[WHAT EXTRA SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE DO I
NEED TO TEACH COMPUTING?]
Adapted from the Teaching Agency advice for entry into specialist computer courses for teachers this document provides a checklist of the type of
knowledge needed to teach Computing. Please note this knowledge and advice needs to be supplemented by general skills in the teaching of ICT.
Subject Knowledge Audit for the teaching of Computing
With the change to Computing as the new name for Information Communication and Technology many existing teachers are being presented
with the need to teach concepts and ideas that they have not met before. Successful teachers of ICT will, with a little training will become
effective teachers of Computing, and this paper indicates the knowledge that these teachers should gather to engender this change.
These additions assume that the teacher already has the necessary knowledge and skills to teach the following areas of the ICT and e-safety
curriculum and that they can:










Explain how to use a range of ICT tools in a purposeful way to tackle questions, solve problems and create ideas and solutions of value.
Explain how to apply ICT in a range of contexts and in other areas of learning, work and life.
Explain how ICT can be used to communicate, collaborate and share ideas on a global scale, allowing people to work together.
Solve problems creatively by using ICT to explore ideas and try alternatives.
Know that ICT can be used to model different scenarios, identify patterns and test hypotheses.
Know that ICT can be used to manipulate information and process large quantities of data efficiently.
Explore how ICT changes the way we live our lives and has significant social, ethical and cultural implications.
Discuss the issues of risk, safety and responsibility surrounding the use of ICT.
Be able to explain that information must not be taken at face value, but must be analysed and evaluated to take account of its purpose,
author, currency and context.
Review and reflect critically on what they and others produce using ICT.
There are several important points to note about the change of teaching:
 The list is aspirational and should not exclude teachers from teaching aspects of Computing
 There is a vast amount of resources available to help teachers – see https://sites.google.com/site/primaryictitt/
 The gaining of the knowledge needed to add to the teachers knowledge should be planned and part of the on-going CPD of the teacher.
Adapted from Teaching Agency – Subject knowledge requirements for entry into computer science teacher training and PoS for ICT
http://academy.bcs.org/sites/academy.bcs.org/files/subject%20knowledge%20requirements%20for%20entry%20into%20cs%20teacher%20training.pdf
http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/q/ict%202007%20programme%20of%20study%20for%20key%20stage%203.pdf
Subject Knowledge Audit for the teaching of Computing
Algorithms
 Explain that an algorithm is a
precise way of solving a
problem which can be followed
by humans and computers.
 Give examples of algorithms
met in everyday life.
 Explain that computers need
more precise instructions than
humans and the need for
precision to avoid errors.
 Explain and use programming
concepts such as selection,
repetition, procedures,
variables, and relational
operators.
 Review and assess the quality
of code. Find and correct
errors in syntax and meaning.
 Explain that computers are
controlled by sequences of
precise instructions known as
programs.
 Explain the need for accuracy
of algorithms.
 Explain that computers follow
instructions/blindly.
 Distinguish between an
algorithm and the programs
that implements that
algorithm.
 Represent algorithmic steps in
programming languages.
 Explain how and use programs
to simulate environments to
test hypothesis.
 Explain and show how
programs can be planned,
tested and corrected and
documented.
Data
 Explain how computers
represent all data in binary.
 Explain how the same binary
data can be interpreted in
different ways e.g. an 8-bit
value could be a character or a
number.
 Explain how the same
information can be
represented in a computer in a
variety of ways e.g. sound as
mp3 or MIDI.
 Explain that data can have
errors, how this might affect
results and decisions based on
the data and how errors can be
reduced.
 Explain the need for and
content of the Data Protection
Act, Computer Misuse Act and
Copyright legislation (and
other relevant legislation).
 Discuss career paths for those
studying Computing.
Computers & Social Informatics
 Explain what a computer is and
give examples of devices that
include computers.
Communication and the Internet
 Explain what the World Wide
Web and the Internet are, and
the difference.
 Explain and describe the key
characteristics of basic
computer architecture (e.g.
CPU, memory, hard disk,
mouse, display etc).
 Outline the key features of the
World Wide Web and their
relationships (e.g. browsers,
URLs, navigation methods).
 Explain why there are
sometimes different operating
systems and application
software for the same
hardware.
 Explain and use common
troubleshooting techniques.
 Explain Moore’s Law and
multitasking by computers.
 Outline how data are
transported on the Internet,
including packets and the
notion of a protocol.
 Explain the role of search
engines and what happens
when a user requests a web
page in a browser.
 Explain the technological
perspective on safety and
security.
 Discuss social and ethical
issues raised by the role of
computers in the world.
 Explain the importance of
human-computer interface
design
 Explain how HTML constructs a
web page.
Adapted from Teaching Agency – Subject knowledge requirements for entry into computer science teacher training and PoS for ICT
http://academy.bcs.org/sites/academy.bcs.org/files/subject%20knowledge%20requirements%20for%20entry%20into%20cs%20teacher%20training.pdf
http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/q/ict%202007%20programme%20of%20study%20for%20key%20stage%203.pdf
Primary Specialist
 Explain and show how
algorithms can use selection
(if), repetition (loops),
procedures (sub-algorithms
within an algorithm).
Programming
 Code competently in at least
two programming languages,
which may both be ‘visual’.
Subject Knowledge Audit for the teaching of Computing
Algorithms
 Explain how the choice of an
algorithm should be influenced
by the data.
 Be able to explain and use
several key algorithms (e.g.
sorting, searching, shortest
path).
 Explain how algorithms can be
improved, validated, tested
and corrected.
 Explain and show how different
algorithms can have different
performance characteristics for
the same task.
 Successfully apply algorithms in
solving GCSE and A level type
problems.
 Explain and use programming
concepts such as selection,
repetition, procedures,
constants, variables, relational
operators, logical operators
and functions.
 Explain and use truth tables
and Boolean valued variables.
 Explain and use two
dimensional arrays.
 Explain and use nested
constructs/loops.
 Explain the concept of
procedures that call
procedures.
 Explain how low level
languages work and be able to
give simple examples.
Data
 Explain the difference between
data and information.
Computers & Social Informatics
 Explain the use of logic gates
and registers.
 Explain the need for and use of
hexadecimal, two’s
complement, signed integers,
and string manipulation.
 Explain Von Neumann
architecture (CPU, Memory,
Input/Output).
 Explain the need for data
compression, and be able to
describe simple compression
methods.
 Explain the need for analogue
to digital conversions and how
this works.
 Explain the limitations of using
binary representations e.g.
rounding errors, sampling
frequency and fractional
numbers.
 Explain the fetch-execute
cycle.
 Explain and use low level
instruction sets and assembly
code.
Communication and the Internet
 Explain the concepts of:
client/server models; MAC
addresses, IP addresses and
domain names; and cookies.
 Explain a ‘real protocol’ e.g.
using telnet to interact with an
HTTP server.
 Explain routing; redundancy
and error correction;
encryption.
 Explain what compilers and
interpreters are and do and
give some examples of when
they are used.

Explain the main functions of
operating systems.
 Explain how structured data
can be represented in tables in
a relational database, and
simple database queries.
 Explain that a program can be
written to satisfy requirements
and that they should be
corrected if they do not meet
these.
 Successfully apply
programming in solving
Computing/Computer Science
GCSE and A level type
problems.
Adapted from Teaching Agency – Subject knowledge requirements for entry into computer science teacher training and PoS for ICT
http://academy.bcs.org/sites/academy.bcs.org/files/subject%20knowledge%20requirements%20for%20entry%20into%20cs%20teacher%20training.pdf
http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/q/ict%202007%20programme%20of%20study%20for%20key%20stage%203.pdf
Secondary Specialist
 Explain that a single problem
could be solved by more than
one algorithm.
Programming
 Program competently in a least
two programming languages,
at least one of which must be
‘textual’.