A452 Assessment Guide
Introduction to the practical investigation (A452)
Brief
This is the most important document you will be given. You need to go through this document as it goes through the scenario and also the tasks you need to complete.
You can use a highlighter or different coloured pens and go through:
-the topics you have already covered
-the topics you need to do research on
-the topics you feel comfortable in doing
Don’t forget, although this task is based on Linux, we did quite afew of them in Windows using the Command Line Interface. The only difference is going to be the syntax i.e. how it is done. If there are certain tasks we haven’t done, I will go through them in between the assessment lessons.
How long do I have to complete this assessment task?
20 hours.
Getting started
When we have to make a cake, we need to get a recipe and assemble the ingredients. The research task is similar to this.
Sources you can use:
-the internet (using Google)
-electronic magazine (one is already provided to you)
-digital books
-people: reference / make notes if you ask people questions
Be careful on sources
-you need to look through different sources
-some might not be reliable
-a variety of resources is good
Bibliography
-you need to keep a bibliography so that you can show the websites you have used and access them later
-if you know the author, you should reference it fully
-Use Neil’s toolkit:
-Reference the publisher and anyone you person you ask for information
Example: (Harvard referencing)
Swan, C. How to complete research for Unit A453
1st January [online]. Available at:
(Accessed on: 2nd January 2015)
Group work
You can work with another student to do research and share ideas but the work you submit must be your own and you need to work independently on it.
Plagiarism
This is known as cheating by copying someone else’s work and presenting it as your own. Do not copy and paste from websites or from someone else. You can copy short extracts as long as you reference it.
Using your time
Create a time plan. The suggested time is demonstrated below.
-Preparation : 2 hours
-Research: 6 hours
-Producing final work: 12 hours
Summary
- Keep notes
- Track your progress
- Keep a bibliography
- Final piece of work
All of the above is your own work.
Technique and evidencing
Your plan should be complete at this stage.
Is the example good, is there better ways of doing it.
Suggestions
You can create a diary section somewhere within your work. In there you can put the date for each assessment lesson then go through what you are hoping to achieve and the things you want to go through that lesson. The things you don’t achieve can be carried over to the next assessment session. This could be your plan.
The diary could be used to show the development of your work and progress.
Guidance linked to the marking scheme
Add about taking screenshots
Screenshots should be clear and detailed. Annotated explanation of what is showing.
Examiner report
Raspberry Pi
This was focussed on system administration in a Unix or Linux environment and as it is a fairlynew task, few centres submitted it. Those that did nearly all provided excellent work with muchevidence that the candidates had gone to great lengths to find out the processes and techniquesneeded to solve the problems.
What examiners look for
• an original and creative approach where appropriate
• detailed commentaries on what they have done
• detailed comments on general related computing issues
attempting ALL questions
• full acknowledgement of all sources used.
How should I start it
There is no point in going straight to the task. Think about the research you are going to carry out. Have a little plan that will show how you will tackle the tasks, which areas you may find difficult and will need to do further research on.
Look through the mark scheme
Practical Investigation
Does the document make sense, is it clear, has the student clearly attempted to do what was
asked? Is there good evidence to demonstrate what the student has understood? Annotated
screenshots (a few - not death by screenshot)? Clear sentences? Technical language?
Planning documents? An informed summary?
Efficient and Effective Use of Techniques
Has the student used SELECT, FROM and WHERE statements, used a logical test and
interrogated a relational database correctly? Some credit for trying, some more for
succeeding in a reasonably efficient manner (remember, this is still only GCSE level).
Technical Understanding
Has the student used, and explained, technical terms? Does the summary demonstrate a
sound technical understanding? Has the evidence of the effectiveness of SQL gathered during
the research stage been collected, understood, used?
Conclusions and Evaluation
Is the conclusion appropriate and accurate? Has each task been fully tested and evaluated,
with pros and cons? Spelling, punctuation and grammar.
For grade boundaries I estimated students using the following, which seemed to bear out:
90% - 41/45 - A*
80% - 36/45 - A
70% - 32/45 - B
60% - 27/45 - C
50% - 23/45 - D
40% - 18/45 - E
30% - 14/45 - F
20% - 9/45 - G
A452: Research TaskAbbeyCollege1