaluation must be detailed and relevant to achieve higher marks in mark band 4. Marks were over generous in some cases in this area.

• Centres are advised to follow the weekly teaching plan for this unit available on the CCEA website.

• Centres should make use of notes available on the CCEA website that provide information on the presentation of coursework.

• Centres submitting work for the first time should attend agreement trials where possible.

• Centres should make use of the Portfolio Clinic service available in February 2014.

• Centres should direct specific enquiries to the Subject Officer at CCEA.

Chief Examiner’s Report Assessment Unit AS 2 Software Applications and Tools This unit focused on the development of skills and understanding in applications software and communications technology.

Candidates were assessed by a 2 and ½ hour computer based examination. The examination paper required students to exhibit an understanding of how ICT systems are used in a business context through the use of case study based material viz. Luxury Landscapes. This is the second examination based on this case study. Candidates were required to demonstrate a working knowledge of databases, spreadsheets, word processing and multimedia presentation software. Candidates were required to show understanding of a range of specific topics contained in the unit specification. The examination paper was accessible to candidates of all abilities.

The examination paper was divided into four sections comprising a range of tasks in each section and requiring candidates to present a total of 18 printouts as follows:

• Database: DB1–DB6

• Spreadsheets: SS1–SS4

• Word Processing: WP1–WP3

• Multimedia: MM1–MM5


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Database DB1 Most candidates identified the appropriate primary key, but some selected StaffID.

DB2 A few candidates did not connect the ServiceNo field in the SERVICE table to the ServiceNo field in the JOB table resulting in an incorrect relationship.

DB3 Some candidates incorrectly used <7 leaving out the equal sign or they used >7.

DB4 Candidates performed well in this question but many did not edit the labels to match the exam paper.

DB5 Only a few candidates obtained the correct answer using group and sum; however most obtained marks for field selection/de-selection (although some omitted the fields rather than de-selecting) and criteria. Candidates should be aware of the need to examine data types in order to apply the correct notation for criteria (for example >100; not >″£100″); they should be encouraged to run the query to reveal these errors.

DB6 Few candidates sorted by postcode. Care must be taken to ensure labels are modified correctly. Note that we asked for a print out of the first page of the report and not the design view. The creation of this report proved difficult for weaker candidates.

Spreadsheets SS1–SS2

These questions were well answered by most candidates.

SS3 Most candidates were able to apply the VLOOKUP formula to some extent. Some candidates did not utilise the named cell range identified in SS2, although they were not penalised if a suitable alternative was provided.

SS4 Most candidates performed well in this question. Care must be taken to use absolute cell referencing for the TAX RATE in the TAX calculation. Marks could not be awarded for printing on one page, gridlines, and row and column headings if a screenshot was produced instead of the printout requested in the question.

Word Processing WP1 Candidates lost marks for inaccurate text entry. Candidates should not block view of

evidence with dialog boxes. Evidence of the 3pt border was not shown by many candidates in WP3.

WP2 WP3 Multimedia MM1–MM5

Accurate text entry was important in MM2, MM3, MM4 and MM5. Most candidates performed well in this section. Account was taken in the mark scheme of the arrows available in different software versions.


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General Comments In general the paper was well answered with a wide range of skills demonstrated by candidates.

Candidates are advised that they should ensure printouts show evidence of the task they have carried out. Candidates should be careful to produce evidence in the appropriate format as outlined in the question (if asked to print a range of cells in the spreadsheet, for example, do not provide a screenshot instead).

Candidates should demonstrate high accuracy in text entry and formatting especially in the word processing section.

As expected it was difficult to achieve full marks in DB5 and DB6. SS3 which used the VLOOKUP function also proved challenging for many students in particular centres. These questions however allowed discrimination between strong and weak candidates.

Principal Moderator’s Report Assessment Unit AS 3 Organisations and Information

Systems This unit is designed to ensure that candidates develop an understanding of how organisations are structured and managed. Candidates must understand the nature of the ICT systems that support organisations and the nature of Management Information Systems.

Candidates were required to present a portfolio of work that included:

• A comprehensive management report examining a range of issues detailed in a case study (Evans Enterprises).

• Candidates were required to investigate the organisation as outlined in the case study and provide detail relating to:

− The current status of the company;

− How information is communicated in the company;

− Four examples of the type of information in circulations;

− Problem areas;

− How ICT resources could assist the circulation of information;

− How and MIS could help the company at present and in the future;

− Two examples of MIS reports designed by the candidate and accompanied with a full explanation, that could be generated by a new MIS system;

− How the company might exploit e-commerce opportunities;

− Two examples of on-line documents likely to be used if an e-commerce solution was pursued; and

− A presentation of no more than 10 slides outlining the future vision of the company.

• Candidates were required to address legal issues throughout their reports.


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Portfolios from centres were generally well presented. Most Candidate Record Sheets were very well completed and signed by the teacher and candidate. However some paperwork was not adequately completed by a few centres with candidate numbers unchecked and candidate signatures missing. It is important to review this.

The majority of centres provided very good annotation highlighting where assessment objectives were achieved throughout the portfolios. Page referencing in the Candidate Record Sheets was well related to annotation in most cases.

Most centres marked portfolios very well and awarded marks appropriately for the achievement of criteria. Some centres provided excellent comment throughout which greatly assisted the moderation process.

Inclusion of a contents page with accurate page numbers is important and adds to the professional appearance of the report.

Candidates demonstrated good knowledge and understanding of the case study, providing detail on the background, organisation structure.

Problems were mostly well explained and their consequences noted. Some centres followed this through by explaining how solutions related to the problems.

Candidates achieving highly in AO1 produced comprehensive reports that were presented to a high standard making excellent use of ICT. High scoring candidates produced professional reports that were well structured and used appropriate formal language. Features used in WORD to create reports included good use of pagination, paragraphing, headers and footers, page numbering, integrated graphics, fonts and textual styles, formats and layouts, templates, presentation styles and special features .

Candidates must include examples of four types of information in circulation in the organisation. Some candidates provided over detailed evaluation of these documents and did not emphasise the importance of their current function in terms of information and communication. These documents should be included in an appendix and referenced in the report. The documents could help emphasise the necessity for better ICT resources in the organisation.

Some candidates did not provide sufficiently detailed explanations of how ICT resources could be used to assist the circulation of information in the organisation. There were a few however who were innovative in considering smartphones, tablets and made good reference to current technologies such as the use of Cloud. This demonstrated currency in their understanding.

All discussion of ICT resources, network topologies, e-commerce and legal issues must explicitly relate to the case study.

Some improvement was noted in the production of MIS reports with more candidates attempting to produce meaningful information likely to assist a manager in decision making. Most centres used Spreadsheet and Database software to produce MIS reports. There were instances of excellent use of software to produce reports. However there were also poor quality MIS reports presented that had little detail and lacked real connection with their function.

There was evidence of the production of very detailed on-line forms that were professional and fit for purpose.

Presentations explaining the future vision of the organisation were quite well produced and demonstrated an improved focus on their purpose.

Evaluation still tends to be somewhat over marked in some centres. However most candidates provided good evaluative comment throughout their reports as well as a final overall evaluation with a summary, recommendations and limitations and personal reflective comment.


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• Centres are advised to follow the weekly teaching plan for this unit available on the CCEA website.

• Centres should make use of notes available on the CCEA website that provide information on the presentation of coursework.

• Centres submitting work for the first time should attend agreement trials where possible.

• Centres should make use of the Portfolio Clinic service available in February 2014.

• Centres should direct specific enquiries to the Subject Officer at CCEA.

Assessment Unit AS 4 Web Design This unit is designed to enable candidate to develop an understanding of the Internet, the technology that surrounds it and the surrounding systems and services.

Candidates must demonstrate their understanding and knowledge and apply the skills they have acquired.

Candidates were required to assume the role of a Web Developer, conduct thorough research on a case study (Evans Enterprises) and develop a professional, functional website that met the requirements of the company. They were required to research business organisations and develop a website that considered:

• Aims of the website;

• The target audience;

• Domain name and hosting issues;

• Site management issues;

• Page layout ideas;

• Client requirements;

• Marketing requirements;

• Accessibility requirements;

• Legal issues;

• Financial issues; and

• Timescales.

As previously noted in earlier reports, moderation is greatly assisted if each page is annotated to include:

• Web page screenshots;

• Fonts, styles and colours;

• Meta tags;

• Navigation issues;

• Use of layout tools such as layers, tables or frames;

• The creation and use of images;


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• Downloadable content; and

• Consideration of accessibility.

Work from centres was well presented and Candidate Record Sheets were completed and signed by the teacher and candidate. Marking was appropriate.

Many candidates provided clear statements of user requirements. However in some cases there was a lack of precision and requirements could have been more focused.

Some candidates made proper use of story boards to assist the design process. This is very useful when properly conducted.

Candidates explained site structure and details of content requirements well.

Many candidates created professional websites with a range of features including tables, forms, rollovers, scrolling marquees, hover features and hit counters as well as downloadable content.

Candidates considered a range of relevant issues as required by the assessment evidence. These included hosting issues, legal issues, accessibility issues and marketing and e-strategies. These were relevant and well explained.

Candidates considered the concept of marketing the website and provided relevant ideas for the development of an e-strategy.

Evaluations were brief in some cases but were marked accurately. Candidates included completed questionnaires and some consideration was given to the use of on-line surveys.

Evaluations must demonstrate how user requirements were met and indicate how the candidate performed in terms of the solution achieved. Appropriate technical language should be used. Assessment Unit AS 5 Spreadsheets for Business

Applications This unit is designed to enable candidates to develop skills in the use and application of spreadsheet software in a business context.

Candidates must determine user requirements and specify and design working solutions using a range of functions and facilities, appropriate presentation of data, testing, acceptance testing, evaluation and documentation of solutions.

Candidates were required to produce a spreadsheet solution for a business application that included:

• inputs, processes and outputs of the system;

• an explanation of why a spreadsheet solution is suited to the problem;

• a menu driven application;

• annotated screenshots of the application;

• a test plan and annotated screen shots;

• a user guide suitable for a novice user;

• a technical guide; and

• a two page evaluation of the system.


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Work presented by centres was of a similar standard to previous years and was marked accordingly.

The problems presented were of suitable complexity to allow the development of suitable solutions.

It is very important to state user requirements as precisely as possible. This facilitates evaluation.

Candidates should adhere to the suggested format on the CCEA website.

User guides should be properly directed to the intended novice user audience.

Candidates should ensure that suitable language is used for novice users.

Technical guides should be properly directed to technical staff and should contain relevant technical language.

Code should be appropriately annotated. Assessment Unit AS 6 Internet and Business This unit is designed to enable candidates to develop a detailed understanding of the Internet in a business environment. Candidates must understand the potential of e-commerce and its economic impact.

Candidates are required to examine the requirements of a selected client and advise on how best the client might exploit the Internet to benefit the business and its staff.

Candidates were required to produce a portfolio that included:

• Evidence of research of a range of ISP/internet services;

• Advice on hardware requirements;

• Advice on additional software;

• An outline of security risks;

• Advice on multi-user internet connections;

• Advantages of a simple web presence;

• Advice on cybercrime and legal issues;

• Advice on communication methods via the internet;

• An introduction to e-commerce for the client;

• Advice on issues to global markets (legal and social);


• Timescales.

Most candidates presented their portfolios in a well-structured manner.

Candidates demonstrated detailed understanding of the benefits of the use of Internet in the business by showing a well-researched understanding of ISP/Internet services and connectivity requirements. Candidates proposed a number of different models for the user.


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Recommendations were explained.

Many candidates explored a range of legal, cybercrime and security issues. Financial and social issues, including those related to employees were also explained.

Candidates also addressed legal and financial issues and developments in e-commerce.

Evaluations were generally critically self-reflective and emphasised strengths and weaknesses.

Candidates at the upper end of the top mark bands presented a range of recommendations in their evaluations.

Chief Examiner’s Report Assessment Unit A2 7 Investigating Systems Candidates were assessed by a 2 hour examination which comprised a total of eleven questions. Four ‘stretch and challenge’ questions were identified on the front of the paper and allocated six marks each. The paper was structured in a similar fashion to previous examinations. A wide range of topics on the specification were examined, using a variety of question types. This is the second examination based on the case study, FIONA’S FASHIONS. The paper was successful in differentiating between candidates of varying ability levels.

Q1 This was generally well answered although many candidates selected the option of ‘Doreen gets annoyed…’ as a valid reason for developing a new system over ‘…time is being spent with customers who have genuine grievances.’ which was correct.

Q2 (a) Most candidates were able to identify a characteristic of each fact finding technique. Candidates supplied a wide range of answers in relation to the suitability of each technique; we accepted examples of suitability related to FIONA’S FASHIONS or even reasons why the technique might be unsuitable. Candidates should note that an answer in each cell of the table is worth only one mark and their response should be contained in the space provided.

(b) Candidates in general answered this relatively well with better candidates providing good examples of who Fred would interview and the specific information he would obtain.

Q3 This was well answered. Most candidates were aware of the different stages in the systems development lifecycle.

Q4 Some candidates may have lost marks if they supplied a general answer without specifically identifying users from the case study, describing their needs and the benefits a new computerised system could offer them.

Q5 The calculation of latest start and finish dates in part (a) caused most difficulty. Quite a few candidates did not know how to determine the shortest project time in part (b) and instead totalled the duration of all activities. Candidates were penalised if they did not include the unit ‘days’ in their answer. Most candidates were able to calculate float in part (c). Whilst most candidates knew the project would be delayed in part (d) not many specified it would be delayed by 1 day.

Q6 Some candidates focused on the development of an e-commerce system rather than prototyping. The few candidates who were awarded marks in the top mark band, gaining possibly two extra marks compared to the middle mark band, were able to apply their knowledge of prototyping to the situation described. These candidates


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correctly suggested that evolutionary prototyping may reduce the cost and time of development, as the system is not built again from scratch; but this may mean that design is compromised.

Q7 Candidates performed well in part (a) but many did not correctly draw the new data store in part (b). In part (c) many candidates did not use a verb to describe the processes identified; some candidates suggested processes which were more appropriate for a Level-2 DFD.

Q8 Most candidates performed well in this question but many did not include foreign keys in part (b). Candidates should learn to identify the primary key for each table and post a copy from the one to many side of the relationship as a foreign key.

Q9 (a) Many candidates incorrectly thought that results would be included in the test plan.

(b) The majority of candidates knew that hardware should be tested but had difficulty suggesting another item.

Q10 This question was well answered. Some candidates mixed up phased with pilot and parallel was often spelt incorrectly.

Q11 This was well answered but some candidates did not know that if a hard drive fails it would be better to invite the technician to fix this.

Readability of Question Paper The language used throughout the paper was appropriate for the candidates. The allocation of marks was clear throughout the paper. Marks for parts of questions were identified appropriately. Some candidates supplied a variety of answers in response to question 2(a) but these were allowed for in the final mark scheme. Some candidates provided a more general answer for Q4 discussing general benefits rather than identifying specific examples of users, their needs and benefits of a new system. General Comments Higher ability students gave answers for the ‘stretch and challenge’ questions that were well organised, concise, specific to the question asked and provided examples related to the case study when appropriate; weaker students found it difficult to gain marks in these questions. It was good to see that candidates have studied the case study in detail and they were able to select relevant examples to justify their answers.

Principal Moderator’s Report Assessment Unit A2 8 Database Development This unit is designed to enable candidates to examine database technology and develop database skills. Candidates are required to design, implement, test and document solutions. Candidates are expected to apply project management skills to the development of their work.

Candidates were required to produce:

• a working database system designed to meet specific user requirements;

• a project plan that showed how to manage time and resources;


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• a statement of user requirements regarding inputs, processes and outputs;

• a design specification showing data modelling to include:

− normalisation;

− and E-R model;

• the output required from the system;

• a description of the processes that manipulate data and produce output;

• annotate screenshots and code listings;

• user documentation suitable for novice users (tested by three users);

• technical documentation to enable the package to be installed;

• comprehensive user documentation; and

• critical evaluation and evidence of standard ways of working.

Work from centres was well presented with Candidate Record Sheets completed appropriately. Candidates work was well marked by most centres and generally demonstrated where assessment objectives were achieved.

Many candidates completed this unit to a high standard producing complex database solutions and accompanying detailed documentation.

Normalisation from some centres requires development.

Comprehensive data modelling was evident in many portfolios from higher scoring candidates. Correct conventions for data flow diagrams must be observed. Relationships on E-R diagrams must be named.

Some centres produced too much superfluous documentation.

Separate, concise User and Technical guides should be produced. These were generally good.

Detailed Test Plans and evidence of testing were provided by many candidates.

Evidence of testing by three users should be provided.

Some centres did not adopt a ‘best fit’ mark band approach and placed candidates in a much lower mark band if there was something missing.

Some high scoring candidates provided very detailed evaluations covering all required aspects. Self-evaluation of personal performance was also included.

Assessment Unit A2 9 Website Design and Management This unit is designed to enable candidates to design and develop websites using appropriate tools.

Candidates were required to design, develop and maintain websites.


• A project plan that described how the candidate managed time and resources;

• A professional functional website; and

• Candidates had to define particular requirements for the website.


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The website had to include:

• The audience considerations;

• Domain and hosting issues;

• Site management issues;

• Site structure ideas;

• Dynamic content requirements;

• The use of and embedding of media content such as animation/movies;

• Content requirement from the client;

• Accessibility issues;

• Legal issues;

• Site scalability issues;


• Timescales.

Work from centres was well presented and Candidate Record Sheets were completed appropriately. In most cases, good annotation was evident throughout the portfolios and this assisted the moderation process.

A high standard of work was achieved by most centres and good understanding of the need for communication in this type of development was apparent.

Candidates should include storyboards and design sketches that reflect the design of the website. Some candidates displayed little evidence of the design process and were awarded high marks.

Many candidates however did provide clear evidence of their ability to research and plan the design of their websites.

Centres should encourage candidates to consider their project plans from a more detailed perspective to provide more consideration of all tasks associated with the development process.

Candidates generally showed good ICT capability in using available software to create web based solutions. In many cases, the use of advanced dynamic features was very good. There was some evidence of good creativity in the development of solutions to meet specific client needs.

Candidates must host their web sites. Screenshots with active URLs should be included.

Evaluation of website performance also requires websites to be fully hosted.

Assessment Unit A2 10 Multimedia Technology This unit requires candidates to understand multimedia requirements and to design, document and present multimedia solutions using a range of techniques in a given context. Candidates must work with others to develop multimedia solutions.


• An interactive multimedia presentation which included video, animation and edited video;

• design sketches; and

• storyboards.


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Candidates were required to show evidence that their work was presented in a structured, coherent, concise manner that showed continuity.

Candidates had to demonstrate proper use of technical language within the design and production process and present a detailed analysis of the production task.

Work from centres was generally well presented. Portfolios should be arranged in rank order. Candidate Record Sheets were well completed and signed by the Teacher and Candidate. Work was well annotated and marking was accurate and consistent overall.

There was good evidence of group work from centres although it was not always clear which student was responsible for specific aspects of the work. Some groups presented very good creative ideas and produced ‘fit for purpose’ end products.

Research into the different types of multimedia software was evident. However, candidates must demonstrate thorough understanding of the hardware and software requirements of multimedia systems. They must show understanding of file formats and compression.

Candidates used design sketches and storyboards effectively to present their designs. This is an extremely important aspect of the development process.

Most candidates covered all aspects of the required assessment evidence and some demonstrated excellent use of multimedia and used a good range of software. Candidates must make advanced use of software at this level to achieve in the higher mark bands.

Original sound and video was not always evident in portfolios. There must be evidence of video and animation as well as edited audio. This is essential for candidates to achieve in AO4. Assessment Unit A2 11 Application Software Development No centres presented work for this unit in this current series. Assessment Unit A2 12 Visual Programming This unit requires candidates to understand the fundamental concepts of modern programming in a visual language. Candidates must design and create event driven programmes based on user requirements. Candidates must use storyboarding as a suitable design tool. They must demonstrate the use of prototyping and present detailed evidence of thorough testing. Candidates must also critically evaluate the effectiveness of their solutions.


• A working system designed to meet specified user requirements and produced using a visual programming tool;

• A design document storyboarding the system to be developed and detailing the data requirements and output to be produced by the system;

• Evidence of implementation by the inclusion of annotated screen dumps and code listings of the GUI application built;

• User documentation, making use of graphics and suitable for a novice user; technical documentation which enables the installation of the package from the deployment media;


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• Comprehensive testing documentation with a test plan and evidence that the tests have been carried out;

• Evaluation of the effectiveness of the solution in terms of the user requirements;

Work from centres was well organised, presented and mostly well annotated. There was evidence of consistent marking and Candidate Record Sheets were well completed and signed by the teacher and candidate.

Candidates did present statements of user requirements based on research and analysis. User requirements should be clearly stated in terms of functional and non-functional requirements. These should be used in the evaluation process.

Some candidates presented project plans which again form an important part of any development process and assist in the evaluation process.

Some candidates made excellent use of storyboarding providing detailed graphical representation of their proposed systems. This is to be commended. Story boards should contain all relevant detail such as labels, text boxes, list/combo boxes, images, menus and toolbars. Navigation through the system should be noted.

Some candidates demonstrated good use of prototyping showing very good understanding of its application. Initial prototypes should show an overview of the proposed system at a high level. This should provide an indication of the screen designs, navigation, controls used and the output achieved. Refinement of the prototype should be conducted based on user feedback until the desired outcomes are achieved.

Candidates produced final solutions of a good standard. Candidates used appropriate programming structures. Code should be fully evident in the portfolios and extensively annotated. Evidence of validation of controls, menus and the programs should be annotated fully.

Candidates demonstrated good evidence of testing. A comprehensive test plan should be provided and relevant screen dumps included as part of the testing process.

User and Technical guides were presented to a high standard with all necessary sections included

Candidates from some centres provided good structured evaluations. Evaluations should provide a commentary on the solution and must relate to the user requirements. They should contain critical reflective comment on the candidate’s own performance.

Chief Examiner’s Report Assessment Unit A2 13 Networking and Communications This paper contained 12 questions and candidates were allowed one hour and 30 minutes. There were a variety of question types which tested students on both their general understanding of and knowledge of specific technical terminology and concepts. Several ‘stretch and challenge’ questions were included. Q1 Most candidates were able to describe several advantages of networking computers.

Q2 Many candidates drew clear and well annotated diagrams for part (a) with many providing an indication of the type of cabling used. In part (b) only a few candidates mentioned that one of the main problems with the bus are that we must manage a greater number of collisions as the network grows; a star network using a switch reduces collisions increasing performance and allowing larger networks. One student


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made the important point that on a bus system packets are broadcast to all nodes and this could be a security risk as sniffing of packets could occur; in system with a switch, packets could forwarded to specific network devices reducing this risk. Overall this question was relatively well answered.

Q3 Most candidates performed very well in this question although some candidates did not recognise the terminology of global and local addressing.

Q4 Most candidates performed well in this question about Bluetooth, although few provided specific technical detail about the technology in their explanations.

Q5 Some candidates did not know the difference between SMTP and POP3 servers.

Q6 Candidates were well aware of the issues surrounding chat rooms. Several suggested very good alternative disadvantages such as chat rooms being distracting and the download of malicious programs. Few mentioned any issues with regard to the risk to children.

Q7 This question was answered relatively well. Few candidates mentioned the impact of a move to another location i.e. the idea that MAC addresses tend to be static following the network device whereas IPv4 addresses are assigned and independent of the hardware.

Q8 This question asking candidates to describe SSID, WEP and MAC was relatively well answered.

Q9 Candidates performed well in this question.

Q10 (a) Most candidates were able to describe the concept of a client and server although some struggled with VPN.

(b) Very few candidates mentioned the idea of encryption and tunnelling. Many students left this answer blank or incomplete.

Q11 Candidates generally mentioned advantages such as cost and speed rather than specific features.

Q12 Candidates performed well in this question discussing viruses, Trojans and worms.

Q13 Candidates performed well in this question suggesting alternative answers such as makinbackups in the case of fire but did not suggest storage of these back-ups off-site or in a fireproof safe.

Principal Moderator’s Report Assessment Unit A2 14 Implementing a Business Solution This unit enables candidates to develop a software system based on a user requirements specification.

The assessment evidence for this unit requires candidates to provide a software solution based on a case study. Candidates are required to design, develop, test, document and evaluate a software solution for a specified problem, taking into account the needs of the user. Candidates are also expected to apply project management techniques to the development process.


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Work from centres was generally well presented with Candidate Record Sheets completed and signed by teacher and candidate. Some Candidate Record Sheets contained useful comment that was well related to the annotation in the documents. Where possible, it is best to identify particular examples on specific pages rather on larger page ranges.

Use of project plans should be detailed and should show consideration of lower level activities.

Centres must pay particular attention to the design process as this is a critical factor in the success of the solution. The use of Data Flow Diagrams must be properly developed using correct conventions. There is limited evidence of the use of data flow diagrams in the portfolios presented. These form an extremely important aspect of design and should follow through to the design of the solution reflecting the inputs, processes, files and outputs of the new system.

Candidates did attempt normalisation and produced ER diagrams and data dictionaries. Relationships on ER diagrams must be named.

It is important to produce a comprehensive test plan and to demonstrate representative tests rather than every single test process.

The documentation from centres was of a high standard with detailed User and Technical guides.

Evaluation is an important part of the development process and generally requires more development.

Candidates generally showed a good level of knowledge and understanding throughout. More use could be made of the range of marks within mark bands to allocate marks.


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Contact details The following information provides contact details for key staff members:

• Specification Support Officer: Nuala Braniff (telephone: (028) 9026 1200, extension 2292, email: [email protected])

• Officer with Subject Responsibility: Michael McAuley (telephone: (028) 9026 1200, extension 2342, email: [email protected])

A2AS AICT Chief ExaminerPrincipal Moderator Report MayJune Series 2013 13163

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