General:

In general candidates performance was satisfactory however despite an easier question paper very few could obtain high marks. As most questions in the paper did not require lengthy descriptive answers, candidates had more than ample time to read and answer the paper. Despite this many candidates had failed to understand the requirements of some questions. In some questions specially in Q.1, 2, 3 and 7 many candidates repeated the few points they could come up with.

Comments on each part are as follows:

Q.1

Generally, this question was well attempted. Candidates were able to identify different classes of information system applications. But few got misguided some how and produced classes of information systems on the basis of their functions, users etc., instead of mentioning the classes on the basis of their application, as it was specifically asked for in the question.

Q.2

(a)

Although most of the students did well in this part, they were not successful enough to produce an answer which was necessary to gain full marks. Many were unable to identify an information system which could fulfill management’s information requirement. Candidates should note that MIS supports structured decisions whereas senior management often needs information system support for making unstructured decisions which could be fulfilled by other systems such as Decision Support System or Executive Support System.

Q.2

(b)

This question specifically asked the frequency of information required in addition to the type of information required by the middle management. Almost every candidate was able to identify the type of information but quite a few candidates did not mention its frequency which was a major mark loosing factor in this part. Moreover, a number of candidates also explained why the information was required by the middle management, which was not asked in this part. Candidates should be careful in reading and identifying the requirements of the questions in order to save their time in writing unwanted explanations.

Q.2

(c)

In addition to the type of information required, the need for information was specifically asked in this part. A number of candidates concentrated only on explaining the type of information and ignored the other requirement altogether. Again, the candidates are advised to be careful and answer all the issues raised in the question while reading the questions.

Q.3

This was a very easy question and majority of the candidates scored full marks in it. However, a few candidates missed the point that they were required to only list down basic tasks of an operating system and wrote explanation of each task which was not required. Repetition of the same point many times were also observed in a number of answers.

Q.4

(a)

Most of the candidates did not do well in this question. A number of candidates missed the ‘loop’ part and explained open and closed systems instead.  Some candidates explained open loop systems as close loop systems and vice versa. Candidates should note that feedback is the main difference between the two systems. In open loop system, control is exercised regardless of the output produced by the system whereas a closed loop system involves feedback to ensure that set conditions are met.  

A number of candidates who replied the question correctly, could not draw complete diagram of closed loop system.

Q.4

(b)

Very few candidates could come up with correct explanation of double loop feedback and its differences compared to single loop feedback. Double loop feedback is control information transmitted to higher level in the system. It includes information gathered from measuring outputs of the system itself as well as the environmental information. Single loop feedback is concerned with task control and double loop feedback is concerned with multiple (overall) task control.

Q.5

This was an easy scoring question and many candidates secured good marks. Although it had been given in the question paper that terminal is a device for entering data in a data communication system, some candidates tried to explain it as different types of cables or hub etc., which shows that such candidates were completely unaware of types of terminals.

Q.6

This was an easy question in which candidates could not score much. Majority of candidates mixed up names of registers and their purposes. Most of the candidates could name the registers but could not describe them.

Q.7

An easy scorer, most candidates got good marks in this question. Majority of the candidates identified the main differences in two types of languages i.e., low level languages (LLL) and high level languages (HLL) and secured good marks. However, some candidates repeated same points while giving differences between the two. A few candidates failed to give the examples of LLL and mentioned Visual Basic and FoxPro etc., as LLL which are examples of HLL.

Q.8

(a)

Most candidates were familiar with the concept of encryption but failed to describe it properly and therefore could not score full marks.

(b)

SET protocol is a technique to safeguard against unauthorized use of credit cards at the Internet.  Very few candidates explained this technique in a manner which depicted their command on this concept. The students should be aware of such concepts as application of technologies like encryption and SET protocol is rapidly growing.

Q.9

Performance in this question was good and almost all the candidates produced right answers. Only a few candidates made the mistake of applying the same formula in each cell without using cell referencing or changing cell identification (row and column numbers).

Q.10

Performance in this question was good and almost all candidates produced right answers. However, in part (g), majority of candidates chose ‘IF’ function to calculate rank of the students which is difficult and time consuming as well. In Microsoft Excel there exists a ‘Rank’ function which could have been used more easily in such a case.

Q.11

This was a simple question on effective use of Microsoft Word’s formatting tools. Majority of the candidates were aware of the features of  ‘Change Case Dialogue Box’ and their performance in this question was up to the mark.

Q.12

In this question, candidates generally were not aware or found confused about the functions of ABS and SUMIF. In Microsoft Excel, the function ABS(A11) returns the absolute value of cell A11, and the function SUMIF(B4:B13,”>10”) adds the values greater than 10 in the range  “B4 to B13). However, overall performance in this question was acceptable.