Unit 3 and 4: Software Development - School-assessed Task

When designing learning activities for the School-assessed Task, teachers will refer to the problem-solving methodology specifications, and the areas of study and outcomes, including key knowledge and key skills, as listed in the VCE Applied Computing Study Design (docx - 357.7kb).

The following table gives a breakdown of the four stages of the problem-solving methodology for the School-assessed Task.

Unit 3 Outcome 2		Unit 4 Outcome 1
Analysis	Design	Development	Evaluation
Project management Develop a project plan (Gantt chart) Create, monitor and modify the project plan		Project management Monitor, modify and annotate the project plan Assess the effectiveness of the project plan
Analysis Analyse a need or opportunity Collect and analyse data Select a development model Document requirements, constraints and scope in a software requirements specification	Design Generate alternative design ideas Develop evaluation criteria Develop detailed design	Development Manage data and files Develop a software solution Validate, test and modify Conduct usability tests	Evaluation Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the software solution Evaluate the effectiveness of the development model

Focus of the SAT

The Software development School-assessed Task is in two parts involving Unit 3 Outcome 2 and Unit 4 Outcome 1.

The School-assessed Task contributes 30 per cent to the study score for Software Development. Details of the assessment task can be found on page 46 of the VCE Applied Computing Study Design (docx - 357.7kb).

Teachers must be aware of the current VCE Computing: Software Development administrative information for school-based assessment. This document contains assessment information on the nature and scope of the task, mandated assessment rubrics and authentication information, including forms and School-based Assessment Task assessment sheets for scores. Teachers are reminded of the need to comply with the authentication requirements specified in the Assessment: School-based Assessment section of the current VCE and VCAL Administrative Handbook. This is important to ensure that undue assistance is not provided to students undertaking assessment tasks.

Teachers must plan and use observations of student work in order to monitor and record each student’s progress as part of the authentication process. A record of these details are to be included on the Authentication Record Form in the VCE Computing: Software Development: Administrative information for School-based Assessment.
The VCAA conducts professional learning for teachers of Software Development in February of each year through face-to-face sessions and webinars. These are known as SAT Training Days and SAT Webinars. Details of these professional learning sessions are advertised in the November edition of the VCAA Bulletin each year.

School-assessed Task – Part 1

Unit 3: Area of Study 2 – Software development: analysis and design

The first part of the SAT requires students to identify a need or opportunity that can be solved as a software solution. Students may reach out to relatives, local businesses or community groups to determine the need or opportunity. Doing this provides them with a client from whom to seek feedback and clarification throughout the process. Teachers should discuss with students their ideas to ensure that the software solution can be feasibly completed within the timeframe available. At this stage it is also necessary for students to document their thinking to ensure that both they and their teacher understand the tasks they are expected to complete and the methods and techniques they will use to achieve them. For example, students could provide a statement of intent about their need or opportunity and their overall project. Teachers should not provide individual students or classes with needs or opportunities; students must generate their needs or opportunities themselves.

Project management 

Students will produce a project plan (Gantt chart) that outlines the tasks, sequencing, time allocation, dependencies, milestones and the critical path. They will follow the project plan to develop their software solution to their identified need or opportunity. The project plan takes into consideration all stages and activities of the problem-solving methodology covered in Unit 3 Outcome 2 and Unit 4 Outcome 1. Once the project plan has been developed it will be monitored and modified throughout the entire project. Students do not have to use dedicated project-management software in the development of their project plan.

Below is a sample of a project plan.

Analysis stage

The analysis stage of the problem-solving methodology requires students to analyse a need or opportunity, collect and analyse data, select and justify a development model and document the requirements, constraints and scope in a software requirements specification.

Students are required to collect data that will inform the analysis of their need or opportunity. Data collection should use a range of techniques, including interviews, observation, reports and surveys. The data collected must provide students with sufficient information to determine requirements, constraints and scope.

Students will select and justify a development model that best suits the context of their need or opportunity. Students can select from the waterfall, agile or spiral development models. The justification should include a discussion of the selected development model, why other development models may not be suitable, and how students plan to apply the selected development model to the problem-solving methodology in order to complete the project.

Students use analytical tools and techniques to diagrammatically depict the relationships between data, users and the digital systems that will involve the software solution. Analytical tools include context diagrams, data flow diagrams and use case diagrams. Students should ensure that their diagrams are consistent with their data collection in relation to the current information system or current processes, where an information system may not already exist.

Below are some simple representations of a context diagram, data flow diagram and use case diagram.

A software requirements specification (SRS) document is then developed by students to clearly outline the proposed software solution to their identified need or opportunity. The SRS is a formal document that details the purpose and environment (audience and technical characteristics) of the software solution and contains information about functional and non-functional requirements, constraints and the scope of the software solution. The analytical tools, detailed above, could be included in the appendices to the SRS.

The software requirements specification details below outline the content that should be included in the supporting documentation.

Design stage

The design stage of the problem-solving methodology requires student to develop evaluation criteria, generate alternative design ideas and develop and justify preferred designs.

Students show evidence of their design ideas through the generation of two or three alternative design ideas for their proposed software solution. These design ideas should be broad in nature, and consider both the functionality and appearance of the proposed solution. Examples of design ideas may include simple mock-ups, data dictionaries and pseudocode. Students consider the factors that influence the design on their software solution. At this stage teachers should encourage students to seek feedback from their client or potential users.

Students are required to develop criteria that will be used to evaluate their design ideas and, in Unit 4 Outcome 1, the selected development model and software solution. Evaluation criteria for design ideas should consider the appearance and functionality of the proposed software solution. The evaluation criteria should consider the functional and non-functional requirements outlined in the SRS, the efficiency and effectiveness of the software solution and the effectiveness of the selected development model.

After receiving feedback from the client or potential users, students develop their design ideas into a detailed design for the proposed software solution. The detailed designs should be representative of how the proposed software solution will function and appear. Examples of detailed designs that may be included are data dictionaries, object descriptions, pseudocode and annotated mock-ups (with explanations and justifications). Feedback from the client may again be sought by students at this point.

Below is an example of the process for developing detailed designs.

Students should consider preparation for future testing in line with the problem-solving methodology recommendations for the solution design activity:

• Design tests to ensure the solution will achieve what it is intended to do.
• Determine what tests need to be performed, what test data needs to be included and the expected result after the test is conducted.

Managing the project throughout Unit 3 Outcome 2

The activities in this area of study need to be managed by the student as part of their project plan, which requires monitoring their progress in order to remain on track with meeting all the identified milestones throughout the School-assessed Task.

Issues identified after marking Unit 3 Outcome 2

If the detailed design generated and assessed in Unit 3 Area of Study 2 is incomplete or contains significant errors, students have the opportunity to make adjustments to their design. However, it cannot be reassessed. Teachers can provide feedback on the quality of the designs but the adjustments must be initiated by the student and not directed by the teacher. While the modified design is not reassessed, this opportunity prevents negative consequential effects in the development stage of Unit 4 Outcome 1.

School-assessed Task – Part 2

Unit 4: Area of Study 1 – Software development: development and evaluation

The second part of the SAT requires students to develop the software solution in line with the software requirements specification and detailed designs in Unit 3 Outcome 2. The software solution is tested to ensure it meets requirements and is usable. Students then evaluate the effectiveness of the development model, the software solution and assess the effectiveness of the project plan.

Project Management

Students are required to monitor, modify and annotate their project plan as they progress through the development and evaluation stages of the problem-solving methodology. This can include making adjustments to tasks, time allocations and recording details in journals or work logs. Attention to detail throughout this process will enable students to better assess the effectiveness of the project plan.

Development stage

The development stage of the problem-solving methodology requires students to develop their detailed designs from Unit 3 Outcome 2 into a software solution.

In order to develop their software solution, students are required to use an appropriate programming language that meets the programming requirements of the study. Students may choose to develop their software solution using an alternative programming language to that studied in Unit 3 Area of
Study 1. However, teachers must consider the following before supporting this approach:

• whether the proposed alternative programming language meets the programming requirements of the study
• students can demonstrate proficiency with the proposed programming language
• ability for the teacher to support the student’s use of the proposed programming language
• ability for the teacher to interpret the code documented using the proposed programming language.

Teachers should document this as part of the authentication process.
Student software solution should include:

• appropriate processing features of the selected programming language
• suitable data structures
• procedures and techniques for handling and managing files and data
• validation techniques
• internal documentation of code.

Solution testing

Students should robustly test their software solution to fully ensure that it meets requirements as expected. Debugging, functionality and validation testing are to be conducted and documented throughout the development of the solution. Testing is to include the appropriate use of test data and the use of testing tables. Testing tables are to include both expected and actual results along with clear descriptions of the test to be performed and the test data to use in each test. Students should be encouraged to include in their documentation all tests that have failed, including actions and mitigations taken, to demonstrate the changes made as a result of a robust testing process.

Usability testing

Students are required to design, conduct and document usability tests that are to be conducted with two or more potential ‘users’ of the software solution. Potential ‘users’ could include the actual clients who will benefit from the development of the software solution or students acting as real users of the software solution. Usability tests could be conducted through surveys or observation of users interacting with the software solution. Results captured should be documented in order to identify errors and issues.

Based on these results from the users, students then make modifications to the software solution accordingly. These modifications should be assessed separately from the originally submitted solution. The intention is that students will make meaningful modifications to the solution when assessed separately and teachers will clearly identify where modifications are present.

Evaluation stage

The evaluation stage of the problem-solving methodology requires students to:

• evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the software solution
• evaluate the effectiveness of the selected development model
• assess the effectiveness of the project plan in managing the project.

Students should use their evaluation criteria developed in Unit 3 Outcome 2 when evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of their software solution. The proposed evaluation strategy for the software solution should assume the implementation of their software solution with their client because actual implementation is not practically feasible for this task.

The selected development model should be evaluated to determine and discuss its effectiveness in the development of the software solution. Students should state how it enabled them to develop the software solution. They should also discuss how their initial justifications for using their selected development model were realised throughout the project or whether other development models may have been more suitable.

Throughout the SAT process, students should be collecting evidence to support the assessment of the project plan in managing the project. While not an exhaustive list, this evidence may be in the form of progress journals, annotations to the project plan, photographs of design iterations, annotated drafts of diagrams, annotated code samples, screenshots and feedback from users during usability testing.