Released September 2014
For Assessment Submission
June 2015 to June 2016
GCSE COMPUTING
A452
Practical Investigation
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CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT MATERIAL 2
This assessment may be periodically
reviewed. Please check on OCR
Interchange that you have the Controlled
Assessment material valid for the
appropriate assessment session.
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A
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INSTRUCTIONS TO TEACHERS
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Please refer to Section 4 of the GCSE Computing specification for instructions on
completing this controlled assessment task.
The marking criteria should be available to candidates whilst completing the task.
The quality of written communication will be assessed in the conclusions and evaluation
section.
The total number of marks for this unit is 45.
INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES
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This document consists of 8 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.
Teachers are responsible for ensuring that assessment is carried out against the
Controlled Assessment set for the relevant examination series (detailed above).
Assessment evidence produced that does not reflect the relevant examination series
will not be accepted.
© OCR 2014 [Y/600/3256]
DC (ST/SW) 104106/1
OCR is an exempt Charity
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The purpose of this unit is to investigate a topic chosen from a set of options supplied by OCR. In
this investigation, there will be an opportunity to look in depth at an aspect of computing that goes
beyond the subject matter outlined in A451. The tasks will require a significant element of practical
activity, which must be evidenced in the report and which will form a major element of the assessment.
The topics will enable practical investigation and some supplementary research to be carried out in a
variety of ways. These will include, but are not restricted to:
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practical investigations with hardware or software
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practical investigations with online resources.
Supplementary research may be required and resources may include:
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web-based enquiry
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contact with IT professionals
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research using computer-industry publications.
© OCR 2014
A452 Jun15–Jun16
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Candidates should complete all tasks
App Inventor
Throughout your work, explain fully the thinking that underlies decisions that you have made.
All program blocks and screen designs should be fully planned, explained and annotated using
screenshots where appropriate.
All third-party material used to support your work must be properly referenced.
App Inventor is an online tool for creating apps for Android phones. It uses a block programming
environment in order to build an app which can be run and tested either on a real Android phone or
on a phone emulator on-screen. Obviously, there are many aspects of a real phone that cannot be
duplicated on-screen so this task only requires on-screen functionality.
Your assignment
A university has many buildings on its campus. Each building contains a number of computers and
other resources that can be used by staff and students. An app is required that will display a map of the
campus and show what resources are situated in each building and how many computers are currently
available in each. Users can make and cancel computer reservations with the app. The numbers
available automatically adjust when users make or cancel reservations.
© OCR 2014
A452 Jun15–Jun16
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Below is an example of a map of a university campus.
© OCR 2014
A452 Jun15–Jun16
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1.
Create or obtain a map of a campus, with at least ten labelled buildings. Set up an app that displays
this map on the phone or emulator.
2.
For each of the ten labelled buildings, you will need to store the maximum number of computers
available. Develop your app so that when the image of a building is touched or clicked, the number
of available computers in that building is displayed.
3.
Create two buttons, ‘reserve’ and ‘cancel’. Ensure that when the ‘reserve’ button is clicked, the
number of computers shown as available for that building is decremented. Similarly, the ‘cancel’
button increments the number of computers available. Make sure that operating the ‘cancel’ button
cannot increase the number of available computers beyond the maximum in that building.
4.
Create a feature that displays the location of computers available in other buildings in case there
are none available in the chosen building.
5.
Evaluate the success of your app and comment on how useful it might be to a member of the
university.
6.
Describe one simple additional feature that you would recommend adding to the app. Explain why
it would be useful.
7.
Extend your original app to include this additional feature. Make sure you show and explain all the
planning and code blocks that you use.
8.
A real implementation of this app would require an online database. Discuss the issues that need
to be considered when planning the implementation of an online database for this app.
© OCR 2014
A452 Jun15–Jun16
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BLANK PAGE
© OCR 2014
A452 Jun15–Jun16
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© OCR 2014
A452 Jun15–Jun16
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Copyright Information
OCR is committed to seeking permission to reproduce all third-party content that it uses in its assessment materials. OCR has attempted to identify and contact all copyright holders
whose work is used in this paper. To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced in the OCR Copyright
Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download from our public website (www.ocr.org.uk) after the live examination series.
If OCR has unwittingly failed to correctly acknowledge or clear any third-party content in this assessment material, OCR will be happy to correct its mistake at the earliest possible
opportunity.
For queries or further information please contact the Copyright Team, First Floor, 9 Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 1GE.
OCR is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group; Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is itself a
department of the University of Cambridge.
© OCR 2014
A452 Jun15–Jun16