The T209 exam will consist of four parts, each worth 15 marks. The focus of each
question is as follows: Part A: Structured Query Language (SQL). (15 marks).
Assessment item 3—Examination Due date:
During exam period at end of term
Weighting:
40%
Length:
Duration 2 hours
ASSESSMENT
3
Introduction The Term 2, 2009 offering of COIT13143 Database Application Development – “the course” – has an open book exam. The advice in this document applies to the standard exam, any supplementary exams, and any deferred exams for the course, collectively referred to as – “the T209 exam”. The following points apply to the T209 exam:
the duration of the T209 exam is two hours to pass the course, a student must score 40% in the T209 exam the T209 exam is marked out of 60 and contributes 40% towards the final grade to score 40% in the T209 exam, the student must earn 24 of the available 60 marks students may take any written or printed material into the T209 exam
Questions and marks The T209 exam will consist of four parts, each worth 15 marks. The focus of each question is as follows: Part A: Structured Query Language (SQL) (15 marks) Part B: Database server methods, tools and technologies (15 marks) Part C: Application development methods, tools and technologies (15 marks) Part D: Assignments (15 marks) Total: (60 marks)
Number of questions to answer Students must answer all questions in Part A and Part D of the exam. Students must answer three of the four questions in Part B and Part C of the exam. Part A: answer all questions in this part of the T209 exam Part B: answer three of the four questions (1, 2, 3, or 4) in this part of the T209 exam Part C: answer three of the four questions (1, 2, 3, or 4) in this part of the T209 exam Part D: answer all questions in this part of the T209 exam
Instructions Instructions on the cover of the T209 exam are as follows: 1. This examination comprises four (4) Parts: A, B, C and D. 2. Answer ALL questions in Part A. 3. Answer THREE (3) of the four (4) questions in Part B. 4. Answer THREE (3) of the four (4) questions in Part C. 5. Answer ALL questions in Part D. 6. Each part of this examination (A, B, C and D) is worth 15 marks. 7. Write all answers in the Examination Answer Booklet provided. 1 of 4
Timing The duration of the T209 exam is two hours - 120 minutes. Students should aim to spend 30 minutes on each of the four parts of the T209 exam. For Part B and Part C, students should aim to spend 10 minutes on each of the three questions (1, 2, 3, or 4) answered. Part A: spend 30 minutes on this part Part B: spend 30 minutes on this part, 10 minutes on each of the three questions answered Part C: spend 30 minutes on this part, 10 minutes on each of the three questions answered Part D: spend 30 minutes on this part Students will need to work quickly in the T209 exam. There will be limited time to refer to documents taken into the T209 exam. To make good use of any documents taken into the exam, students must be well organised and have a good understanding of the content of those documents. There will be no time in the T209 exam for reading large passages from documents.
Sub-questions Some questions in Part B and Part C will be broken into sub-questions. Sub-questions in Part B and Part C will not be allocated marks. For example, Question 1 of Part B might have three sub-questions (a), (b), and (c), illustrated below. Question 1 A statement introducing the question…
5 Marks
(a) First sub-question. (b) Second sub-question. (c) Third sub-question. Sub-questions are designed to clearly and simply state the requirements of a question. The reason for not allocating marks to sub-questions in Part B and Part C of the T209 exam is to provide flexibility when marking the exam. The goal is to award credit where it is found in these sub-questions, subject to the following constraints:
the student must earn at least one (1) mark from each sub-question the student can earn a maximum of the three (3) marks from any one sub-question
Questions in Part B and Part C of the T209 exam will have a maximum of three sub-questions, and may have none (in which case, a single question will be asked).
Preparing for the T209 exam As has been stated several times in lectures, exam question will be developed in sympathy with learning objectives identified at the start of each Study Guide module. Students are encouraged to prepare notes to satisfy each of the learning objectives. These notes can be written onto a printed copy of each Study Guide module, or in separate documents. These notes can be taken into the T209 exam. If a student prepares in this way, it is the intention of staff preparing the T209 exam that no “surprises” will be experienced.
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Details about each question The following provides a guide to the scope of each part of the T209 exam. Part A: primarily based on learning objectives in the Week 5 Study Guide, but including other learning objectives that relate to SQL Specifics: o some questions will refer to tables described at the start of Part A o these tables will be based on those found in the assignment database o students will not be asked to develop SQL queries for complex information requests o students may be asked to show understanding of non-trivial SQL queries o students may be asked to modify non-trivial SQL queries o students may be asked to demonstrate use of a particular feature of SQL queries Part B: primarily based on learning objectives in the Week 6 Study Guide, but including other learning objectives related to database server methods, tools and technologies Part C: primarily based on learning objectives in the Week 10 Study Guide and the Week 11 Study Guide, but including other learning objectives that related to database application development methods, tools and technologies Part D: based on the two assignments Specifics: o Part D has two questions (1 and 2), each worth 7.5 marks o the scope of Question 1 is Assignment 1 o the scope of Question 2 is Assignment 2 o students who attempted the assignments should not find Part D difficult o marks will be awarded for evidence that the student did attempt the assignments o students may be asked how aspects of the Assignment 2 form might be implemented o marks will be awarded for stating relevant details about the tool used in Assignment 2 o marks will also be awarded for explaining the capabilities of the tool used o important: the student may be asked to demonstrate an understanding of methods used in the sample solutions this still applies if the student used different tools for the assignments students should ensure they understand all aspects of the sample solutions the mailing list can be used to resolve any misunderstanding
Guide to allocation of marks Descriptive answers will be marked as follows: marks will be awarded for valid points in an answer as a general guide, ½ mark will be awarded for each valid point in an answer to obtain full marks in a 5-mark question, a student must make 10 valid points a critical, central, or insightful point, can be awarded a full mark a sentence making three valid points will be awarded 1½ marks each invalid point will attract a negative ½ mark
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Guide to length of answers It should be possible to obtain full marks for a 5-mark question in less than half a page of normal writing. There should be no need to write more than a few sentences to obtain full marks for each sub-question. In some cases, one or two sentences will be sufficient to obtain full marks for a subquestion. In general, answers should be short and punchy. Dot-points are fine, where appropriate.
Acknowledging sources As in any piece of written work, it is import to acknowledge sources. In an exam, students normally use their own words to answer questions. If a sentence from a document (Textbook, Study Guide, Wikipedia article, etc) is reproduced, the student must acknowledge the source of that sentence, as suggested below:
Kroenke says “
…” Textbook says “…” Study Guide says “…” Wikipedia on says “…”
No marks will be awarded to a reproduced sentence unless the source of that sentence is noted.
Sample exam The Term 2, 2008 Standard Exam for this course has been provided as the Sample Exam for this course offering. The Sample Exam format is different from the format of the T209 exam (as described in this document). In particular, the 2008 exam has five (5) questions, each with several parts – (a), (b), (c), etc. The T209 exam will have four (4) parts, each with several questions (as described in this document). The purpose of the Sample Exam is to provide an indication of the style of question that may appear in the T209 exam. It may also help the student to assess any time constraints they will face in the T209 exam. Only one Sample Exam is provided for this course. It is risky to rely on past exams as a guide to candidate exam questions – the course changes over time. The best guide to candidate exam questions is provided by Study Guide learning objectives.
Additional advice about the exam This document is designed to serve as the one and only source of information about the T209 exam. It is the intention of the course coordinator to provide no additional advice about the exam. If a question arises about the T209 exam that the course coordinator feels obliged to answer, the answer will be provided through the mailing list and also as a course update. This advice will be clearly flagged as “additional advice about the exam”. It is important that all students receive the exact same advice about the T209 exam. Note: The content of this document will be covered in the Week 12 lecture.
Exam rules and timetable Exam rules are available from: http://handbook.cqu.edu.au/Handbook/information.jsp?id=126 Exam timetables are available from: http://www.cqu.edu.au/studinfo/admin/timetabling/index.htm
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