Why you need strong IT SBA

Many students who do Information Technology at the CSEC level struggle to attain grade ones or twos because of their School Based Assessment (SBA) component.

Unlike most other CSEC subjects where the SBA is worth 20% of the final grade, Information Technology is worth 30% of the final grade. The breakdown of the IT syllabus is as follows:

Paper 1 (Multiple Choice) – 20%

Paper 2 (Structured Answers) – 50%

Paper 3 (SBA/Alternative paper) – 30%

Source: Page 4 of the IT Syllabus

Since the SBA is a guided assessment a student has every chance of providing a near-perfect project because there are no rigid time constraints like an exam. The length of time is both a blessing and a curse because it is easy to assume that the work can be done in the final term of Form 5. Any good teacher starts their SBA component at the end of form 4 at best and at the start of form 5 at worst.

Due to the nature of students and the demands of other subjects the IT SBA is often neglected till the end regardless of timelines given by teachers. This is almost IT suicide because 30% of the final grade is being neglected. With a good SBA, it is almost guaranteed that a student will pass with at least a grade 3, add in basic question answering skills and it is extremely simple to get a grade 2 with minimal theoretical knowledge.

So why is the SBA so important?

Because it sets a foundation to do well in a subject whose content you may not have covered properly.

All students should put some effort into their SBA and at least walk into the IT exam with 25% in the bag.

[SlideDeck id=72]