NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS CURRICULUM SUPPORT
Computing Science
Hardware: Exemplar Project and
a Suggested Learning Approach
[NATIONAL 4]
This advice and guidance has been produced to support the profession with the
delivery of courses which are either new or which have aspects of significant change
within the new national qualifications (NQ) framework.
The advice and guidance provides suggestions on approaches to learning and
teaching. Practitioners are encouraged to draw on th e materials for their own part of
their continuing professional development in introducing new national qualifications
in ways that match the needs of learners.
Practitioners should also refer to the course and unit specifications and support notes
which have been issued by the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/34714.html
Acknowledgement
© Crown copyright 2012. You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of
charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence.
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Contents
Introduction
4
Exemplar project description
5
Possible learning and teaching approaches
7
Exemplar teaching materials
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INTRODUCTION
Introduction
This advice and guidance provides an exemplar project and suggested
learning and teaching approaches that may give learners the opportunity to
carry out, research and gain understanding of computer systems and hardware
technology.
The suggested learning and teaching approaches and materials could be used
as guidance and may be applied to a number of areas within the Computer
Science course. This suggested learning and teaching approach could support
learners in developing an understanding of key principles and will allow them
to carry out meaningful research in order to gain a deeper understanding of
contemporary systems and hardware. Learners will also gain experience and
confidence in comparing and evaluating hardware technology and be given a
chance to demonstrate this knowledge.
The exemplar project structure allows learners to demonstrate their
understanding through a number of collaborative tasks and the development
of a contemporary solution. This contextualisation means that the project
could be used to reinforce previous skills and give learner s a number of ways
to develop and demonstrate progression on their journey towards a secure
understanding of the Computing Science course. The project will be learner
driven and should allow flexibility with a focus on active learning approaches
and opportunities for learners to identify their own areas of interest and carry
out appropriate research into hardware and develop their own solution to the
project brief.
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EXEMPLAR PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Exemplar project description
Learning and teaching approaches
The aim of this exemplar project is to allow learners to gain knowledge of
contemporary hardware technology, understand their features and how to
compare and evaluate some of these features , and gain an insight into
emerging technologies. The emphasis is on learner-led research so learners
should have enough flexibility to allow them to identify requirements and
develop a solution that is relevant to their own experience or interests . The
starting point for this exemplar project is the use of technology from the point
of view and experience of the learner, looking at the current applications of
technology as well as new and emerging technologies. The key areas should
highlight what the learners are required to focus on in their research in order
to gain the information that will be required for the product they will design
and create. Learners should gain an understanding of contemporary and
emerging technology, a range of hardware devices and the way these devices
fit into their modern lives.
In this exemplar project the areas of focus will be the learners’ research into
and comparison of hardware technology. The identification and choice of
hardware types can be driven by the learners’ experience and research into
the current trends and future developments. This can be used as an
opportunity to reinforce good research technique, resource evaluation and
online safety as learners will have already been exposed to these concepts.
At each stage of research learners will gain an un derstanding of the key areas
and could be introduced to and apply a number of skills, such as planning and
communication. Research and development could be carried out in small
development teams, encouraging collaboration, the sharing of tasks and high level thinking skills. There is also the opportunity to transfer a sha red
responsibility for learning through team development , and the allocation of
roles within each team and collaborative working encourages a more active
approach by the learners.
The exemplar project brief asks for the development of short technology
reviews in the form of videos or animations delivered via a website. These
videos or animations should make use of the research into current and
emerging technology products as well as being informed by any research into
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EXEMPLAR PROJECT DESCRIPTION
current trends, future trends, user needs and comparison criteria. The site
containing the videos or animations could be delivered in the form of a small
stand-alone website, but would perhaps provide a better, more realistic
learning context when delivered as an integrated part of a larger website that
may be created in the information systems development unit. The form the
final piece of work takes may also be determined by the learner’s prior
experience.
This advice can be used as a starting point for the development of the
exemplar project to promote problem-solving skills and reinforce the
learners’ understanding of all the stages involved in the development of a
web-based solution and the required video content.
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POSSIBLE LEARNING AND TEACHING APPROACHES
Possible learning and teaching approaches
Focus
Key points (learning intentions):
 understanding of current
technology use
 comparison criteria for
technology and user needs
 critical evaluation of both
contemporary and emerging
hardware
Planning and creation of project
solution
Suggested learning and teaching
approaches and evidence of
progression
Presentation of project brief to
contextualise the project
Class discussion
Group discussion
Group list creation and ‘superlist’ class
collaboration
Search technique and resource
evaluation, including critical evaluation
of web design and existing video review
sites
Group research to gain information on
the current use of technology
Identification of the popularity of
hardware and the impact it has on the
lives of learners through the use of
modern online survey techniques
Identification through research and
survey comparison criteria for hardware,
eg processor speed, memory,
network/internet access, interface,
portability, display quality
Identification of key user requirements
Target audience identified by small
project teams of perhaps two or three,
delivery medium, visual layout designed
through story boarding. Suitable
navigation also identified by learners to
encourage ownership
Storyboarding and scripting of
video/animation and website
Project teams manage themselves to
create the solution using web
development software
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POSSIBLE LEARNING AND TEACHING APPROACHES
Evaluation
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Peer evaluation and testing throughout
development followed by ‘live’ testing
Blogging could also be used as a diary
throughout the project and used in the
evaluation of performance for each
group
The blog location could also allow the
presentation and promotion of the
completed project to gain feedback from
a wider audience, including parents
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EXEMPLAR LEARNING AND TEACHING APPROACHES
Exemplar learning and teaching approaches
Slide 1
Introduction to some of the key questions raised through this project.
The idea of being a ‘smart buyer’ could be introduced at this stage , as could
the outline of the project brief if this is appropriate.
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EXEMPLAR LEARNING AND TEACHING APPROACHES
Slide 2
Explore technology use within the class.
Conduct a poll to find out what types of computer devices people own or have
access to and which they use most frequently.
Ask learners to add a tally to the Venn diagram to illustrate ownership and
use. This could be done using an interactive whiteboard or a flipchart.
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EXEMPLAR LEARNING AND TEACHING APPROACHES
Slide 3
Discuss modern survey techniques.
Ask learners to create a short survey using an online survey tool to gather
information from their friends and family, eg surveymonkey.com,
kwiksurveys.com.
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EXEMPLAR LEARNING AND TEACHING APPROACHES
Slide 4
In groups of four look at what is popular based on some survey results.
Do big numbers, eg fastest processors, most memory, biggest screens,
connectivity, cool factor, physical size, and battery life, lead to popular
devices?
Identify and list what is actually important to buyers. What does the smart
buyer buy?
The ‘superlist’ of important specifications from all groups can be placed on
the classroom wall and can be added to if anyone identifies additional
important criteria.
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EXEMPLAR LEARNING AND TEACHING APPROACHES
Slide 5
Learners pair up and each chooses a smartphone or tablet (this would also
work well for consoles, eg PS3 vs Xbox 360, or any other piece of
technology) and carries out some research into its important specifications.
Which device is ‘better’ or has the highest specification?
Should ease of use be added to the list of categories? What about portability?
This task could also be presented as a TopTrumps style game.
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EXEMPLAR LEARNING AND TEACHING APPROACHES
Slide 6
Create a class ‘coolwall’ and add pieces of technology and hardware on the
left if they are cool, on the right if they are uncool and higher up if they are
considered to be quality pieces of technology by the class.
This can be an ongoing process even past this project to encourage awareness
of technology and constant re-evaluation of existing products.
Technology sites such as www.TED.com, TechCrunch.com, AllThingsD.com,
Mashable.com, www.CNET.co.uk and www.bbc.co.uk/click could provide
some resources.
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EXEMPLAR LEARNING AND TEACHING APPROACHES
Slide 7
Learners should analyse the problem and create a brief storyboard, plan or
script for their videos. A good starting point may be to look at published
examples on review sites such as those mentioned in the slide and BBC click
etc. They could be encouraged to look at the ‘superlist’ on the wall of the
classroom generated by the previous task.
Additional research will be required to gain the knowledge of the system the
teams are reviewing, although if at all possible some time to actually use the
current device being reviewed should be allowed, for example time to test an
iPad. Access to emerging technology will be more difficult so animations of
still images and video sourced online could be used.
Depending on the video-editing experience of the learners they may require
support but the assumption is that they will have had at least s ome exposure
to video-recording equipment and editing software to allow them to produce a
video clip that is in a format suitable for publishing on a website and fits the
time restraint. There is opportunity to talk about file formats, compression
and storage requirements.
Development teams could be chosen to include mixed abilities and
experiences, and a project manager could be identified (in a fixed
appointment or on a rolling basis throughout the project) to take
responsibility for progress and bloggin g the team’s progress.
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EXEMPLAR LEARNING AND TEACHING APPROACHES
Slide 8
www.webpagesthatsuck.com and www.w3schools.com may be of some help
here to support existing skills in web development. This is a good opportunity
to discuss standards online (w3c etc) and the development of different
platforms for maximum exposure.
FTP and FTP clients could be introduced here and their suitability, ease of
use etc.
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EXEMPLAR LEARNING AND TEACHING APPROACHES
Slide 9
Peer evaluation of the sites produced. If possible the learners could be given
the opportunity to upload their solution to a server to allow them to fully test
links and compatibility issues.
In addition to testing within the establishment the sites could be added as the
final post to the ongoing project blog with a self -evaluation of the final
product, an evaluation of the team’s success and a summary of the knowledge
gained.
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