SYL.O

1. Mr ZARKOVIC
Information Processes
and Technology
Syllabus Overview

2. Aims of the course
…to enable students to become
 confident, competent, discriminating and
ethical users of information technologies,
 How do we make students “ethical
users”? Many teachers agree that all the
ethical role modeling carried out and
encouraged by schools does not always
persist beyond the school gate!

3. Aims of the course
…to enable students
 to possess an understanding of
information processes
 These are collecting, organizing,
analyzing, storing & retrieving,
processing, transmitting and
receiving and displaying data

4. Aims of the course
…to enable students
 to appreciate the effect of
information systems on society
 This not only includes social and
ethical issues, but also requires
students to speculate as to possible
future technological developments
and applications.

5. Course Structure
 Preliminary course
 HSC course

6. Preliminary Course (Content)
 Introduction to Information Skills
and Systems
 Tools for Information Processes
 Planning, Design and
Implementation
 Personal and Group System Projects

7. Preliminary Course (Organization)
 Three terms to complete the content and
skills
 It is usual practice for at least two projects
to be completed
 Usually a yearly examination towards the
end of term 3
 Not always a requirement for a half yearly
exam. But many schools have them.
Many don’t.
 There can be other tasks e.g. a practical
exam

8. HSC Course (Content)
 Project Work
 Information Systems and Databases
 Communication Systems

9. HSC Course (Options Content)
At least TWO of the following
 Transaction Processing Systems
 Decision Support Systems
 Automated Manufacturing Systems
 Multimedia Systems

10. HSC Course (Organization)
 Four terms
 At least ONE project
 Usually two other assessment tasks
• A half yearly exam
• A trial HSC
 Possibly other assessment tasks

11. How I teach the course
at AGHS

12. Year 11
 4 periods per week
 2/3 periods of theory
 3/4 periods of practical exercises
(e.g. Learning Activities in Grower or
Heinemann Text)
Or
 3/4 periods of project work
depending on stage of course

13. Year 12
 5 periods per week
 2 periods of theory
 3 periods of project work
Occasionally
 3 periods of practical (Learning
Activities in Heinemann Text)
OR
 5 periods of in-class assessment task

14. Outcomes and Objectives
 Page 11 -12 of syllabus
 There are explicit links between the
objectives and the outcomes
 As expected, the HSC outcomes are
more demanding than those of the
Preliminary course
 All students must complete project
work in order to satisfy the P7.1,
P7.2 and H7.1, H7.2 outcomes

15. Content of Preliminary Course
 There are only 4 topics
 There are no options
 Section 8.2 (p18 -19) on Tools for
Information Processes is a
substantial topic and will comprise
the bulk of the course

16. Content of Preliminary Course
 The topic “Planning, Design and
Implementation” introduces students to
project work
 There is substantial overlap between this
topic and the topic “Project Work” in the
HSC course
 Many teaching programs I have seen tend
to follow the sequence in the syllabus
 Perhaps, there is an argument for moving
the topic “Planning, Design and
Implementation” towards the start of the
course

17. HSC Content
 Since two compulsory topics are
• Information systems and databases
• Communication systems
It is important to be proficient in the use
of relational databases and web site
creation.
 These are often used as the basis of
major projects in the HSC course

18. Option Topics
 The resources at your school will dictate to
a large extent the option topics studied.
 Very few schools do the topic “Automated
Manufacturing Systems” probably because
the cost of getting appropriate resources is
prohibitive
 The most common topics studied are
• Multimedia systems
• Decision support systems
Largely because they are different to the core
topics, more practical and interesting.

19. Option Topics
 Transaction Processing systems
seems like an extension of the core
topic “Information systems and
databases”
 It may be a useful option if your
school is short on resources
 On the other hand, students may
become “bored” with databases

20. How we assess the
course at AGHS

21. Year 11 Assessment
 2 projects (15% and 25%)
 Half yearly exam (25%)
 Yearly exam (35%)

22. Year 12 Assessment
 3 projects (15%, 20% and 25%)
 Half yearly exam (15%)
 Trial HSC exam (25%)

23. Reporting and Outcomes
 Outcomes based reporting is used by
many schools
 Rather than collect data about each
outcome many schools adopt the
approach of collecting data for
groups of outcomes
 At AGHS, junior reports are
outcome-based, senior ones aren’t at
this time

24. What does the BOS require for the
HSC ?
 An assessment mark for each
student based on the following
weightings
• Project Work 20%
• Info Systems and Databases 20%
• Communication Systems 20%
• Option Strands 40%

25. So it is important to take time to
design an effective and appropriate
assessment schedule