Students must take all three components to be awarded the OCR A Level in Computer Science. Component Nowifyou'resomeonewhohasn'tgotasingleclueaboutcomputersciencewhenyoufirststartthisAlevelthenyou'regoingtohaveabadtime. Look,Iknowit'snicetoknowextrainformationaboutthecontentinthespec(especiallyifyouloveyoursubjectlikeme)butwhenitgetstothethosefinaldaysbeforetheexam,ITDOESN'TMATTER. A free on-line marking course is available on OCR Train. This can be completed in your own time and includes a series of tests designed to ensure that you are correctly allocating levels to the AEP and practical performances.

AsifOCRdidn'ttorturestudentsenoughbywritingterribleexams,nowtheyhavetoconfuseusevenmorebywritingaterriblespecification! Personally,IfeelthePGonlinetextbookismuchbetterthanthepurpleocrtextbookwhichhadmistakes.WhatareyouropinionsonthePGonlinetextbook?IamthinkingofbuyingthisbookasIuseditlastyearbutasanexternalcandidate,Icannotgetitfromthelibrary.Somesectionshadsomeextrapointlessinformationwhichisn'tlistedinthecomp.scispec(especiallytheinput,outputchapters)butotherthanthat,theBooleanalgebrachapterswereveryusefulandthedifferentalgorithmtopicsseemedverydetailed. That'sthewholepointofaspecification,to specifythecontentthatthecandidatesneedtoknow,notjuststatearandomtermexpectingstudentstoknowwhatyou'retalkingabout. Ialsofoundpaper2abitharderthanpaper1atfirstbut,ifyoudoeverysinglealgorithmquestionoftheoldspecpapersyou'llbefine.AndIdomean everysingleone.A CPD webinar could be a one-stop shop for all your needs in improving your delivery and assessment of the NEA for H446. You will look at the mark scheme in detail and review how to apply it fairly and accurately to candidate work. Whenyou'recomfortablewiththelogicsideofthings,dothequestionsagain(allofthem)soyoucanpracticewritinginthecorrectsyntax.IalsodoneVisualBasicinyear12anditwasterriblesinceIhadneverdoneanyprogrammingbeforehand. The book is divided into 12 sections, each containing roughly six chapters. Each chapter covers material that can comfortably be taught in one or two lessons. It will also be a useful reference and revision guide for students throughout the A Level course. Content applicable to the A Level only is indicated throughout the textbook. There'sglimpsesofclarityoftheoldspecinthenewonebuthonestly,Ithinkwhoeverwrotethiseitherdidn'tgetpaidenoughorisjustplainlazy.IcouldgoonandonbutIthinkyougetthepicture.

AnothereasywayofgettingusedtowritingalgorithmsinOCR'ssyntaxistoliterallywritedownallthealgorithmsinthequestionsthemselvesoftheF452pastpapersinthenewsyntax.Theoldspecpapersuseasimilarsyntaxtothecurrentspec,butthereareafewdifferencesandIpersonallythinkthecurrentspecsyntaxisalotcleaner. What is meant by computational thinking (thinking abstractly, thinking ahead, thinking procedurally etc.) Butatleastthistime,itstates(justlikeintheoldspec)thatthe"purpose"and"function"oftheALUistheknowledgethatcandidatesneedtoknow.Nowstudentsstandachanceinpassingtheirexams(whichwillbegreatlyimprovedifOCRlearnedhowtowriteexams).Asforthepseudocodequestions,I'drecommenddoingallthequestionswithyournotesfirstifyouaren'tsureabouttheOCRsyntax.Obviously,youdon'thavetouseOCR'spseudocodebutIthinkit'sbestnottotakerisksandjustusetheirsanyway.Besides,it'snotthatcomplicatedanyway. A written paper assessing the application of the knowledge and understanding developed in component 01. EvenafterdoingGCSEICTIhadnoideawhatanyofthismeantandI'mselfteaching!IhadtolookattheoldspectogetabetterideaofwhatIneededtoknow.Sonowlet'slookathowtheoldspecstateswhatcontentyouneedtoknowabouttheALU: