gce model questions vol1 2017 computer_studies | Essay
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Question 1
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Computing devices have undergone significant transformation from early mechanical calculators to modern micro‑processor based systems.
Question Parts
(a)
Outline the main characteristics of the first three generations of computers, indicating the typical hardware components used in each generation.
(b)
Compare the impact of the introduction of the micro‑processor (fourth generation) on both the size of computers and the range of applications, providing two specific examples of new applications that emerged.
(c)
Evaluate how the shift from mainframe‑centric computing to personal computing has influenced society, focusing on at least two social or economic effects.
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Question 2
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A small business requires a desktop computer system for routine office work and occasional graphic‑design tasks. The system must run Windows 10, the Microsoft Office suite and Adobe Photoshop, support at least two external monitors, provide a minimum of 2 TB of backup storage, and consume no more than 250 W of power. The total budget for the hardware (excluding monitors) is ₦250 000.
Question Parts
(a)
Propose a suitable set of core components (CPU, motherboard, RAM, primary storage, secondary storage, power‑supply unit and graphics solution) that satisfy the functional requirements and budget. Provide a brief justification for each component chosen.
(b)
Using the typical power ratings below, calculate the estimated total power consumption of the proposed system and state whether it complies with the 250 W limit.
Typical power ratings:
- CPU (i5‑12400) – 65 W
- Motherboard – 30 W
- RAM (per 8 GB stick) – 5 W
- SSD – 5 W
- HDD – 10 W
- Integrated graphics – 15 W
- Miscellaneous (fans, USB devices) – 10 W
(c)
Identify two possible performance bottlenecks in the proposed configuration and suggest practical mitigation strategies for each.
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Question 3
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Answer the following questions on computer software.
Question Parts
(a)
Define system software and application software. State two examples of each and explain one key difference between the two categories.
(b)
Outline the main stages of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and briefly state the purpose of each stage.
(c)
A small business intends to develop a payroll system. Discuss which software development model (Waterfall, Prototyping, or Agile) would be most suitable for this project and justify your choice with at least two reasons.
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Question 4
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Answer the following questions on data and information.
Question Parts
(a)
Define primary data and secondary data. Provide two examples of each type that could be collected in a secondary school.
(b)
Explain two advantages and two disadvantages of using a relational database rather than a flat file system for storing student records.
(c)
A survey of 120 students produced the following grouped age data:
Age (years) | Frequency
10‑14 | 20
15‑19 | 45
20‑24 | 30
25‑29 | 15
30‑34 | 10
Using this data, calculate the mean age of the students (show your working) and comment on the shape of the distribution.
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Question 5
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A small retail business is considering moving its data storage and processing to a cloud‑based service. The owner has obtained the following information:
- The cloud provider charges a monthly fee of ₦12,000 for 500 GB of storage and a compute package of 2 CPU cores at 4 GHz each, with a data transfer allowance of 200 GB per month. Any additional storage costs ₦30 per GB per month and any extra data transfer costs ₦0.25 per GB.
- The business currently uses an on‑premises server that required an initial purchase cost of ₦1,200,000 and an annual maintenance contract of ₦180,000. The server has a storage capacity of 1 TB and provides the required processing power.
- The electricity cost for running the on‑premises server is estimated at ₦45,000 per year.
- The owner is concerned about data security and wants to ensure regular backups.
Using the information above, answer the following:
(a) Calculate the total annual cost of using the cloud service if the business expects to use 750 GB of storage and 350 GB of data transfer each month.
(b) Calculate the total annual cost of retaining the on‑premises server, including depreciation of the initial purchase over five years (use straight‑line depreciation), maintenance, and electricity.
(c) Based on your calculations in (a) and (b), discuss which option is more cost‑effective for the first three years and outline two security measures the business should implement for the chosen option.
Question Parts
(a)
Calculate the total annual cost of using the cloud service if the business expects to use 750 GB of storage and 350 GB of data transfer each month.
(b)
Calculate the total annual cost of retaining the on‑premises server, including depreciation of the initial purchase over five years (use straight‑line depreciation), maintenance, and electricity.
(c)
Based on your calculations in (a) and (b), discuss which option is more cost‑effective for the first three years and outline two security measures the business should implement for the chosen option.
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Question 6
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A university's computer lab suffered a security breach in which an unauthorised user accessed the lab's network and copied confidential student data. An investigation revealed the following facts:
- The lab computers run Windows 10 with default security settings.
- Passwords for all user accounts were simple alphanumeric strings of six characters, changed only once a year.
- The network uses a single Wi‑Fi access point with WPA2‑PSK, the pre‑shared key being "university123".
- No firewall or intrusion‑detection system (IDS) is installed on the network.
- The copied data was stored on a shared folder that had read‑write permissions for all lab users.
Answer the following:
(a) Identify and explain three major security vulnerabilities that made the breach possible.
(b) For each vulnerability identified in (a), recommend a specific technical control that would mitigate the risk, and briefly justify how it works.
(c) Discuss the ethical responsibilities of the university's IT administrator in handling the breach, including at least two professional codes or principles that should guide their actions.
Question Parts
(a)
Identify and explain three major security vulnerabilities that made the breach possible.
(b)
For each vulnerability identified in (a), recommend a specific technical control that would mitigate the risk, and briefly justify how it works.
(c)
Discuss the ethical responsibilities of the university's IT administrator in handling the breach, including at least two professional codes or principles that should guide their actions.
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Question 7
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A new start‑up company plans to set up a local area network (LAN) for its office. The office has three departments: Administration (5 computers), Sales (8 computers), and Development (12 computers). Management wants the network to allow all computers to communicate with each other, to provide a secure link to the Internet through a single router, and to minimise the amount of cabling required while keeping the network scalable for future expansion.
Question Parts
(a)
Recommend the most suitable LAN topology for this situation. Justify your choice by discussing at least three relevant criteria such as cost, fault tolerance and scalability.
(b)
Assuming the chosen topology uses star segments centred on a switch for each department and a central backbone switch that connects the three departmental switches, calculate the minimum number of Ethernet cables required to interconnect all computers and switches. Show your reasoning.
(c)
Propose an IPv4 addressing scheme for the whole office that places each department on a separate subnet, supports up to 30 hosts per subnet, and leaves room for future growth. Provide for each department: the network address, the subnet mask, the first usable host address and the last usable host address.
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Question 8
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A school wants to develop a simple Python program to manage the scores of a class of 20 students in three subjects: Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. The program must store each student's name and their three scores (out of 100), compute the total and average for each student, determine the class highest total score, and display a sorted list of students in descending order of total score. The program should also flag any student whose average is below 50 as 'At risk'.
Question Parts
(a)
Write a clear, well‑structured Python function called `process_scores(data)` that takes a list of dictionaries (each dictionary contains keys: 'name', 'math', 'physics', 'chemistry') and returns a list of dictionaries where each dictionary includes the original data plus keys 'total', 'average', and 'status' ('At risk' or 'OK'). The returned list must be sorted in descending order of total score.
(b)
Using the function from part (a), show the exact output (including the order of the students and the values of total, average and status) for the following data set:
```python
students = [
{'name': 'Ada', 'math': 78, 'physics': 85, 'chemistry': 90},
{'name': 'Bola', 'math': 45, 'physics': 55, 'chemistry': 48},
{'name': 'Chinedu', 'math': 92, 'physics': 88, 'chemistry': 95},
{'name': 'Dora', 'math': 66, 'physics': 70, 'chemistry': 72},
{'name': 'Emeka', 'math': 30, 'physics': 40, 'chemistry': 35}
]
```
Explain each step the program performs on the data to arrive at the output.
(c)
Identify and explain two potential logical errors that could arise if the programmer mistakenly uses integer division when calculating the average in Python 2 versus Python 3. Suggest a code modification that ensures correct average calculation regardless of Python version.
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Question 9
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A small retail shop maintains a database to record sales transactions. The current logical design uses a single table named SALES with the following attributes:
TransactionID, Date, CustomerName, CustomerAddress, ProductCode, ProductDescription, UnitPrice, Quantity, TotalPrice, SalespersonID, SalespersonName, StoreLocation.
The functional dependencies that apply are:
- TransactionID → Date, CustomerName, CustomerAddress, SalespersonID, SalespersonName, StoreLocation
- ProductCode → ProductDescription, UnitPrice
- (TransactionID, ProductCode) → Quantity, TotalPrice
- SalespersonID → SalespersonName
Based on this information, answer the questions below.
Question Parts
(a)
Normalize the SALES table to Third Normal Form (3NF). In your answer:
(b)
Write an SQL statement that returns, for a given month (e.g., March 2023), the total sales amount for each StoreLocation, ordered from the highest to the lowest total.
(c)
Discuss two advantages of using transactions that obey the ACID properties when recording a sale in this database.
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Question 10
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A university department uses a spreadsheet to manage the grades of students enrolled in a semester. The worksheet contains the columns:
StudentID, Name, CourseCode, CourseTitle, CreditUnits, Score (out of 100).
The grading scale applied by the department is:
- 70–100 : A (4 points)
- 60–69 : B (3 points)
- 50–59 : C (2 points)
- 45–49 : D (1 point)
- below 45: F (0 points)
The department must calculate each student's GPA (grade‑point average), identify the top three performers, and produce a formatted report in a word‑processor that includes a table of results and a bar chart showing the distribution of final grades.
Answer the following questions.
Question Parts
(a)
Write the spreadsheet formula (or set of formulas) that converts the Score in column F to a Grade‑Point in column G, and then computes the GPA for each student (weighted by CreditUnits). Assume the data for a single student occupies consecutive rows and that the GPA should appear in column H of the first row belonging to that student.
(b)
Explain how to apply conditional formatting so that any student whose GPA is below 2.0 has the entire row highlighted in light red.
(c)
Describe the steps required to export the spreadsheet data to a word‑processor, insert a table of the final results, and embed a bar chart that displays the number of students achieving each final grade (A, B, C, D, F).
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