nec-learning confidential 1 4 nov （ wed ） today’s schedule 1.exercise_2 9:00 - 10:00...

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NEC-Learning 　 confidentialNEC-Learning 　 confidential

4 Nov （ Wed ）

Today’s Schedule 1.Exercise_2 　　　　　 9:00 - 10:00 Presentation Exercise_2 　　 10:00 - 10:30 2.Exercise_3 　　　　　 10:45 - 12:00 * Lunch 12:00 - 13:30 Presentation Exercise_3 　 13:30 - 13:50

3.Lecture 13:50 - 14:20 4.Exercise_4 14:20 - 16:10 Presentation Exercise_4 　 16:10 - 16:30

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NEC-Learning 　 confidential

1.6 Handling the questions in the FE exam　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 FE Course development p1-19

　 The FE exam has the following structure.

Morning Afternoon

9:30 - 12:00 (150 min) 13:00 - 15:30 (150 min)

Multiple-choice test (selection of one correct answer from four choices)

Multiple-choice test

All 80 questions must be answered

7 out of 13 questions must be answered

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1.6.1 Characteristics of Morning Questions　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 FE Course development p1-20

・ They are composed of the question sentence,

　 and 4 answer options.

・ Figures, tables or flowcharts etc may be included.

・ Most sentences are short.

・ Expressions in the answer option sentences are similar to the expressions used in IT glossaries.

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Types of Questions

TypeExample

Apply knowledge and skills

Which of the following represents the result of this sort?Which one of the following is in third normal form?Under which of the following conditions a conflict will occur?

Choose appropriate description (or combination)

(some situation) has occurred. Which of the following statements correctly describes this situation?Which item should be decided in (specific phase in software process)? Which of the following statement is correct?

FE Course development p1-20

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Types of Questions

TypeExample

Choose best description (or combination), from given term

Which of the following is suitable as a description of XXX? Which of the following is suitable as a description of characteristics of XXX?Which of the following is a correct description of XXX? Which of the following is correct as XXX? Which of the following is the best representation of XXX? Which of the following formulas determines XXX?Which of the following answers is the correct combination of XXX and YYY? Which of the following is the most suitable combination of numbers of XXX? (XXX is a given terminology)


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Types of Questions .

Type Example

Choose term, from given description

Which of the following is the word closely related to this operation?Which of the following is a tool...?

Computation What is the total waiting time in seconds?What is the line utilization rate?


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1.6.2 Characteristics of Afternoon Questions

・ Questions are asked from various different fields like algorithms, data structures and database, communication network, program design, etc.

・ Sentences and paragraphs in the afternoon questions are longer than the ones in the morning

questions.


See Text p.1-22

Types of Questions

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Typical Exam Category Combinations in FE Afternoon Questions (Source: IPA JITEC)

See Text p.1-23

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1.6.3 Exam Preparation and Taking StrategiesCommon to FE(/SE) Morning and Afternoon FE Course development p1-24

(1) Preparation - Keep in mind that FE exam coverage is very comprehensive. Ad-hoc preparation is not efficient and effective.

-First identify your strength and weakness per exam category (e.g. very strong in database and system development, new to system configuration, need review on algorithms because forgotten)

-Create your study plan based on your strength and

weakness, with allocating sufficient time for new or unfamiliar topics.-Make use of the “Review Points” in this textbook for quick entire checking and reviewing of essential concepts and terminologies until the last minute.

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NEC-Learning 　 confidential1.6.3 Exam Preparation and Taking StrategiesCommon to FE(/SE) Morning and Afternoon FE Course development p1-24

(1) Preparation •Keep in mind that some topics more frequently appear in the actual exam questions while some other topics rarely appear.

- Allocate more time to the topics that appear repeatedlyin the past questions. What topics appeared can be found in past exam questions, and the summary of question topics and types appeared in past questions per exam category can be obtained in this textbook from the next chapter.

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(1) Preparation •Keep in mind that in the actual exam, time to find one answer is short. Answering time allocation is very important for success. (Because, if not paying attention to answering time, then time shortage will occur, then there will be many unanswered questions not contributing to success)-Morning: 150 minutes for 80 questions. Each question

requests a single answer. i.e. average 2 minutes to find one answer.

-Afternoon: 150 minutes for 7 questions. One question is designed to be solved in either 15 or 30 minutes. Each question contains a few sub-questions. Each sub-question may request one or multiple answers. In total, each question may request 3 to 7 answers.

i.e. 20 to 50 answers in 150 minutes, average 3 minutes to find one answer.

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(1) Preparation •Get prepared and familiarized to charts and diagrams appeared in past questions. (Because chart reading and diagram understanding is requested in FE exam questions.)

-Example: Diagrams used in software development e.g. UML diagrams, ERD, DFD, PERT network diagrams

-Example: Charts representing the following relationships “number of data items” and “(sorting) processing time”“(CPU, LAN etc) utilization rate” and “average response time”“traffic density” and “the probability that a service window is in service”“test progress” and “accumulated number of bugs”

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(2) Working with exam questions•When working with exam questions, highlight (e.g. underline, circle or enclose with a box etc) keywords or important points in the question sentences-Example: Here, p represents the failure rate of a unit.

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(2) Working with exam questions•Be careful (pay attentions) about extraction of information from questions that are needed to derive answers. Correct answers cannot be obtained if misunderstanding or misinterpreting the question information.-Example: The given “P” indicates availability (operation rate), or failure rate?-Example: Requested to choose “correct” one or “wrong” one? (There are questions asking to choose an incorrect option)

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(2) Working with exam questions•Compute smartly and carefully. Keep in mind that electronic calculator is not available in the actual exam.

-Example: Record size in bytes, number of records per hour, communication and line speed in bit per seconds are given in the question. This requires unit conversions, e.g. into bits and seconds.

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(2) Working with exam questions•Try working with sample values that could help finding solutions-Example: Which configuration is more reliable? Complicated configurations, calculations are given or derived, and comparison is difficult from calculation expressions, but becomes easier if using (assigning) some actual values as an example (e.g. Use an example value “P=0.2” (P is the

failure rate of a unit) in the expression representing an entire system availability using P)

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(2) Working with exam questions•When “answering” past questions, make use of your own symbols representing the level of answer confidence in order to identify which questions need more practice (e.g. Questions answered correctly but not confident at all need review and practice)

-Example: a tick if fully confident, “?” if doubtful, “X” if not confident at all

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(2) Working with exam questions•When “marking” past questions, also make use of your own symbols representing the reason of errors in order to identify which questions need more practice (e.g. unfamiliar topic questions), and in order to understand error tendencies (e.g. many misunderstanding found in network topic questions)

-Example: a tick if correct, a triangle if misunderstanding, a rectangle if computation error, “X” if an unfamiliar topic

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For FE Morning

(1) Preparation•Get familiarized with repeatedly-appearing questions in the past FE questions. Unlike in the afternoon questions, exact question once appeared in the past exams may appear again in FE morning questions.-Get familiarized with such questions by repeatedly working with available past exam sets, and you can save your time in the actual morning exam.

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For FE Afternoon

(1) Preparation•Keep in mind that FE afternoon question solving requires "document reading" and “understanding (organizing what are written in documents to find solutions).”

oMandatory first five afternoon questions (Q1 through Q5) in Engli

sh: contains nearly 20 pages (2-5 pages per question)oOptional programming questions (Q6 through Q13, choose 2 out o

f 8 questions) exam paper in English: contains 3 through 6 pages for 1 question.

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For FE Afternoon

(1) Preparation•Understand plus memorize SQL statement syntaxes.-In the actual FE exam, afternoon questions request examinees to choose the execution result of the given SQL statement, or to choose the missing word or phrase in the given SQL statement, without referencing any materials. This kind of question is difficult to answer without SQL statement understanding.

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For FE Afternoon

(1) Preparation•Keep in mind that some AM topics (especially topics in

the “Computer Science Fundamental” category) may be needed to answer some PM questions.-Example: Data structures in programming questions-Example: Sort in Algorithm questions

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For FE Afternoon

(2)Working with exam questions•Find information needed to answer the questions from the question itself, then use the words in question sentences for answers as much as possible to increase the chance of correct answers.

-Example: If a question asks for the key type, and question sentences say “sender A sends the message text with a common key”, it is safer to answer “common key”, rather than

“symmetric key” or “private key.

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For FE Afternoon

(2)Working with exam questions•Be careful (pay attentions) about the conditions, constraints in question sentences that make some answers unique. (Because deriving correct answers is not possible without these)

•Be careful (pay attentions) about the answer format given in the question, in order to make sure the correctness of your answer format.-Should I answer in free-format, supply integer values, or write a letter (e.g. A,B) in answer groups? -Does the question request specific format?

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For FE Afternoon

(2)Working with exam questions•Do NOT work (think) directly on sentences with missing blanks.-Try to organize given information into visuals (e.g. table format,

diagrams) that could help your thinking and problem solving much better than working directly on natural language sentences.Example: Draw an E-R diagram from question sentences, and think on the diagram in order to complete missing blanks in the given SQL statement satisfying the given requirements-Thinking on visuals is easier than thinking on natural language sentences.

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For FE Afternoon (2)Working with exam questions•Do NOT work directly on codes, but work with the given or extracted specifications.•Focus on answering the questions, instead of thinking about impractical conditions or assumptions found in the questions.-FE questions are NOT designed to provide BEST possible practical solutions, but designed to evaluate examinees’ abilities within a specific time (e.g. one question with expected answering time: 15 minutes).

-Understand that for evaluation within the limited time, impractical situations or solutions might be found in the questions.

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Software Design and Development Engineer Examination 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 SW Course development p2-3

　 Total 5.5 hours (Multiple-choice test 2.5 hours, written test 3.0 hours)

Morning Afternoon I Afternoon II

9:30 - 12:00 (150 min)

13:00 - 15:00 (120 min)

15:30 - 16:30 (60 min)

Multiple-choice test (selection of one correct answer from four choices)

Written test Written test



Only 1 question is given

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SW Course development p2-4

Typical Exam Category Combinations in Afternoon I Questions (Source: IPA JITEC)

Question Exam Category Time Allocation

Score Percentage

Q1 Network 15 minutes 13%

Q2 Software Engineering 15 minutes 13%

Q3 Information Security 15 minutes 13%

Q4 System Evaluation, System Configuration

15 minutes 13%

Q5 Algorithms 30 minutes 24%

Q6 Data Structures and Databases

30 minutes 24%

Total 120 minutes 100%

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SW Course development p2-5

See Text p.2-6.7

Typical Exam Category in Afternoon II Questions (Source: IPA JITEC)

Question Exam Category Time Allocation

Score Percentage

Q1 System Design (Typically Database Design) or Program Design (Algorithms)

60 minutes 100%

Total 60 minutes 100%

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nec-learning confidential 1 4 nov （ wed ） today’s schedule 1.exercise_2 9:00 - 10:00...

Documents

following answers

following structure

following conditions

following statements

following formulas

fe afternoon questions

correct description

description of characteristics