Review of Unit 1 SBA

ByNyoka 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

RecommendationsO 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

ActivityO 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 IssuesO 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

RecommendationsO 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.

RecommendationsO Students can use software tools to

design their charts such as Milestone or MS Project

ActivityO 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

RecommendationsO 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.

SolutionThis 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

minimumstandards 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

RecommendationsO 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.

RecommendationsO 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

RecommendationsO APA Guide

O https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/10/

O MLA GuideO https://

owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/11/

ReferencesCaribbean 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

<file:///C:/Users/SLDB/Documents/IT%20SBA%20PREs/CAPEJune2013InformationTechnology_SR.pdf>

Caribbean Examination Council (2014) School Based Assessment

Handbook