PhilNITS Exam (Davao City) -- April 26, 2009

Today is another exciting day for Davao IT!

Today, April 26, 2009, a total of 76 IT students, professionals, teachers and enthusiasts are challenging the PhilNITS certification exams. Majority are taking the exams for the first time (most of them college students in their 3rd year of education), while some have experienced taking it before and are determined to continue the challenge. Almost all examinees are challenging the FE (Fundamental IT Engineer) exam, but there was one who challenged the SW (SW Design and Developent Engineer).

To facilitate the exam, and to provide morale support, Shinichiro Kato (PhilNITS' Vice President for Finance) and PhilNITS Davao staff members Joy Alferez and Renan Cruz were there. Arriel Nengasca also lent a hand in behalf of DTI-XI. I too visited the UIC (Bonifacio) Campus to give support to the PhilNITS people and to the examinees, especially to those who attended my reviews and orientation seminars.


My hopes are high that our examinees will do well in the exam. But with an average passing rate of only about 10% nationwide, I am realistic in my expectations. Still, knowing personally the capability of most of the examinees, I am confident that they have done well. I am just hoping their scores are good enough to reach the passing mark. Last year our review program helped to produce the first student passer from Ateneo de Davao University (Jedd Benedict Kris Mahilum), and also from University of Southeastern Philippines (Rendell Andrin). Three of our review participants from UP-Mindanao also passed (Larvi Jerrick Badoy, Raymond Bryan Brion, Ian Jay Plaza). A good number also got good scores, but ufortunately were a little short of the passing mark.

The PhilNITS review courses were made possible through the generous sponsorship of Data Horizon (a Japanese SW Development company). PhilNITS Foundation also found additional sponsors, allowing more Davaoeños to take the examination in spite of their tough financial standing. This was all made possible through the tireless efforts of PhilNITS president, Ma. Corazon Akol, and its vice president, Shinichiro Kato.

It would be about a month or so before the results of the exams will be known. For the time being, we can relax knowing we prepared well for the exam. Pass or not, we have already benefited a lot (in terms of IT knowledge and skill improvement) from preparing for the exam.

Pointers on How to Pass PhilNITS (FE) - Part II

(this is a sequel to an earlier post : http://abrightfit.blogspot.com/2008/07/pointers-on-how-to-pass-philnits-fe.html)

My previous pointers on passing the PhilNITS-FE exam focuses on the "preparation" stage, this entry focuses on tips for the "actual exam day."

Reminder : General Description of the Exam (both AM and PM exams)

Tips for the AM Exam

• Try to simplify first before computing/solving (especially true for large numbers, decimal points or complicated equations)
• Do not leave any item blank. Actual scoring might have weighted score per choice.
• Do not spend too much time on “conceptual” or definition-type questions if you do not have any idea about it. Better to guess then proceed with next item.
• “Units” are very important during computations
• Choose the best answer when you feel there seems to be more than one correct answer
• Usually you can readily eliminate one or two of the answer choices
• Sometimes you can quickly (but intelligently) guess the correct answers (you may review your answer using the conventional way if there is still time later)
• Review your answers if there is still time remaining. There are no additional points for submitting your papers early
• Suggested time allocation : 1.5 mins per question
  

Tips for the PM Exam

• Decide your language of preference (C, Java) prior to the exam (but quickly scan also the other option, just in case it offers a much simpler problem to solve)
• Tracing the program may be the best way to find the correct answer (so practice your tracing/debugging skills so you can do it very quickly)
• All questions are designed that they can be answered, and “hints” and “clues” can be found within the program/question
• The fewer the sub-questions, the more weight (in points) they carry
• Exam questions are designed with the intent that any examinee with general knowledge can answer them
• Do not get intimidated by technically sounding terms that you are not familiar with, as usually a brief explanation about them is mentioned, or, they are not critical to the actual program
• Do not get overwhelmed by long questions, flowcharts, or codes (if you do, you will fail to properly understand the program flow)
• The longer the question, the more “clues” are mentioned in the question itself
• Sometimes the answers are already inside the question text, and can be found without reading the code or flowchart
• Program modules are often highly independent from each other (as part of a good coding practice), so you can break them down and analyse by modules (instead of analyzing the program flow as a whole)
• It might be a good idea to have a “quick glance” at the answer choices to better understand each question
• It is most likely that you will have to go back and refer to the original questions when answering the sub-questions
• Manage your reading time well (see suggestions for time allocation)
• Suggested time allocation : 15 mins each (for the "Easy" questions #1, 2, 3, 6, 7), 30 mins each (for the "Difficult" questions #4, 5, 8, 9)

Properly Filling Up Your Answer Sheets

• If you filled up your examinee number incorrectly, you get NO SCORE for the entire exam set!
• If you improperly marked your answers, you get NO POINTS for that particular question
• All questions for the morning exam is compulsory. Do not leave any item blank
• If you failed to mark the “Selection Column” (between C and Java questions) properly, you will get NO POINTS for those particular questions
• If you change your answer, completely and neatly erase your previous answer (exams will be checked by scanning machines)

As a last piece of advice, it might be wise to bring little snacks (more of the "brain food" type) and bottled water which you may eat during the long exam. Better bring also packed lunch as it might be hard to find fastfood centers during the exam day (usually falls on a Sunday).

Best Computer Science SP (Special Problem) 2009 (UP-Mindanao)

I have always had a high regard for University of the Philippines' (UP) students and UP graduates, as I believe they have one of the best curriculum, professors and students amongst the universities here in the Philippines.

Here in Davao, there are a few admirable universities producing top quality IT engineers (CS, IT, IM, CoE, ECE, etc.) every year. But the fact that majority of those who are passing the PhilNITS certification exam are coming from UP-Mindanao (UP-Min) reinforces my respect for UP, particularly for their Computer Science course. But learning that only a handful of their CS students graduate on time (it takes 4 school years to complete the regular CS course) made me a bit curious why. Apparently, one of the main factors for not graduating on time is their Special Problem (SP) subject, wherein each of students are tasked to focus on a particular problem, and provide solutions (or probable solutions) by applying what they learned from their entire CS course. As per my discussion with UP-Min's CS Department Chair, Ms. Vanessa C. Ramoran, the ideal SP is one which introduces a new (may even be revolutionary) algorithm, demonstrating the field of expertise of the CS course (as a differentiated from other IT related courses).

When Mr. Riannel Tecson, a CS faculty member of UP-Min, invited me to be one of the judges for their 2009 Search for the Best SP for CS (April 17, 2009), I took it as an opportunity to personally see the kind and quality of SP UP-Min produces, and maybe even get an idea why some of their students find it hard to finish on time.

The quality and contents of the manuscript and the presentations of the finalists (please see list below, ordered according to the sequence of actual presentation) did not dissapoint me :

1. Sedfrey Dickson Atay : Barangay Mintal's Human Resource Management System
2. Kevin Bernard San Gaspar : Windows Vista Compatibility and Addition of a Compiler Function for the Examination On-Line (an exam system used by the CS department)
3. Precita Samonte : Office of Student Affairs (OSA) Student Organizations A.S. (SOAS) Website

They might be a bit different from what I am used to in my experience in the IT industry, but as an academic exercise they are quite impressive.

After the presentations by the finalists, and also after some discussions with Ms. Ramoran and my co-judges (Mr. Tecson, and Professor Vicente Calag), I now have a better understanding why the SP might cause a student not to graduate on time. Here are some of the possible factors that I learned :

• SP is an individual exercise (and usually takes a lot of effort to complete)
• SP corresponds to only 3 units (side-by-side with other major subjects and school activities, sometimes focus is lost on the SP completion)
• SP usually is started from the fourth-year of the CS course (so if you miss it's completion, you cannot graduate on time)
• Some UP students are already working (usually as part-time) while studying (so sometimes there is reduced motivation to finish the course on time as they are already earning)
• As more and more students are needing one or more extra semester to finish their course, it might have brought the wrong notion to younger students that it is the norm rather than the exception

But these factors are well known by the students (and is common also with other universities). And although they might make the SP more challenging, there is still no excuse for not finishing the SP on time. And it still is the responsibility of the student to manage his/her time well so as not to loose focus on their SP's completion. But with the able guidance, coaching and mentoring from their teachers, I believe the situation would definitely improve. Perhaps, it's solution can even become the subject of one student's SP in the future :)