Tag Archives: Coursework

Computing Higher, Coursework

Mock Coursework

I thought it was worth while sharing the following with you, it was taken from last years coursework.

Teacher’s notes

Should candidates select a digital camera not capable of the required magnification an additional lens must be purchased and included in the cost of the camera. The magnification capability of the lens may then be used in the comparison of the two digital cameras.
Candidates should be encouraged to list the specification of their hardware/software in the form of a table. Note that a table on its own should not be regarded as a comparison.
Please note that when identifying two suitable external solid state drives, hard disk drives are not suitable.
The data transfer rate of the solid state drive may be taken from the type of interface (eg USB 3.0 or Firewire). Evidence of this must be included.

Marking Scheme

Each hardware/software requirement should be marked as follows:
  • Identification – candidates should show evidence that they have correctly identified two items that have matched the requirements. A table is recommended for this purpose.
  • Comparison – candidates should discuss the specification of each item in terms of the context of the Biology field trip.
  • Recommendation – candidates should identify one item and clearly justify why they have selected that item over the other.

As you can see from the last section the Comparison is of each device to the specification and the Recommendation if of the devices with each other but in the context of the task.

1. Computer Systems, Computing Higher

Work for Tuesday 24th Sept.

A lot of the peripherals unit is investigation and comparison of similar products. A huge part of any IT professionals business revolves around knowing what the customer wants even when the customer can’t express it.

Take for example a design brief where the customer is looking for a way of getting photographs on to a DVD. We would need to know the following pieces of information.

  • Are the photographs already on the computer or would they need to be digitised.
  • Do they need to be edited before being placed on the disc
  • What format does the customer want them in, what about compression?
  • How many photographs?
  • What operating system?
  • Does the computer have a DVD writer?

Most of us would naturally start asking these question without thinking. However, in this unit we also need to compare the product we are suggesting with other similar products. This requires us to identify criteria we can use to pick the best product.

Continue reading Work for Tuesday 24th Sept. →

1. Computer Systems, 2. Software Development, Computing Higher, Coursework, Homework

Coursework – good and bad

The lesson today was the first in over 2 weeks. We have had very bad snow in Scotland and this has resulted in a lot of missed work. The class were reminded about Scholar, Glow and other resources.

The class was sorted into friendship pairs and I issued sample coursework to the pairs. One half of the room had candidate 2 and the other candidate 3. The pairs were to discuss the coursework given out and look at the example to find out if it was a good or poor candidate. Both example students had passed the coursework task when it was given but one had scrapped a pass and the other had achieved 58/60. We swapped sheets and took notes about what is expected during the coursework.

The class has had some problems with glow so we undertook a sample homework assessment to make sure that the class could submit the homework for Tuesday on time. Scott Brown scored full marks in the sample homework.

Homework will be posted in Glow tonight.

6. External Sites, Coursework

Coursework Tasks

I have added a new page to the Glow group that has previous coursework tasks. It was my intention last week to start looking at previous coursework tasks and evaluate what is good and bad.

Obviously the snow has kinda got in the way a big bit so, I would like to to try one of the tasks here. You should find the Computer Systems section straight forward enough but the software development side will be a lot harder. Make sure you stick to the main plan. I have uploaded the unedited PDFs from these years so you can see how the marking schemes are applied. If you do not have VB at home then this link should help.

I have also uploaded some new software development notes into the group.

Please share this message with as many pupils as you can in the class.