The ITGS HL topic IT Systems in Organisations requires students to understand a range of diagramming techniques including DFDs, ERDs, and PERT charts. This PERT chart revision task is designed to help students prepare for the upcoming ITGS exams. PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) charts are used to visually display the activities within a project and understand the order in which they can be completed. They are also used to help calculate the Critical Path (CP) which is the longest path (in terms of time) through a project.
Unfortunately, like so many computing techniques, several different sets of symbols are used to draw PERT charts. However, regardless of the symbols used, a PERT diagram should make clear:
- The name of each task
- The time each task takes
- The order in which the tasks are performed
- The dependencies between tasks
The table below describes a simple recipe for a chicken and pasta dish. Use this information to produce a PERT chart for the process, and then calculate the Critical Path.
|3||Measure out pasta||1||None|
|8||Mix chicken, pasta, and sauce||2||5, 6, 7|
|9||Milestone 1 (Serve)||1||8|
This activity can also be downloaded in handout form from the ITGS textbook website.