Computer Science OCR A level H446 Spec. Simplifies teaching by adhering precisely to specification: Detailed, but concise coverage of each section. Great for home-learning & revision. Simple to use.

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AnoldspeccandidatewouldsimplyreadthespecandknowheknowsthefunctionandpurposeoftheALUbutanewspeccandidate...wouldsimplyreadthewordALUandthinkdoesheknoweverythingaboutit.ImeanseriouslyOCR,wasitthattiresometowritethisspec? So,thefirsttimeroundyoushouldjustfocusonthelogicofthequestions,notthesyntax.Justuseyournotesoryoucoulduse thisresourcewhichbasicallygivesexamplesandnotesoneachconstructinOCR'ssyntax.

Candidatesneedtohaveanunderstandingofthepurposeandfunctionofthecorecomponentsofaprocessor.CandidatesneedtounderstandtheroleandcomponentsoftheALU. Infact,IthinkevenOCRgotthepicturebecauseguesswhat,theyreleasedasubjectcontentclarificationguidein2017(nearly2yearsafterthespec)whichI'lllinkattheendofthispost. That'sthewholepointofaspecification,to specifythecontentthatthecandidatesneedtoknow,notjuststatearandomtermexpectingstudentstoknowwhatyou'retalkingabout.

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Nowifyou'resomeonewhohasn'tgotasingleclueaboutcomputersciencewhenyoufirststartthisAlevelthenyou'regoingtohaveabadtime. Iimagineatthispointyouunderstandallthematerialandit'sjustamatterofretainingthatinformation.So,Iwouldrecommendjuststartmemorisingallthekeyterms/definitionsorwhateveryouwanttocallthemforthetheoreticalsideofthespec(whichismostlyassessedinPaper1).Essentially,youneedtogothrougheverysinglekeywordinthespecificationandlearnitinsideout. ThisisexactlythesamepositionI'minandit'sthe*****iestthingever.ItookGCSEICTandhavereallyawfulteachingforthecomputersciencecoursewhichhasleftmeteachingmyself.I'velookedintothecomplaintsprocedureforOCRbutitlooksasiftheydon'ttakestudentcomplaints.ThetextbookIhaveisawfulandwaffleswaytoomuch,sothanksfortheclarificationguide. Students are introduced to the internal workings of the (CPU), data exchange, software development, data types and legal and ethical issues. The resulting knowledge and understanding will underpin their work in component 03. Asforthepseudocodequestions,I'drecommenddoingallthequestionswithyournotesfirstifyouaren'tsureabouttheOCRsyntax.Obviously,youdon'thavetouseOCR'spseudocodebutIthinkit'sbestnottotakerisksandjustusetheirsanyway.Besides,it'snotthatcomplicatedanyway.

As the JCQ guidance also says, the 2022 grading process that takes place after marking, when the grade boundaries are set, will provide a safety net. So please don’t think that by marking your students’ work to pre-pandemic standards this year, you are in any way doing them an injustice. (For more on 2022 grading, please see this Ofqual article from September last year.) SEE!EvenOCRrealisedwhatatremendousfailuretheirspecificationwas.Lookattheextraordinary,thegreatlengthsitgoestoandthefamiliarwordingusedtoensureitisasclearaspossible.Sure,theydon'tusetheworddescribelikebeforeastheyprobablywanttoexpandthescopeofthespec,whichisfine. Withthatsaid,bothtextbookshavesomegreataspectsbutthePGonlineoneedgesitforme.IamcurrentlywritingatextbookandIfindbothofthemtohavedesirablefeaturesthatIplantoincludeinmyown. IfOCRcouldwritesuchaclearanddetailedspecbefore,whynotnow?Thenewlinearexamsystemisalreadytoughenoughandtomakemattersworse,somestudentsdon'tevenknowwhatcontenttheyhavetoknowfortheexam!

Resource materials

Pythonhasamuchcleanersyntaxthat'ssimilartoOCR'soneandisveryeasytolearnifyouputtheeffortinwhichiswhatIdidinyear13whenIhadtoselfteachAlevelComputerScience. Personally,IfeelthePGonlinetextbookismuchbetterthanthepurpleocrtextbookwhichhadmistakes.WhatareyouropinionsonthePGonlinetextbook?IamthinkingofbuyingthisbookasIuseditlastyearbutasanexternalcandidate,Icannotgetitfromthelibrary.Somesectionshadsomeextrapointlessinformationwhichisn'tlistedinthecomp.scispec(especiallytheinput,outputchapters)butotherthanthat,theBooleanalgebrachapterswereveryusefulandthedifferentalgorithmtopicsseemedverydetailed. Ialsofoundpaper2abitharderthanpaper1atfirstbut,ifyoudoeverysinglealgorithmquestionoftheoldspecpapersyou'llbefine.AndIdomean everysingleone.