GCSE Computing: Topics, Requirements & Page Numbers

Homework
Book
PageNo. / Topic Name: / You should be able to:
These are the requirements from the OCR GCSE Computing Specification
1 * / BASIC COMPUTER
SYSTEM MODEL
[ Book Pages12]
[ MOOCPage1]
[ BBC BitesizePages 1-3] / • define a computer system
2 / IMPORTANCE OF
COMPUTERS
[ Book Page 23]
[ MOOC Pages23]
[ BBC BitesizePages 1-8] / • describe the importance of computer systems in the modern world
• explain the need for reliability in computer systems ?
3 / PROFESSIONAL
STANDARDS
[ Book Pages35]
[ MOOCPage 4]
[ BBC BitesizePages 1-4] / • explain the need for adherence to suitable professional standards
in the development, use and maintenance of computer systems
4 / CONSIDERATIONS
WHEN CREATING
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
[ Book Pages56]
[ MOOCPages56]
[ BBC BitesizePages 1- 8] / • explain the importance of ethical, environmental and legal
considerations when creating computer systems
5 * / UNITS
[ Book Page9]
[ MOOCPages3031]
[ BBC BitesizePages 1 & 2] / • understand that data needs to be converted into a binary format to
be processed by a computer
• define the terms bit, nibble, byte, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte,
terabyte
6 * / NUMBERS
[ Book Pages1011]
[ MOOCPage32]
[ BBC BitesizePages37] / • convert positive denary whole numbers (0255)
into 8bit
binary
numbers and vice versa
7 / NUMBERS … continued
[ Book Pages1214]
[ MOOCPages3334]
[ BBC BitesizePages23]
[ BBC BitesizePages13] / • add two 8bit
binary integers and explain overflow errors which
may occur
• convert positive denary integers (0255)
into 2digit
hexadecimal
numbers and vice versa
• convert between binary and hexadecimal equivalents of the same
number
• explain the use of hexadecimal numbers to represent binary
numbers
8 / CHARACTERS
[ Book Pages1415]
[ MOOCPage35]
[ BBC BitesizePages45] / • explain the use of binary codes to represent characters
• explain the term character set
• describe with examples (for example ASCII and Unicode) the
relationship between the number of bits per character in a character
set and the number of characters which can be represented
9 * / IMAGES
[ Book Page16]
[ MOOCPages3637]
[ BBC BitesizePages 1-3] / • explain the representation of an image as a series of pixels
represented in binary
• explain the need for metadata to be included in the file such as
height, width and colour depth
• discuss the effect of colour depth and resolution on the size of an
image file
10 * / SOUND
[ Book Page17]
[ MOOCPage38]
[ BBC BitesizePages1-4] / • explain how sound can be sampled and stored in digital form
• explain how sampling intervals and other considerations affect the
size of a sound file and the quality of its playback
11 * / INSTRUCTIONS
[ Book Page18]
[ MOOCPage39]
[ BBC BitesizePages1-3] / • explain how instructions are coded as bit patterns
• explain how the computer distinguishes between instructions and
data
12 / THE CENTRAL
PROCESSING UNIT
(CPU)
[ Book Pages2325]
[ MOOCPages7-11,20]
[ BBC BitesizePages1-3]
[ BBC BitesizePage5] / • state the purpose of the CPU
• describe the function of the CPU as fetching and executing
instructions stored in memory
• describe cache memory
• explain how common characteristics of CPUs such as clock speed,
cache size and number of cores affect their performance
13 / MEMORY
[ Book Pages25-28]
[ MOOCPages15-21]
[ BBC BitesizePages6-9] / • describe the difference between RAM and ROM
• explain the need for ROM in a computer system
• describe the purpose of RAM in a computer system
• explain how the amount of RAM in a personal computer affects the
performance of the computer
• explain the need for virtual memory
• discuss how changes in memory technologies are leading to
innovative computer designs
14 / SECONDARY
STORAGE
[ Book Pages28-31]
[ MOOCPages21,25,26]
[ BBC BitesizePages6-7] / • explain the need for secondary storage
• describe common storage technologies such as optical, magnetic
and solid state
• describe flash memory
• select suitable storage devices and storage media for a given
application and justify their choice using characteristics such as
capacity, speed, portability, durability and reliability
15 * / INNOVATIVE
COMPUTER
DESIGN
[ Book Page32]
[ MOOCPage21]
[ BBC BitesizePage6] / • discuss how changes in memory technologies are leading to
innovative computer designs
16 / INPUT & OUTPUT
DEVICES
[ Book Pages32- 37]
[ MOOCPages22- 24]
[ BBC Bitesize Pages1-5,8] / • understand the need for input and output devices
• describe suitable input devices for a wide range of computer
controlled situations
• describe suitable output devices for a wide range of computer
controlled situations
• discuss input and output devices for users with specific needs
17 / BINARY LOGIC
[ Book Pages38-40]
[ MOOCPages12-14]
[ BBC BitesizePages1-3] / • explain why data is represented in computer systems in binary
form
• understand and produce simple logic diagrams using the
operations NOT, AND and OR
• produce a truth table from a given logic diagram
18 / OPERATING SYSTEMS
[ Book Pages46-50]
[ MOOCPage27]
[ BBC BitesizePages1-7] / • explain the need for the following functions of an operating system:
user interface, memory management, peripheral management,
multitasking
and security
19 / UTILITY SOFTWARE
[ Book Pages51-55]
[ MOOCPage28]
[ BBC BitesizePage7] / • describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for
computer security (antivirus, spyware protection and firewalls), disk
organisation (formatting, file transfer, and defragmentation), and
system maintenance (system information and diagnosis, system
cleanup tools, automatic updating)
20 / APPLICATION
SOFTWARE
[ Book Pages 55-57]
[ MOOCPage29]
[ BBC BitesizePages3-5] / • discuss the relative merits of custom written, off the shelf, open
source and proprietary software
21 / THE DATABASE
CONCEPT
[ Book Pages 63-64]
[ MOOCPage40]
[ BBC BitesizePages1-3] / • describe a database as a persistent organised store of data
• explain the use of data handling software to create, maintain and
interrogate a database
22 / THE DBMS
[ Book Pages65-66]
[ MOOCPage41]
[ BBC BitesizePage3] / • describe how a DBMS allows the separation of data from
applications and why this is desirable
• describe the principal features of a DBMS and how they can be
used to create customised data handling applications
23 / RELATIONAL
DATABASES
[ Book Pages67-73]
[ MOOCPages42-45]
[ BBC BitesizePages4-8] / • understand the relationship between entities and tables
• understand the components of a relational database, such as
tables, forms, queries, reports and modules
• understand the use of logical operators in framing database
queries
• explain the use of key fields to connect tables and avoid data
redundancy
• describe methods of validating data as it is input
24 / LOCAL AREA
NETWORKS (LAN)
+ Network Topologies
+ PeertoPeer
or
ClientServer
[ Book Pages-78-81]
[ MOOCPages-46-49]
[ BBC BitesizePages-1-7] / • explain the advantages of networking standalone
computers into
a local area network
• describe, using diagrams or otherwise, the ring, bus and star
network topologies
• describe the hardware needed to connect standalone
computers
into a local area network, including hub/switches, wireless access
points
• explain the different roles of computers in a clientserver
and a
peertopeer
network
25 * / WIDE AREA
NETWORKS (WAN)
[ Book Page82]
[ MOOCPage50]
[ BBC BitesizePage2] / • describe the differences between a local area network and a wide
area network such as the internet
26 * / HOW DEVICES
COMMUNICATE ON A
NETWORK
[ Book Pages83-84]
[ MOOCPage51]
[ BBC BitesizePages4,6] / • explain the terms IP addressing, MAC addressing, packet and
protocols
27 / THE INTERNET
[ Book Pages85-87]
[ MOOCPages54-55]
[ BBC BitesizePages1-2,5-7] / • describe the nature of the internet as a worldwide collection of
computer networks
• explain the need for IP addressing of resources on the internet and
how this can be facilitated by the role of DNS servers
28 * / Connecting to the
Internet
[ Book Pages87-88]
[ MOOCPage54]
[ BBC BitesizePages3-4] / • describe the hardware needed to connect to the internet including
modems, routers etc
29 / CREATING WEB
PAGES IN HTML
[ Book Pages-89-91]
[ MOOCPage-56]
[ BBC BitesizePage-8] / • explain the importance of HTML and its derivatives as a standard
for the creation of web pages
30 / SECURITY
[ Book Pages91-95]
[ MOOCPages52-53]
[ BBC BitesizePages1-3] / • explain the need for security measures in networks, such as user
access levels, suitable passwords and encryption techniques
• describe and justify network policies such as acceptable use,
disaster recovery, failover, backup, archiving
31 / FILE TYPES AND FILE
COMPRESSION
[ Book Pages95-98]
[ MOOCPage57]
[ BBC BitesizePage8]
[ BBC BitesizePages1,4]
[ BBC BitesizePages6-7] / • explain the importance of compressing files that are transmitted via
the internet
• describe the differences between lossy and lossless compression
• describe common file standards associated with the internet such
as JPG, GIF, PDF, MP3, MPEG
32 / ALGORITHMS
[ Book Pages105-108]
[ MOOCPage58]
[ BBC BitesizePages1-6] / • understand algorithms (written in pseudocode or flow diagram),
explain what they do, and correct or complete them
• produce algorithms in pseudocode or flow diagrams to solve
problems
33 / CONTROL FLOW IN
IMPERATIVE
LANGUAGES
[ Book Pages108-111]
[ MOOCPages61-63]
[ BBC BitesizePages1-7] / • understand and use sequence in an algorithm
• understand and use selection in an algorithm (IF and CASE
statements)
• understand and use iteration in an algorithm (FOR, WHILE and
REPEAT loops)
34 / PROGRAMMING
LANGUAGES
[ Book Pages112-114]
[ MOOCPage59]
[ BBC BitesizePages1-3]
[ BBC BitesizePages1-2] / • explain the difference between high level code and machine code
• explain the need for translators to convert high level code to
machine code
• describe the characteristics of an assembler, a compiler and an
interpreter
35 / HANDLING DATA IN
ALGORITHMS
+ Operations on
common data types
+ Arrays
[ Book Pages115-120]
[ MOOCPages64-67]
[ BBC BitesizePages1-5]
[ BBC BitesizePage2] / • define the terms variable and constant as used in an imperative
language
• use variables and constants
• describe the data types integer, real, Boolean, character and string
• select and justify appropriate data types for a given program
• perform common operations on numeric and Boolean data
• use onedimensionalarrays
36 / ERRORS
[ Book Pages120-121]
[ MOOCPage68]
[ BBC BitesizePages5-6] / • describe syntax errors and logic errors which may occur while
developing a program
• understand and identify syntax and logic errors
37 / TESTING
[ Book Pages122-123]
[ MOOCPage69]
[ BBC BitesizePages5-10] / • select and justify test data for a program, stating the expected
outcome of each test
38 / IDE TOOLS
[ Book Pages124-126]
[ MOOCPage60]
[ BBC BitesizePages4,6] / • describe common tools and facilities available in an integrated
development environment(IDE): editors, error diagnostics, runtime
environment, translators, auto-documentation

* Denotes a smaller topic