Hello, I'm Katsumi and managed to achieve a final HSC mark of 91 and a band 6 in the Information Processes and Technology course. At the beginning of 2014 i absolutely despised this subject and everything about it, sitting at a mediocre rank and dreading each class i was made to attend. However through changing up how i approached the subject it became one of my favorite subjects and favorite class to attend very quickly, eventually leading to me achieving the second best HSC mark for this subject in my school. Below you will find a study guide that i actively utilized and a few tips that will hopefully assist to in maximizing your marks throughout the preliminary and HSC IPT courses
Tips
Study Guide
This study guide contains most of the core content that you need to study before an examination, but does not cover the entire syllabus. It is intended to be used as a basic checklist/guideline for your studies
Well hopefully this at least helps a few future HSC Students out. I avidly enjoyed this course and hope that each of you can maximize your marks and enjoy it just as much as i did. Feel free to message me with any IPT related questions and i will attempt to get back to you in a timely manner
Tips
- In my opinion IPT is a subject largely based around consistency, cramming will only get you so far. I recommend that you continually make notes on a regular basis and do weekly content reviews, constantly keeping the content fresh in your mind. You will find that after a while the knowledge just sticks with you and becomes more or less second nature
- The 7 Information Processes make up the framework of the IPT course. Go back to your preliminary content and relearn them if you have forgotten, it will make the subject much easier if you actually know each process well. Look at real life information systems and constantly relate the information processes to them in order to get a good grip of how they work... chances are you will get at least 1 or 2 high mark questions in the HSC exams about the Information Processes so it is absolutely pivotal to know them. An easy way to remember such processes is C.O.S.P.A.T.D. (Cos-Patted)
- Learn your diagrams. Many of my classmates where completely screwed over during exams due to not knowing how to create a context diagram, data flow diagram, storyboard or many of the other diagrams associated with this course. Once you spend a few hours learning how to do them you really wont forget for the rest of your HSC
- Study using the Davis Textbook and the Excel textbook. A large majority of students say that Davis is the worst textbook for the subject as it goes into things way too extensively. However his examples and activities are absolutely excellent and go a long way in allowing you to gain an in depth understanding of the content. Excel on the other-hand is great for both cramming and learning the content in a concise manner
- If you use the Davis Textbook have the syllabus next to you and refer to both the "students learn about" and "students learn to" sections and highlight what is relevant
- Relating your content to real life situations helps tremendously in the learning process.
- Don't neglect social and ethical issues as they will very likely come up in the HSC examinations, i noticed that many students in my year failed to treat them with adequate respect. While many of them are common sense at a minimum should know what each of them are, however it is highly recommended that you actually know them comprehensively. After a while you will notice that they really just repeat themselves across most topics (especially the core ones) and they will come to you quite easily.
- IPT is largely an extremely simple subject which has a very strong facade of complexity. Think of things in a simple manner and try not to use too much IT jargon, it goes a very long way when revising and retaining content. For example, i personally had trouble remembering the difference between Asymmetric and Symmetric encryption, as such i stopped thinking of it in a complex manner, remembering the content as so (Asymmetric has one more letter, so it has one more key. A stands for anyone so the first key is public, S stands for security so the second key is private. Due to having 2 keys Asymmetric is more secure than symmetric. Symmetric does not have an A hence 1 key is used for both encryption and decryption).
- Pay attention in classes and constantly ask your teacher questions regarding anything you don't know. If you have good teacher, they will most likely clarify it well and explain it in simple terms in which you can understand. Once they have explained a concept, pose a follow up question using a real life example (i.e. So an example of storing and retrieving is saving and loading content in a video game?) that should act to re-enforce your knowledge and guarantee that it is correct
- Keep a cool head, even when cramming. In IPT there will very likely always be something that you may not know completely well, just keep calm and go over it in due time. Think of the content methodically and not as separate pieces of information.
- Don't think of your content in isolation. This took me a while to realize but everything in IPT is interrelated across topics, just knowing this really helps you better understand the subject as a whole.
- Don't restrict your study to just rote learning notes, while this can work in many other subjects it can largely back fire due to the general exam style of IPT. Do practice questions and link your content to real life IT situations.
- Be familiar with the exam style of this subject, unlike many other subjects that may ask you straight questions on the content, Information Processes and Technology attempts to test all your content in relevance to real life IT situations. To achieve a high mark in this subject you need to know how to apply your content to such situations on the spot in relevance to all included variables
- When completing assignments, remember that everything they are looking for is contained in the syllabus. Map out what content you are going to include before you start your project, it largely helps to know what you have to do as it is easy to get lost/confused. After that i personally recommend following the Davis textbook in line with that content. While his extensive detail is frowned upon for general study purposes its absolutely invaluable when completing a project. Also remember that the more detail is better if you don't have a restrictive word limit. Show the marker that you know what you are talking about in a holistic manner
- Exam Technique is key. Do past papers under timed conditions, a lot of them. Read the markers guidelines for HSC exams to figure out how to best answer questions and consistently hand in papers to your teacher for marking. I suggest starting with papers as soon as you finish Communication Systems as you can do Sections I and II. Papers will help you learn both diagrams and the practical application of content
- Collaborating with friends can bring you a long way provided that you hang out with the right crowd. Prepare practice questions and test eachother and ask for explanations regarding content that you do not know. Gaining a second insight into content that you don't understand can be extremely helpful for all subjects in the HSC
Study Guide
This study guide contains most of the core content that you need to study before an examination, but does not cover the entire syllabus. It is intended to be used as a basic checklist/guideline for your studies
Well hopefully this at least helps a few future HSC Students out. I avidly enjoyed this course and hope that each of you can maximize your marks and enjoy it just as much as i did. Feel free to message me with any IPT related questions and i will attempt to get back to you in a timely manner
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