Year 11 — Computer Science

Term 1: Ethical, legal, cultural and environmental concerns

In this unit students will learn how to investigate and discuss Computer Science technologies while considering ethical, legal, cultural, environmental issues and privacy issues. Students will also learn how key stakeholders are affected by technologies. The environmental and cultural implications of Computer Science. They will also look at the legislation relevant to Computer Science such as The Data Protection Act 1998, Computer Misuse Act 1990,Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, Creative Commons Licensing and Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Computer Misuse Act -1990

The UK law that makes it illegal to hack into a person’s computer and to disrupt deliberately someone else’s computer.

Data Protection Act -1998

The UK law that tells organisations how they must protect the personal data of real people

Communication device

A device that allows a computer system to ‘talk’ to another system directly in binary code.

Ethics

Having morals and principles and 'doing the right thing', irrespective of profit.

Stakeholder

Anyone who has an interest in a business or is affected by business activity.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Create a supportive community:

Term 2: NEA Programming Project

In this unit students will complete their Programming Project which requires learners to use skills from Component 01 and Component 02 to create a solution to a set problem. They will code their solution in a suitable programming language. The solution must be tested by the students to ensure they solve the stated problem. They will create a suitable test plan with appropriate test data. The code they have written will be suitably annotated to describe the process

The Programming Project does not count towards a candidate’s final grade, but is a requirement of the course.

Programming language

A language used by a programmer to write a piece of software.

String

A sequence of characters often stored as a variable in a computer program. These characters can include numbers, letters and symbols

Procedure

A section of computer code that performs a specific task.

Test plan

A list of what is to be tested and how it is to be tested.

Validation

Checking input data is sensible and in the right format.

Maintainability

The process of ensuring that a program is easy to understand, modify and update.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Create a supportive community:

Term 3: System Security

In this unit students will learn the forms of attack, threats posed to networks which can be malware, phishing, people as the ‘weak point’ in secure systems (social engineering), brute force attacks and denial of service. They will also learn how to identify and prevent vulnerabilities by penetration testing, network forensics, network policies, anti-malware software, firewalls, user access levels, passwords and encryption.

Students will sit a written End of Unit assessment. This topic is part of Unit 1. Unit 1 is 50% of the whole qualification and is a 1 hour 30 minute written examination.

Firewall

An application that prevents unauthorised connections to and from the Internet

Penetration testing

Systems are tested for vulnerabilities to reveal any weaknesses in the system which can be fixed.

Virus

Any computer program designed to replicate and damage other computer systems and software.

Phishing

An attempt to gain personal information about someone by way of deception, eg sending an email pretending to be from their bank asking them for their bank details.

Malware

Software that is designed to cause harm or damage to a computer. This includes viruses that might damage files, adware that causes pop-ups, and spyware that collects and shares login details.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Create a supportive community:

Term 4: Revision

This term students will revise the Component 1 and Componenet 2. In Component 1 - Computer systems where they been introduced to the central processing unit (CPU), computer memory and storage, wired and wireless networks, network topologies, system security and system software. They will also look at ethical, legal, cultural and environmental concerns associated with computer science.In Component 2 - Computational thinking, algorithms and programming where students apply knowledge and understanding gained in component 01. They develop skills and understanding in computational thinking: algorithms, programming techniques, producing robust programs, computational logic, translators and data representation.

Unit 1: Computer Systems 1 hour 30 minutes examination.Unit 2: Computational thinking, algorithms and programming 1 hour 30 minute examination.

Design

Produce a plan, simulation or model.

Evaluate

Assess the implications and limitations; to make judgements about the ideas, works, solutions or methods in relation to selected criteria.

Outline

Give a brief account or summary.

State

Give a specific name, value or other brief answer without explanation or calculation.

Identify

Provide an answer from a number of possibilities. Recognise and state briefly a distinguishing factor or feature.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Create a supportive community: