Back
to top
OCR A LEVEL COMPUTER SCIENCE coursework HELP
Watch
Announcements
Page 1 of 1
Go to first unread
Skip to page:
i'm struggling to plan for my coursework which the deadline is due in 7 months but i know time is going to fly by and I'm a bit lost on where to start so any ideas would be extremely helpful or if anyone has any revision tips that'd be great
0
reply
Report
#2
I'm assuming you're year 12 going into year 23 in September? I kept pushing off my coursework but honestly don't underestimate how much time and effort it takes. Mine overall was around 100 pages, 15,000 words ... If you can, make your client someone you actually know, it makes it so much easier to document meetings, conjure up some feedback, outline requirements together etc.
Mine was my Dad lol, we just based mine on his main hobby which is hillwalking.
Don't be under the assumption that it has to be something like business related or that would be used in a real company, at the end of the day once it's done you don't ever need to see it again 😂
Do a good detailed analysis, don't worry about design too much initially. I found it so much easier to go back to design after development, because it was easier to write my psuedocode algorithms and make a variable list etc after developing. Only things I did for design before development was a problem decomposition diagram
Make sure it's something you can implement complex functionality into - actual processing needs to take place, but it doesn't have to look or perform super impressively or professionally.
I didn't know a programming language at all when starting mine and I got through it somehow and got a good mark, so I have every faith in you!
Mine was my Dad lol, we just based mine on his main hobby which is hillwalking.
Don't be under the assumption that it has to be something like business related or that would be used in a real company, at the end of the day once it's done you don't ever need to see it again 😂
Do a good detailed analysis, don't worry about design too much initially. I found it so much easier to go back to design after development, because it was easier to write my psuedocode algorithms and make a variable list etc after developing. Only things I did for design before development was a problem decomposition diagram
Make sure it's something you can implement complex functionality into - actual processing needs to take place, but it doesn't have to look or perform super impressively or professionally.
I didn't know a programming language at all when starting mine and I got through it somehow and got a good mark, so I have every faith in you!
1
reply
Report
#4
(Original post by tranhquil)
i'm struggling to plan for my coursework which the deadline is due in 7 months but i know time is going to fly by and I'm a bit lost on where to start so any ideas would be extremely helpful or if anyone has any revision tips that'd be great
i'm struggling to plan for my coursework which the deadline is due in 7 months but i know time is going to fly by and I'm a bit lost on where to start so any ideas would be extremely helpful or if anyone has any revision tips that'd be great
0
reply
Report
#5
(Original post by 6085)
How is the coursework going. I handed my final version of analysis today and I have begun design. Are things going well in your end?
How is the coursework going. I handed my final version of analysis today and I have begun design. Are things going well in your end?
0
reply
Report
#6
(Original post by Rolls_Reus_0wner)
Yo, I handed in my Analysis and I got 10/10! My tips are look for CW exemplars ideally A* work and use the same layouts but do not COPY! Just use it as a template for your work
Yo, I handed in my Analysis and I got 10/10! My tips are look for CW exemplars ideally A* work and use the same layouts but do not COPY! Just use it as a template for your work
0
reply
Report
#8
(Original post by Rolls_Reus_0wner)
thx, its only the beginning though
thx, its only the beginning though
0
reply
Report
#9
(Original post by 6085)
Thats true. Even though I handed mine in for a while its not getting marked until Christmas. In the middle of design and now starting development as well. Where are you at?
Thats true. Even though I handed mine in for a while its not getting marked until Christmas. In the middle of design and now starting development as well. Where are you at?
0
reply
Report
#10
Doing a different spec, but I can say that Analysis is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of it, because if you don't set out what you're going to do or be ambigious with it you're going to have a real bad time trying to implement it later. Since you got full marks on that, you'll hopefully find the development a lot easier than your peers.
Start with a "template" with core functionality that just does the bare minimum requirements, then add on other features. You don't even have to start with a graphical interface. The main point is to get everything working.
One of the places where I fell was that I was trying to do too many things at one time and add in extra features when the basic thing didn't completely work in the first place (it would take over an hour to start up, for starters, and I had to reduce the functionality to the extent that it didn't really do what it was intended to do just so I had a version to prove it actually would get past the splash screen)
Also doing development and part of the design together is a great idea (though depending on what your spec requires it might be impossible to finish the design until you're actually done with the program), I left my design to the end because I forgot it was a thing, and it's much harder to reconstruct what you did after the fact.
Plus don't think that you have until the deadline to implement it because you might have to make changes after doing the testing - which I found I needed to but didn't have enough time as I was literally testing it an hour before hand in and gave it in with half of the tests empty (if I had completed it all I wouldn't have been able to print it all off in time)
Last year I did something that I didn't actually have the time or knowledge to achieve - in other words I tried to do something complicated to get good marks but I reached too high and it completely backfired. Thankfully since I'm retaking the year I'm getting another shot at doing a project and I'm just about to start it - I've gone with a far simpler idea that I'll just add advanced features to.
Wait, if you didn't know a programming language what on earth were they teaching you in year 12?!
Start with a "template" with core functionality that just does the bare minimum requirements, then add on other features. You don't even have to start with a graphical interface. The main point is to get everything working.
One of the places where I fell was that I was trying to do too many things at one time and add in extra features when the basic thing didn't completely work in the first place (it would take over an hour to start up, for starters, and I had to reduce the functionality to the extent that it didn't really do what it was intended to do just so I had a version to prove it actually would get past the splash screen)
Also doing development and part of the design together is a great idea (though depending on what your spec requires it might be impossible to finish the design until you're actually done with the program), I left my design to the end because I forgot it was a thing, and it's much harder to reconstruct what you did after the fact.
Plus don't think that you have until the deadline to implement it because you might have to make changes after doing the testing - which I found I needed to but didn't have enough time as I was literally testing it an hour before hand in and gave it in with half of the tests empty (if I had completed it all I wouldn't have been able to print it all off in time)
Last year I did something that I didn't actually have the time or knowledge to achieve - in other words I tried to do something complicated to get good marks but I reached too high and it completely backfired. Thankfully since I'm retaking the year I'm getting another shot at doing a project and I'm just about to start it - I've gone with a far simpler idea that I'll just add advanced features to.
(Original post by elliesaysno)
I didn't know a programming language at all when starting mine and I got through it somehow and got a good mark, so I have every faith in you!
I didn't know a programming language at all when starting mine and I got through it somehow and got a good mark, so I have every faith in you!
0
reply
Report
#11
(Original post by moonrise)
Doing a different spec, but I can say that Analysis is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of it, because if you don't set out what you're going to do or be ambigious with it you're going to have a real bad time trying to implement it later. Since you got full marks on that, you'll hopefully find the development a lot easier than your peers.
Start with a "template" with core functionality that just does the bare minimum requirements, then add on other features. You don't even have to start with a graphical interface. The main point is to get everything working.
One of the places where I fell was that I was trying to do too many things at one time and add in extra features when the basic thing didn't completely work in the first place (it would take over an hour to start up, for starters, and I had to reduce the functionality to the extent that it didn't really do what it was intended to do just so I had a version to prove it actually would get past the splash screen)
Also doing development and part of the design together is a great idea (though depending on what your spec requires it might be impossible to finish the design until you're actually done with the program), I left my design to the end because I forgot it was a thing, and it's much harder to reconstruct what you did after the fact.
Plus don't think that you have until the deadline to implement it because you might have to make changes after doing the testing - which I found I needed to but didn't have enough time as I was literally testing it an hour before hand in and gave it in with half of the tests empty (if I had completed it all I wouldn't have been able to print it all off in time)
Last year I did something that I didn't actually have the time or knowledge to achieve - in other words I tried to do something complicated to get good marks but I reached too high and it completely backfired. Thankfully since I'm retaking the year I'm getting another shot at doing a project and I'm just about to start it - I've gone with a far simpler idea that I'll just add advanced features to.
Wait, if you didn't know a programming language what on earth were they teaching you in year 12?!
Doing a different spec, but I can say that Analysis is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of it, because if you don't set out what you're going to do or be ambigious with it you're going to have a real bad time trying to implement it later. Since you got full marks on that, you'll hopefully find the development a lot easier than your peers.
Start with a "template" with core functionality that just does the bare minimum requirements, then add on other features. You don't even have to start with a graphical interface. The main point is to get everything working.
One of the places where I fell was that I was trying to do too many things at one time and add in extra features when the basic thing didn't completely work in the first place (it would take over an hour to start up, for starters, and I had to reduce the functionality to the extent that it didn't really do what it was intended to do just so I had a version to prove it actually would get past the splash screen)
Also doing development and part of the design together is a great idea (though depending on what your spec requires it might be impossible to finish the design until you're actually done with the program), I left my design to the end because I forgot it was a thing, and it's much harder to reconstruct what you did after the fact.
Plus don't think that you have until the deadline to implement it because you might have to make changes after doing the testing - which I found I needed to but didn't have enough time as I was literally testing it an hour before hand in and gave it in with half of the tests empty (if I had completed it all I wouldn't have been able to print it all off in time)
Last year I did something that I didn't actually have the time or knowledge to achieve - in other words I tried to do something complicated to get good marks but I reached too high and it completely backfired. Thankfully since I'm retaking the year I'm getting another shot at doing a project and I'm just about to start it - I've gone with a far simpler idea that I'll just add advanced features to.
Wait, if you didn't know a programming language what on earth were they teaching you in year 12?!
0
reply
X
Page 1 of 1
Go to first unread
Skip to page:
Quick Reply
Today on TSR
-
Ofqual consultationTeachers to use 'mini-exams' and other work to decide grades
- Is it too late to do well in my A-levels?
- What Harry Potter house are you in?
- 2021 wellbeing blog launch
- Student tips on lockdown mental health