MATSEC IM Computing case studies
MATSEC IM Computing · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The MATSEC Intermediate Matriculation (IM) Computing examination is one of four qualification levels offered by the MATSEC Examinations Board at the University of Malta, alongside SEC, SEAC and AM. The IM level sits between secondary and advanced matriculation and is typically taken by students who need a computing qualification for further study or employment without pursuing the full advanced syllabus. The MATSEC IM Computing case studies are 5 cases and about 3,519 words.
1The lab freeze: RAM, disk or both?
St Nicholas College's computing lab has 28 identically configured PCs: 8 GB RAM, a 1 TB 7200 rpm hard disk, Windows 11 and a 4-core CPU. Students use an IDE, a browser with up to 15 tabs, and a school VLE.
622 words, about 3 min2Duplicate ticket IDs before the print run
A local council sells tickets for its summer festa through a small Python program. Each ticket has an eight-character alphanumeric ID.
681 words, about 3 min3One spreadsheet for the summer school
The organisers of a village summer school keep bookings in one spreadsheet sheet named Bookings. Columns are: BookingRef, ChildName, GuardianPhone, SessionCode, SessionDay, CoachName, CoachPhone, Fee.
692 words, about 3 min4Fingerprint attendance at the sixth form
A sixth form college in Malta wants to replace paper attendance with fingerprint scanners at the entrance. There are 240 students, 3 scanners costing €6,000, and the college reports that 2% of lessons are missed through 'buddy punching' - students signing in for absent friends.
763 words, about 4 min5Two kiosks, one seat: a booking race and a deadlock
A school concert booking system uses a single SQL table Seat(seat no PRIMARY KEY, status, booking ref). Three kiosks run this Python-style pseudocode for each sale: row = SELECT status FROM Seat WHERE seat no = ?
761 words, about 4 min