CSEC Information Technology — Paper 2 Solutions

Any TWO of: Notebooks/Laptops and Desktops. (Other accepted: tablets, smartphones, Chromebooks, interactive whiteboard PCs.)

1 mark each = 2 marks.

Pointer. Other accepted answers: projector, mouse.

Cloud storage — copies of the school's data are kept on remote servers (e.g., Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox), so the data can be retrieved over the Internet if the local copy is lost or damaged.

Reproduced from the original paper — Q1(d) refers to these tables throughout.

1 mark each = 4 marks. Student ID and Student are alphanumeric/textual; Age and Grade level hold whole-number values that may need arithmetic / comparison.

Student ID — uniquely identifies each student record (no two students share the same ID).

The linking field is Student ID, and in the Course table it acts as a Foreign Key — it references the Student ID primary key in the Student table.

1 mark for the field; 1 mark for "foreign key" = 2 marks.

Totals (the Totals row in query design view) using the Avg aggregate function across the subject-mark columns.

The purpose of grouping is to summarize data related to the same value in a column, making it easier for the user to understand the data as a whole — for example, listing all students per grade level together, with subtotals, averages or counts produced for each group.

Staff can protect their computers by using effective passwords on their devices — strong, unique passwords (mix of upper/lower case, digits and symbols) make it much harder for attackers to gain unauthorised access. (2 marks)

Staff can also install antivirus detection software — antivirus tools scan files and email attachments for known malware (viruses, ransomware, trojans) and remove threats before they can damage data or spread on the school network. (2 marks)

Two personal security measures students can take are never accessing website URLs without checking them for authenticity (always verify the spelling of the address before clicking — phishing sites often mimic real ones with a single changed character) and limiting access to open Wi-Fi networks (public Wi-Fi can be intercepted; sensitive activity should be done on trusted networks only).

1 mark each.

Mail Merge or Table — Mail Merge populates the customer's name/address fields automatically from a data source; the structured invoice grid itself is laid out using the Table feature.

Right justification — currency amounts are right-aligned so the digits line up by place value (units below units, tens below tens), which is the standard for monetary columns.

1. Place the cursor at the right of the company name.
2. Navigate to the Insert tab and select Insert from file.
3. Navigate to the file location of the image on the desktop.
4. Select Open and the image will be inserted next to the company name.
5. Finally, adjust the image size as needed.

1 mark per correctly-ordered step; full 4 marks awarded for any 4 of the 5 steps in the right order.

1. Verify that all hyperlinks work properly — broken links frustrate visitors and damage the brand; every link should be tested before launch. (2 marks)
2. Verify that all the content is up-to-date — make sure prices, contact info, product descriptions and dates reflect the current state of the business. (2 marks)
3. Other accepted: perform a user test where a test user navigates through the website and confirms it functions as expected.

(i) Vulnerability — a computer vulnerability is simply a weakness or a flaw in any part of a computer system that could allow a threat (like a hacker or a virus) to cause damage. Example: Lack of antivirus, outdated user accounts, poor access control. (2 marks)

(ii) Threat — a security threat is something that tries to take advantage of a weakness in a computer system or its data. Example: A phishing link, malicious software (a virus or worm). (2 marks)

1 mark each = 4 marks.

Phishing messages can be sent via text (SMS) or via email — both are the most common delivery channels because they reach a wide audience cheaply and can be made to look like legitimate communications from banks, courier companies or social platforms.

1 mark each.

WAN — Wide Area Network. A WAN spans large geographical distances and is the appropriate technology to interconnect two LANs in different offices.

An intranet is a private network that belongs to an organisation and is designed to only be accessed by staff or persons with authorisation. (1 mark)

When a portion of that network is opened up to external persons such as a supplier or client, that part is called the extranet. (1 mark)

Shortly after the opening of the new office, some of the employees and customers were experiencing difficulties completing tasks. The network administrator did some troubleshooting and realised that the modem that converts digital data to analog signals was disconnected. Not too long after that the manager and server staff at all the computers on the network. This prevented the employees from going online and accessing the Internet. Throughout on the third floor were unable to access certain files on the network due to a power supply (hardware) failure of the server that was used to connect all the devices on that floor to the main computer that manages the network. The web manager also did some checks which revealed that some of the hyperlinks on the website were broken. This prevented customers from completing certain transactions.

In order: network administrator, modem, switch, Internet, server, web manager, hyperlinks. 1 mark each = 7 marks.

1 mark for inputs; 1 mark for processing description; 1 mark for output = 3 marks.

START
INPUT initial_investment, rate
return_on_investment = (initial_investment + (initial_investment * rate/100)) - initial_investment
OUTPUT return_on_investment
STOP

Marks: 1 START / STOP; 2 input statements; 2 correct ROI formula (matching the question's definition); 2 output statement; 1 overall correctness/structure = 8 marks.

IF initial_investment > 100000 THEN
   rate = 45
ELSE IF initial_investment <= 100000 THEN
   rate = 37
ENDIF

1 mark for the IF condition; 1 mark for the ELSE IF; 1 mark for both rate assignments + ENDIF = 3 marks.

Substitute into the formula:

return_on_investment = (initial_investment + (initial_investment * rate/100)) − initial_investment
                     = (150 000 + (150 000 × 45/100)) − 150 000
                     = (150 000 + 67 500) − 150 000
                     = 67 500

The return on investment is $67 500.

Transpositional errors (where two characters are accidentally swapped, e.g., typing "ELite" as "ELtie"). Alternative answer: typographical errors.

Double entry — this is where the same data is typed in twice. A computer program then checks both versions to see if they match; if they do not, the user is alerted to the discrepancy. (2 marks)

Proofreading — this is where information is shown again on the screen after it's typed in. The person entering the data is asked to look it over and confirm that everything is correct; if something is wrong, they can fix it by typing it again. (2 marks)

COUNTIF — e.g., =COUNTIF(B3:B10, "Tennis") returns the count of cells in the range whose value is "Tennis".

=C3*D3

Amount due = Session hours × Cost/hour. Multiplying the value in cell C3 (session hours) by the value in D3 (cost per hour) gives the amount that member owes for that activity.

1 mark for the equals sign + multiplication operator; 1 mark for the correct cell references; 1 mark for the right pair of columns being chosen.

IF(logical_test, value_if_true, value_if_false)

• logical_test — this is a logical statement that can be evaluated to be either true or false. (1 mark)
• value_if_true — this represents the value to be displayed in the cell if the logical test value is true. (1 mark)
• value_if_false — this represents the value to be displayed in the cell if the logical test value is false. (1 mark)

+ 1 mark for naming the three arguments in the correct order = 4 marks.

Primary field: Activity (sorted alphabetically — Badminton group first, Swimming, then Tennis).

Secondary field: Amount due. Alternative answer: Session hours.

1 mark each = 2 marks.

Start
   total = 0
   Print "Enter amount due for member"
   Read amountdue
   While (amountdue <> 0) do
       total = total + amountdue
       Print "Enter amount due for next member"
       Read amountdue
   Endwhile
   Print "Total amount collected:", total
Stop

The flowchart must mirror the WHILE loop structure of the pseudocode:

1. Start oval.
2. Process box: total = 0.
3. Output parallelogram: Print "Enter amount due for member".
4. Input parallelogram: Read amountdue.
5. Decision diamond: Is amountdue not equal to 0?
   • YES branch (loop body):
     • Process: total = total + amountdue
     • Output: Print "Enter amount due for next member"
     • Input: Read amountdue
     • Loop back to the same decision diamond.
   • NO branch:
     • Output: Print "Total amount collected: ", total
     • Stop oval.

Marks: 1 Start/Stop ovals; 1 initialise total = 0; 2 prompts (input + output parallelograms); 2 correct decision diamond with the "amountdue ≠ 0" condition; 2 loop body (accumulator update + re-prompt + re-read); 1 loop-back arrow returning to the decision; 1 final output of total before Stop = 10 marks.