Ineedto"describethe FUNCTIONand PURPOSE"oftheALU.Nowthatmake'ssense,acandidatewillclearlybeabletodistinguishtheknowledgethatisrelevanttohimregardingtheALUandwhatisnot,theysimplyneedtoknowit'sfunctionandpurpose. Iimagineatthispointyouunderstandallthematerialandit'sjustamatterofretainingthatinformation.So,Iwouldrecommendjuststartmemorisingallthekeyterms/definitionsorwhateveryouwanttocallthemforthetheoreticalsideofthespec(whichismostlyassessedinPaper1).Essentially,youneedtogothrougheverysinglekeywordinthespecificationandlearnitinsideout.

That'sthewholepointofaspecification,to specifythecontentthatthecandidatesneedtoknow,notjuststatearandomtermexpectingstudentstoknowwhatyou'retalkingabout. Anyway,IthinkIjustneededtoventandletallthecontemptIhadforOCRbeforetheyreleasedthisguideout(don'tgetmewrong,Istillhatethem). Personally,IfeelthePGonlinetextbookismuchbetterthanthepurpleocrtextbookwhichhadmistakes.WhatareyouropinionsonthePGonlinetextbook?IamthinkingofbuyingthisbookasIuseditlastyearbutasanexternalcandidate,Icannotgetitfromthelibrary.Somesectionshadsomeextrapointlessinformationwhichisn'tlistedinthecomp.scispec(especiallytheinput,outputchapters)butotherthanthat,theBooleanalgebrachapterswereveryusefulandthedifferentalgorithmtopicsseemedverydetailed. 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.ThisisexactlythesamepositionI'minandit'sthe*****iestthingever.ItookGCSEICTandhavereallyawfulteachingforthecomputersciencecoursewhichhasleftmeteachingmyself.I'velookedintothecomplaintsprocedureforOCRbutitlooksasiftheydon'ttakestudentcomplaints.ThetextbookIhaveisawfulandwaffleswaytoomuch,sothanksfortheclarificationguide. Whenyou'recomfortablewiththelogicsideofthings,dothequestionsagain(allofthem)soyoucanpracticewritinginthecorrectsyntax.IalsodoneVisualBasicinyear12anditwasterriblesinceIhadneverdoneanyprogrammingbeforehand.

Toconclude,IwilljustlinktheASandAlevelspecificationsandtheASandAlevelsubjectcontentclarificationguideswhichIhighlyrecommendyouusetoknowwhataspectsofthecontentmentionedinthespecyouneedtoknow. The internal workings of the (CPU), data exchange, software development, data types and legal and ethical issues. Look,Iknowit'snicetoknowextrainformationaboutthecontentinthespec(especiallyifyouloveyoursubjectlikeme)butwhenitgetstothethosefinaldaysbeforetheexam,ITDOESN'TMATTER.

OCR AS and A Level Computer Science

Iwasn'tgiventheopportunitytostudyGCSEComputerSciencebecausemy(extremelysocioeconomicallydeprived)schooldidn'tofferitsoIdoneGCSEICTinstead. EvenafterdoingGCSEICTIhadnoideawhatanyofthismeantandI'mselfteaching!IhadtolookattheoldspectogetabetterideaofwhatIneededtoknow.Sonowlet'slookathowtheoldspecstateswhatcontentyouneedtoknowabouttheALU: