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be revisited. Both respondents suggested that the requirement of Specific Objective 9 of Section 1 to
have students know system specification for different purposes is demanding too much at this level
and therefore should be removed from the syllabus. On the other hand, the Panel felt that a basic
understanding of this concept is necessary for students and agreed to qualify the content associated
with the Specific Objective by inserting the word ‘basic’ (see details in the syllabus in Appendix III).

15. When asked if there were topics in the syllabus that should be removed, 13 respondents to
the survey said no and four respondents said yes, while five did not respond to the question. The
respondents suggested that Computer Arithmetic and Octal and Hexadecimal Number Systems should
be removed from the syllabus. However, the Panel noted that these topics were not a part of the draft
syllabus sent out to stakeholders for review. Two respondents questioned the content related to
Specific Objective 3 of Section 2. In light of the respondents’ comments, the Panel decided to relocate
the content for the Specific Objective as they felt that it would be better sequenced if merged with the
content for Specific Objective 1 of Section 2. They also agreed to delete Specific Objective 3 of Section
2 from the syllabus in light of the redundancy (see details in the syllabus in Appendix III).

16. When asked if there are new topics that should be included in the syllabus, 13 (77 per cent)
of the respondents said no, while four (23 per cent) said yes. One respondent suggested that Cloud
Computing should be included in the syllabus. The Panel, having reviewed the syllabus, indicated that
they would not make any changes to how the topic was covered in the syllabus as the coverage was
deemed adequate. Additionally, one respondent suggested that ‘bibliography’ should be added to the
areas of focus for Specific Objective 8 of Section 4. This recommendation was also made by teachers
in the Focus Group interview. However, the Panel determined that this concept is more appropriate
for students who are completing CAPE® Information Technology. Additionally, one respondent to the
survey, as well as the teachers in the Focus Group suggested that ‘section breaks’ be included as a
concept in Section 4 where students are required to ‘use appropriate document formatting features’.
The Panel agreed with this suggestion and added the concept to the content for Specific Objective 2
of Section 4. The Focus Group made some additional suggestions of concepts to be included in the
syllabus. The Panel, in response to these suggestions, included ‘Super Computers’ as a major type of
computer system, Blu-Ray as an example of secondary storage devices, 3D Printers as a type of printer
to be studied under Visual Output Device and if as one of the basic pre-defined systems functions to
be explored in Section 5 of the syllabus. However, the Panel opposed the Focus Group’s suggestion
for the inclusion of Ports as a fundamental system specification concept. The Panel agreed that the
inclusion of this concept would take the syllabus into a technical realm that is not required at the
CSEC® level. The Panel also disagreed with the suggestion from the Focus Group to include Internet
Protocol and Transmission Control Protocol as concepts to be studied when looking at Computer
Networks and Web Technologies. This was because the Panel deemed them more appropriate for the
CAPE® level. Additionally, the Panel disagreed with the Focus Group’s suggestion to include
Generation as a classification of language to be explored in Problem Solving and Program Design as
they felt that its inclusion would only provide a historical context that is not necessary for an
understanding of the targeted concepts.

17. All of the respondents, except two, agreed that the knowledge and skills covered in the
syllabus were appropriate for students at the secondary level. The respondents who expressed
concerns about the appropriateness of the knowledge and skills covered in the syllabus supported
that position with the recommendation that, given the frequent interference with the timetable
within the school, the number of topics covered in the syllabus should be reduced. However, the
respondent did not make any specific recommendation as to which area should be removed from the
syllabus. The other respondent suggested that Section 8, Program Implementation be revisited.
However, no specific suggestion was made as to which areas of the Section needed to be reviewed.

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