Paper+1+Resources

ITGS Paper 1

Paper 1 (1 hour 45 minutes): SL (40%)
Five structured questions that assess in an integrated way the three strands of the syllabus. Students answer ** three ** of five structure questions on any of the SL/HL core topics.
 * Social and ethical significance
 * Application to specific scenarios
 * IT systems

(60 marks)

Paper 1 (2 hours 15 minutes): HL (35%)
Seven structured questions in ** three ** sections that assess in an integrated way the three strands of the syllabus.
 * Social and ethical significance
 * Application to specific scenarios
 * IT systems

Students answer ** two ** of three structured questions on any of the SL/HL core topics. The core topics include Strand 1, Strand 2 and Strand 3 (topics 3.1 through 3.9)
 * Section A **

Students answer ** one ** of two structured questions based on topic 3.10, "IT systems in organizations".
 * Section B **

Students answer ** one ** of two structured questions based on topic 3.11, "Robotics, artificial intelligence and expert systems".
 * Section C **

(80 marks)

=== **Topic 2: Guiding students - SL Paper 1 and HL Paper 1 questions and markschemes** ===

Strand 1 Strand 2 Strand 3 (3.1-3.9 Core for Sl/SL) and (3.10-3.11 for HL).
 * Strategy 1: ** Students must understand all of the concepts in the ITGS Guide:


 * Strategy 2: ** Students must place the theory in the ITGS guide in real contexts. This experience can be provided through investigations, hands-on activities and through news articles. News articles will be addressed in more depth in module 5.


 * Strategy 3: ** The best preparation for examinations is for students to ** WRITE, WRITE, WRITE ** and receive ** FEEDBACK ** "to what extent" they are addressing the command terms. In each question on Paper 1 it will be easy to recognize that all three strands (the Triangle) are included in the parts of the question.

Each question on the SL and HL Paper 1 will have 3 parts for each question: Part a [6 marks] with subsections (i), (ii) and perhaps (iii) using command terms in blue from the table below (assesses IT terminology and concepts) Part b [6 marks] with one section using the command terms in green or subsections (i) and (ii) in blue and green from the table below. Part c [8 marks] which will be one extended response using one of the command terms in red from the table below.


 * SPECIMEN PAPERS ARE AVAILABLE for PAPER 1. WE WILL LOOK AT A QUESTION FROM PAPER 1 TO GET AN IDEA OF HOW ITGS QUESTIONS ARE PHRASED AND THE EXPECTED RESPONSE FOR THE VARIOUS COMMAND TERMS. **

The Australian government website (see Item 1 below) provides news, advice and government information for Australian citizens and business travellers.

It allows citizens to pay tax, update personal details in government databases, claim welfare benefits, view previous medical claims and search for jobs. The image below shows part of the home page with the navigation bar and hyperlinks.

It also allows Australian citizens and business travellers to obtain relevant information about other countries such as health warnings, entry and visa requirements, and travel advice. Travellers can submit a form to register their emergency contact details, and travellers can also visit the website and subscribe to RSS feeds.

**Item 1** [Source: adapted from [|http://www.australia.gov.au/], copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission]


 * Item 2 **

Online help is available in the form of demonstration videos. By clicking on the hyperlink below, the user can access a video explaining how to register for online services as a nominee.

[Source: [|http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/online_services/online_demo.htm], copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission]

**[Note how this relates to IT systems and to knowing ITGS terminology. This question is at the lowest level of the ITGS taxonomy.]** || **[2 marks]** ||  || **[Note that students will often be asked to describe an aspect of IT or to provide step-by-step processes.]** || **[4 marks]** || **[This question clearly relates to social and ethical considerations in Strand 1 placed in this particular scenario from Strand 2 under Politics and Government. This type of question is marked using markbands.]** || **[6 marks]** ||
 * (a) (i) .......... || **State** two file formats, other than Flash (FLV), that could be used to store the video in Item 2 shown above.
 * (a)(ii) || The Australian government uses the online tax and welfare databases to provide services to their citizens and to find persons who try to avoid paying taxes. **Outline** the steps involved in using data matching for these purposes.
 * (b) || Governments normally have policies on their website describing how they safeguard the privacy of their citizens. **Explain** three policies that might be included and how they protect the privacy of citizens.
 * (c) || The website //smartraveller.gov.au// enables the Australian government to provide tips for business travellers relating to issues such as health warnings, entry and visa requirements, and travel advice. Travellers can submit a form to registertheir emergency contact details, and can also visit the website and subscribe to RSS feeds. Previously, this information was only available by phoning the government office.

**Discuss** the business travellers’ use of the government website //(smartraveller.gov.au//) to access the information that they require. **[This question requires an extensive response that argues the question using specific knowledge and IT terminology, balance, examples and reaches a final decision or opinion.]** || **[8 marks]** ...................... ||

=== Topic 3: Command Terms **in examination questions / markschemes for Paper 1** ===

Please notice that on the M09 Paper 2, the questions generally begin with an introduction (called 'stem'). The same format will be used on the new Paper 1 (May 2012 onwards). The questions contain ITGS command terms beginning with the lowest levels ('identify', 'define') and moving upwards to higher level thinking ( 'describe', 'explain') and then onto extended response questions using "discuss", "to what extent". "analyze".... The word 'formulate' will only be used on Paper 3 (module 6).

The command terms have been color coded and sample questions are provided in the table below. Note the use of the words 'identify', 'define', 'describe'... in the ITGS examples. The color coding indicates the differences in the nature of the response that we examined in the iTGS Taxonomy in Module 2. Not all terms have been included in the table (see ITGS guide pages 71-72).


 * Command Terms **
 * ** Example of marks given for example questions ** || **Term** || **Definition – asks students to:** || ** ITGS Example ** ||
 * ** 1 mark ** || ** Identify ** || ** Recognize and state briefly a distinguishing fact or feature. ** || ** Identify the protocol used to transmit web pages. ** ||
 * ** 2 marks ** || ** Define ** || ** Give a clear and precise meaning of a given word, term or concept. ** || ** Define the term data redundancy. ** ||
 * ** 2 marks ** || ** Describe ** || ** Present the characteristics of a particular topic. ** || ** Describe one use of information technology in a dentist’s office. ** ||
 * ** 2 marks ** || ** Compare ** || ** Describe two (or more) situations and present the similarities between them. ** || ** In ITGS the phrase “describe the similarity between ...” will be used instead of compare. **
 * Describe one similarity between an Intranet and the Internet. ** ||
 * ** 4 marks ** || ** Contrast ** || ** Describe two (or more) situations and present the differences between them. ** || ** In ITGS the phrase “describe the difference between ...” will be used instead of contrast. **
 * Describe two differences between a flat-file database and a relational database. ** ||
 * ** 4 marks ** || ** Distinguish ** || ** Make clear the differences between two or more concepts/terms. ** || ** Distinguish between a computer model and a computer simulation. ** ||
 * ** 4 marks ** || ** Explain ** || ** Describe, giving reasons. ** || ** Explain two ways that facial recognition technology can assist an airline traveller. ** ||
 * ** 4 marks ** || ** Examine ** || ** Consider an argument or concept in a way that uncovers the assumptions and interrelationships of the issue. ** || ** Examine two benefits of adopting consistent interface standards throughout the company. ** ||
 * ** 10 marks ** || ** Discuss ** || ** Offer a considered and balanced review of a particular topic. Opinions or conclusions should be presented clearly and supported by empirical evidence and sound argument. ** || ** Discuss how a client-server network can help provide reliable IT services to a company. ** ||
 * ** 10 marks ** || ** Analyse ** || ** Break down in order to bring out: (a) the essential elements; (b) structure; (c) any underlying assumptions and any interrelationships involved. ** || ** Analyse the impact of introducing an internet user policy into a workplace. ** ||
 * ** 10 marks ** || ** Evaluate ** || ** Make an appraisal by weighing up the strengths and limitations of different evidence and arguments. ** || ** The network administrator has proposed a backup system for the library that creates a full backup every Friday. Evaluate this proposal. ** ||
 * ** 10 marks ** || ** To what extent ** || ** Evaluate the success or otherwise of an argument or concept. Opinions and conclusions should be presented clearly and supported with empirical evidence and sound argument. ** || ** Ordinary citizens have been able to capture world events using their camera phones. These pictures can be sent to newspapers for immediate publication. To what extent is freedom of information outweighted by a potential invasion of the privacy of individuals being photographed. ** ||

== Another way to look at command terms on examinations is displayed in the chart below: ==

=== **Topic 4: Writing paper 1-type questions** ===

Since the new syllabus is just beginning and there will be only one specimen paper produced for Paper 1 and Paper 2, teachers face the problem of needed more sample questions to use with their students. Where can these come from?
 * Teachers writing their own questions based on the command terms and the structure of Paper 1 (2012 onwards).
 * Restructuring questions from past papers (May 2007 through November 2011) so that the four parts (a, b,c and d) become parts (a, b, and c as described above) and as they appear on the specimen papers.
 * The short answer questions on Paper 1 (up to November 2011) can be used to prepare students for examinations, but Paper 1 (up to November 2011) is only focused on topics that now appear in Strand 3 (3.1-3.8) relating to IT systems. Consequently, past Paper 1 examinations (up to Novbemer 2011) can only be used to prepare students for part a and some subsections of part b.

**Essentially the current Paper 1 and Paper 2** **(up to November 2011)** **has been combined to produce the Paper 2 (2011 onwards).**

The best guideline at the moment for writing future examination questions is by looking at the current Paper 2. Essentially the questions will be similar except the new examinations will have the structure of having only 3 parts for each question as described in Topic 3 above.