Computer Science

Computer Science

Course title: OCR GCE A Level Computer Science (H446)

What are the knowledge and skills that students will gain over Key Stage 5?

This course will introduce learners to the internal workings of the Central Processing Unit (CPU), the exchange of data and will also look at software development, data types and legal and ethical issues. It is expected that learners will draw on this underpinning content when studying computational thinking, developing programming techniques and devising their own programming approach in the Programming project component.
Learners will be expected to apply the theory of computer systems to different contexts including current and future uses of the technologies.
As a part of the Algorithms and programming element of the course the students will incorporate and build on the knowledge and understanding gained in the Computer systems component and understand the principles of solving problems by computational methods.

In addition, learners should be able to:

• understand what is meant by computational thinking
• understand the benefits of applying computational thinking to solving a wide variety of problems
• understand the principles of solving problems by computational methods
• use algorithms to describe problems
• analyse a problem by identifying its component parts

Controlled Assessment:
Learners will be expected to analyse, design, develop, test, evaluate and document a program written in a suitable programming language. The underlying approach to the project is to apply the principles of computational thinking to a practical coding problem. Learners are expected to apply appropriate principles from an agile development approach to project development. While the project assessment criteria are organised into specific categories, it is anticipated the final report will document the agile development process and elements for each of the assessment categories appearing throughout the report.

Why is it delivered in this way?

We have chosen to deliver this course in an easy to access manner - this means we’ve reviewed the specification and re-organised the units to enable both GCSE Computer Science students and new entrants to be able to access the knowledge needed in the most succinct way.
During Year 1:
This year is academically heavy in theory, which allows students to make best use of their growth from the GCSE years. This year also sees students revisit programming skills and extend their foundational understanding of computational thinking.
During Year 2:
This year is heavily focused on preparation for the programming project which allows students to demonstrate their complete understanding of planning, preparing and constructing a functional program. This year is also accompanied by revision of Year 12 in preparation for the exams.