Review of Unit 1 SBA By Nyoka English

Problem Definition Identifies an organization and gives a brief description of the organization, zeroing in on a single problem it faces, and the effects of that problem

Problem Definition Issues O Students who score poorly have the following issues:  highlighting multiple problems  excluding the background to the problem and as a result have no context in which the problem exists  stating the causes of the problem  including /proposing solutions to the problem identified  writing a problem definition around a solution

Recommendations O Students are required to identify an organization that is currently in their environment and facing a problem. O They are required to include the following:  a brief background of the organization  a single problem should be established  the effects of the problem on the organization and its operations

Activity O In your groups O Use the scopes previously established to write a problem definition.

Ghant Chart A visual representation of a project schedule

Ghant Chart Issues O Students who score poorly have the following issues:  did not show all the stages of the Problem Solving Process  used timelines that were unrealistic  used a table format instead of a chart  combined tasks and excluded important tasks

Recommendations O Students should be encouraged to create Gantt charts that :  provide a true reflection of the life of the project.  have meaningful heading and axes that are appropriately labelled and scaled  if symbols are used, a legend should be incorporated  shows ALL stages, from Analysis of the Problem to Justification of Solution, a total of 5 tasks.

Recommendations O Students can use software tools to design their charts such as Milestone or MS Project

Activity O In your groups develop a timeline for your project.

Analysis of the Problem This section requires the student to use at least 3 fact finding tools to show the major cause(s) of the problem stated in the Problem Definition

Analysis of the Problem Issues O Students who score poorly have the following issues: O describing the analysis tools; listing advantages and disadvantages O describing the effects of the problem O presenting raw data without any analysis that points to the cause of the problem

Analysis of the Problem Issues O Students who score poorly have the following issues: O describing the problem in detail, failing to identify the causes of the problem O questions chosen for the interviews and questionnaires were not always relevant to the SBA and very often added no value to the analysis

Analysis of the Problem Issues  Students who score poorly have the following issues: o did not interpret the findings obtained from the fact-finding tools, as a result the causes of the problem were not sufficiently established o utilized fact-finding tools that were not appropriate for their situation

Recommendations O Students should use fact-finding tools that are suitable for their project. Examples of fact-finding tools are: O Questionnaires O Interviews O Observation O Review of documentation O Surveys O Focus groups O Experiments.

Recommendations O Analysis of data garnered from the three or more fact-finding tools must point to the causes of the problem. O The observation technique cannot be done in one sitting, it must be done over period of time. An observation checklist or schedule should be created.

Recommendations O Fact-finding tools should be ordered O E.g. questionnaire interview observation O Students do not need to explain the fact- finding techniques being used in the study.

Activity In your groups you will be assigned a fact- finding tool. You are to use the tool to come up with a single statement that shows a cause of the problem previously identified.

Identification of Possible Solutions O Two or more complete possible solutions should be identified in this section.

Identification of Possible Solution Issues  Students who score poorly have the following issues: O suggesting solutions of similar nature without explaining the differences. E.g. a DBMS and a Spreadsheet as their solutions O suggesting solutions that only solved specific parts of the problem and not the problem in its entirety

Identification of Possible Solution Issues  Students who score poorly have the following issues: O identifying manual solutions O drawing flowcharts, dataflow diagrams or writing pseudocode

Recommendations O Solutions identified should be relevant and realistic to the problem and describe a complete IT-based (information processing) system. O Elements of each solution should cover O Hardware O Software O Procedures O Personnel and end users O Network technology

Evaluation of Possible Solutions O This section requires students to objectively evaluate the two or more solutions identified in the previous section, using the following elements: O Hardware tools O Software tools O Other equipment O Personnel O Cost O Other relevant entities – e.g. security, implementation, maintenance and time for development

Evaluation of Possible Solutions Issues  Students who score poorly have the following issues: O failed to describe elements previously outlined O included advantages and disadvantages of the solutions only O present tables showing weighted elements but failed to elaborate on the elements and the weights allotted to each. Some of the elements used did not relate to the elements specified in the syllabus.

Evaluation of Possible Solutions Issues  Students who score poorly have the following issues: O evaluated solutions that were not identified previously O proposed more than one solution but only evaluated the one they believed to be the most feasible solution O presented only pictures of the hardware components of their identified solutions

Recommendations O Evaluate all identified solutions O Evaluate solutions treating all elements O Employ a weighted, balanced scorecard that addresses the necessary elements accompanied by an elaboration on the elements, the weights assigned to each and the reason for that assignment.

Solution This section requires students to choose the most feasible solution from the previously identified IT-based possible solutions.

Solution Issues  Students who score poorly have the following issues: O selecting solutions that were not previously identified O selecting manual solutions O selecting a solution from two similar solutions O only identified one solution in the Identification of Possible Solutions section, so they could only choose that solution

Recommendations O Students should only select from solutions previously identified. O Students should have an explicit section to state the recommended solution. O Refrain from joining this section with the Justification of Solution.

Justification of Solution This section requires students to thoroughly analyze the issues related to the implementation of the chosen solution, propose strategies for dealing with the issues and provide an appropriate justification for all the strategies recommended.

Justification of Solution Issues  Students who score poorly have the following issues: O discussing strengths of the solution only without adding issues that may arise from its implementation O did not identify any issues pertaining to the implementation of the solution O did not provide any strategies for handling the issues identified

Justification of Solution Issues  Students who score poorly have the following issues: O did not do any comparison to show why the solution chosen was better than the one(s) rejected in relation to solving the problem identified O listed advantages and disadvantages of the solution without explaining the applicability to their choice.

Recommendations O Students can enhance their justification with the use of a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis to justify the solution chosen. O Students should also defend the chosen solution over the other solutions.

Recommendations O Suggested strategies must provide a clear indication of how each identified issue will be mitigated or eradicated. It should be noted that issues within this section relate to concerns that would result from implementation of the solution.

Presentation and Communication of Information This section requires students to present their report in a format and style to meet minimum standards of papers for academic purposes.

Presentation and Communication of Information Issues  Students who score poorly have the following issues: o abstract not present or is inappropriate o references are either missing or not in a proper MLA or APA format o has a table of contents but page numbers are missing or does not correspond to the document o some page numbers are present but the table of contents is missing.

Presentation and Communication of Information Issues  Students who score poorly have the following issues: o page numbers are written in with a pencil or pen o the document does not have the proper headings and subheadings o there are inconsistences in font style, size and spacing o the cover page is incomplete

Recommendations O If questionnaires, interview questions and charts are placed in the appendix they should be referenced in the body of the document. O Word processors include a wizard to create a table of contents with different levels corresponding to headings and subheadings.

Recommendations O The abstract should only give an overview of the requirements of the project and not a description of the solution. O Since the report is in print, it is expected that the page numbers be in print as well.

Recommendations O The cover page should include the following: O Title O Name of Candidate O Candidate Number O Territory O School Name and number O Year of Examination

Recommendations O The project should reflect in its entirety MLA or APA formats. These formats address: O Font style (Times New Roman) and size (12) throughout the document O Font size and formatting for headings O Page margins O Line spacing O Justification of the document O Presentation of sources used

Recommendations O APA Guide O 2/10/ 2/10/ O MLA Guide O 2/11/ 2/11/

References Caribbean Examination Council (2008) CAPE Information Technology Syllabus. Barbados: Caribbean Examination Council Caribbean Examination Council (2013) Report on Candidates’ Work in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination. Retrieved from Caribbean Examination Council (2014) School Based Assessment Handbook