Expectations and mark scheme
Expectations
You are expected to:
Provide program listing(s) that demonstrate your technical skill. The program listing(s) should be appropriately annotated and self-documenting (an approach that uses meaningful identifiers, with well structured code that minimises instances where program comments are necessary). You should present your work in a way that will enable a third party to discern the quality and purpose of the coding. This could take the form of:
- an overview guide which amongst other things includes the names of entities such as executables, data filenames/urls, database names, pathnames so that a third party can, if they so desire, run the solution/investigation;
- explanations of particularly difficult-to-understand code sections; a careful division of the presentation of the code listing into appropriately labelled sections to make navigation as easy as possible for a third party reading the code listing. To achieve this, to an extent, is linked to the skill in applying a structured approach during the course of developing the solution or carrying out the investigation.
The mark scheme
Completeness of solution (15 marks)
| Level | Mark range | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 11-15 | A system that meets almost all of the requirements of a solution/an investigation (ignoring any requirements that go beyond the demands of A-level). |
| 2 | 6-10 | A system that achieves many of the requirements but not all. The marks at the top end of the band are for systems that include some of the most important requirements. |
| 1 | 1-5 | A system that tackles some aspects of the problem or investigation. |
Techniques used (27 marks)
| Level | Mark range | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 19-27 | The techniques used are appropriate and demonstrate a level of technical skill equivalent to those listed in Group A in Table 1. Program(s) demonstrate(s) that the skill required for this level has been applied sufficiently to demonstrate proficiency.ted design for a real problem, that describes how all or almost all of the key aspects of the solution/investigation are to be structured/are structured. |
| 2 | 10-18 | The techniques used are appropriate and demonstrate a level of technical skill equivalent to those listed in Group B in Table 1. Program(s) demonstrate(s) that the skill required for this level has been applied sufficiently to demonstrate proficiency. |
| 1 | 1-9 | The techniques used demonstrate a level of technical skill equivalent to those listed in Group C in Table 1. Program(s) demonstrate(s) that the skill required for this level has been applied sufficiently to demonstrate proficiency. |
Table 1: Example technical skills
(the three groups are split into separate tables)
Group A
| Model(including data model/structure) | Algorithms |
|---|---|
| Complex data model in database (e.g. several interlinked tables). | Cross-table parameterised SQL. Aggregate SQL functions. User/CASE-generated DDL script. |
| Hash tables, lists, stacks, queues, graphs, trees or structures of equivalent standard. | Graph/Tree Traversal List operations. Linked list maintenance .Stack/Queue operations . Hashing. |
| Files(s) organised for direct access. | |
| Complex scientific/mathematical/robotics/ control/business model. | Advanced matrix operations. Recursive algorithms. Complex user-defined algorithms (eg optimisation, minimisation, scheduling, pattern matching) or equivalent difficulty. Mergesort or similarly efficient sort. |
| Complex user-defined use of object- orientated programming (OOP) model, eg classes, inheritance, composition, polymorphism, interfaces. | Dynamic generation of objects based on complex user-defined use of OOP model. |
| Complex client-server model. | Server-side scripting using request and response objects and server-side extensions for a complex client-server model. Calling parameterised web service APIs and parsing JSON/XML to service a complex client-server model. |
Group B
| Model (including data model/structure) | Algorithms |
|---|---|
Simple data model in database (e.g. two or three interlinked tables) | Single table or non-parameterised SQL |
Multi-dimensional arrays | Bubble sort |
| Text files | Writing and reading from files |
| File(s) organised for sequential access | |
Simple scientific/mathematical /robotics/control/business model | Simple user defined algorithms (e.g. a range of mathematical/statistical calculations). |
| Simple OOP model | Generation of objects based on simple OOP model |
| Simple client-server model | Server-side scripting using request and response objects and server-side extensions for a simple client-server model. Calling web service APIs and parsing JSON/XML to service a simple client-server model. |