The Information Technology (Module D) paper for Spring 2006 was generally attempted well by the students. Most of the questions were clear in requirements and required precise answers, which were provided by majority of the students.

Question-wise comments are as under:

Q.1

The question simply required listing of key features of computerized ‘Inventory Management System” and “Personnel System”. Surprisingly, the question was not well-attempted. Most of the students missed out on the “computerized” aspects of these systems, and described manual processes involved in inventory and personnel management. For example, the following features were generally missing from the answers:

Inventory Management System

·        Balance in hand in respect of each item.

·        Details of the cost of individual items.

·        Details of orders under process.

·        Re-order quantity for each item.

·        Slow moving items.

·        Identification of expired goods.

Personnel System        

It produces and maintains the following information:

·        Details of number of staff, their personal detail, emoluments etc.

·        Attendance and time records.

·        Manpower planning and allocation.

·        Pension plans and other employment benefits.

·        Budgetary and staff related costs.

·        Income tax and other regulatory requirements.

Q.2

The question required description of an expert system and suitable examples. Generally, the question was attempted well. Most of the students correctly defined expert system as program that encapsulates the knowledge that human experts have acquired about a particular domain and possesses capabilities to apply this knowledge when presented with a particular problem. The components of expert system such as knowledge base, inference engine and user interface were also described. Finally, most of the students provided correct examples of expert system pertaining to legal, tax and medicine areas.

Q.3

The question pertaining to feasibility study was not well attempted. Instead of providing a brief definition of feasibility study, many students proceeded to describe the whole SDLC process. This not only led to lack of clarity in the required answer but also resulted in wastage of precious time. Most of the students however provided correct description of areas in which an IT solution has to be feasible in order to be selected, which include organizational, technical, economic feasibility etc.

Q.4

The question pertaining to costs of new system and commonly used methods of cost benefit analysis was generally attempted well by students. Although variety of formats were used in describing the relevant costs, most provided correct answers i.e. these costs include equipment, installation, development, personnel and operating costs. Further, commonly used cost benefit analysis include payback period, accounting/average rate of return and discounted cash flow methods.

Q.5

The question pertaining to network topology was a simple one and was attempted well by majority of the students. The various types of network topologies including star, bus, tree, ring and mesh topology were correctly defined.

Q.6

The question pertaining to data transmission media was also well-attempted. Various types of data transmission media include:

·        Copper wire

·        Coaxial cable

·        Fiber optic cable

·        Microwave

·        Satellite

·        Infrared transmission system

Q.7

The question pertaining to various MS Office, Word and Excel features was one of the most poorly attempted questions, especially Part (a) and (b). Functions of the given options in Part (a) and (b) are as under:

Trace Precedent:

Indicates cells which are being considered in the formula.

Trace Dependant:

Points to all formulas in which a particular cell is being    used.

Circle invalid data:

Circles the cells having values that do not meet the  validation criteria.

Track Changes:

It keeps track of changes while the document is being edited.

Accept Changes:

It eliminates the editing indicators and makes the changes   permanent.

Although Part (c) pertaining to clipboard and difference between copy and cut operation was well attempted, a few students explained ‘clipart’ instead of ‘clipboard’ and lost some easy marks.

Q.8

The question pertaining to flow chart was generally well-attempted. In most of the cases, correct symbols were used by the students. However, in some cases, logic of the flowchart was not very clear. For example, the flow chart required that if the patient has any outstanding dues, the case is referred to financial controller. Logically, this step should have been executed at the start of processing. Many students performed this check at each stage of calculation of discount, leading to inclusion of redundant steps.

Q.9

The question pertained to general controls and was relatively straight forward. However most of the students found it difficult to specify the examples of general controls related to specific areas.

Q.10

The question pertaining to CASE techniques was well attempted. Most of the students accurately described CASE tools including analyst workbenches and programmer workbenches.

Q.11

The question pertaining to risk management was also well-attempted by majority of the students. Most of them accurately listed the steps involved in risk management phases including risk assessment, risk minimization and risk transfer. However, some students spent valuable time in explaining at length, the various risks faced by the systems. This explanation was not required and did not earn any marks.