dtp-homework-exam-style-question
Hardcopy or electronic copy. Doucle check what the question is asking you to do! It is not enough to draw attention to a particular feature, you must say what effect that feature has!
N5 Class Test
For those who failed the N5 prelim will get the opportunity to continue with the course by sitting a classroom test during period 1 on Friday 26th February. Get to class early to ensure that you have as much time as possible. The test will be closed book and completed under exam conditions. 50% will be required in order to continue with the National 5 course, in the event that a candidate fails to achieve half marks they will continue with the remainder of the course at National 4 level.
Design Elements & Principles (DTP)
Garnock Academy has produced a good resource for the design elements and principles of desktop top publishing. To download this from the website directly click here
N5 Theory videos
I’ve found a series of videos from Barry Forbes which cover quite a bit of the theory needed for the national 5 Graphic Communication exam. As it is on YouTube then you won’t be able to play it in school, however it should be available on your home computer or portable device.
Revision
As the national 5 and Higher courses are relatively new, the range of revision materials available for the courses is quite limited. However the previous range of courses offered included a theory section. Below is a range of theory questions at various levels. These are suitable for all pupils, regardless of the level they are sitting, the current National 5 course covers some of the topics that were previously only covered at Advanced Higher level. For those sitting crash Higher then looking over the General and Credit levels will ensure that you have the basic theory covered.
Please note: due to the filters on the school network, you are not able to download these files in school.
Building Drawings
Building drawings are part of the Higher and National 5 course, whislt you are not asked to produce a building drawing in the exam, it is very likely that you will be asked an array of questions on the topic. To help you prepare for the exam here is the booklet and some past questions from the standard grade course.
Useful document – standards & conventions
The SQA have released a pdf file describing some of the standards and conventions. These include symbols, dimensions, linetypes and CAD/computer terms. The file can be viewed/downloaded here.
Reading drawings
Reading drawings is an important part of the graphics course. However, as each drawing is different, the only way to develop this skill is to practise. The link below has some past paper questions that included standards and reading complex drawings:
Past Papers
Links to past papers and marking schemes are given below, please note that the specimen and exemplar papers include both the questions and the marking instructions in one file.
National 5
| 2015 | Question Paper | Marking Instructions |
| 2014 | Question Paper | Marking Instructions |
| 2014 | Specimen Paper |
Higher
| 2015 | Question Paper | Marking Instructions |
| 2015 | Specimen Paper | |
| 2015 | Exemplar Paper |
Graphics Assignments
The graphics assignments are now underway and the deadline for submissions is close of school on Friday 1st April 2016. However I will accept these in before that date. Please consider making life easier for yourselves and submit it before the deadline. This will reduce the workload on yourself at the end of term and also give you the opportunity to make improvements to your assignment.
The assignment is to be completed independently. As it is worth half of the marks awarded to your final grade, each point is valuable. Here are some guides to help you progress through the tasks smoothly:
- Make all research relevant to the task, don’t do stuff just for the sake of it. All research should be linked to another piece of work.
Remember that this is not a design exercise: you can use a piece of existing equipment for your model, but you must declare that it is not yours and include a picture of the item. In the early stages of preliminary graphics, notes should be used to show what is not clear from the sketches, don’t simply state the obvious as this makes notes pointless. - Your final design should include both 2D and 3D sketches. Use the 3D sketches to display rendering skills. The 2D orthographic views should be mainly used for displaying sizes, enough to make the item on the computer.
- Your main model isn’t worth marks by itself: make sure that you lay it out properly in the way required by the SQA.
- The recommended layout is: A complete orthographic drawing with some sizes of the overall item and how things fit together. A separate sheet with all of the parts of your model, shown individually and each part must be fully dimensioned. The pictorial view should be exploded and include a key, this key should give the name of each piece and the CAD command that was used to create it.
- Show the development of your DTP item by taking regular screenshots, treat it like a diary of your work, put the pictures on one page and include notes detailing the changes made.
- Higher only: you need to put together a background, but the parts don’t have to be created by yourself, you may download 3D models from online sources as long as you declare that these aren’t your own work and state the source. The main marks will be given for appropriate background and setting, good proportion and effective rendering. Make sure that all textures are appropriate scaled. Your DTP piece must be included in the background.
- National 5 only: You will need to complete an evaluation of the item produced, this should be directly related back to the analysis. It shouldn’t simply be a few lines of waffle, rather consider how effectively your model fits with the initial brief that you have been given.
