OCR NEA Companion - A Level
Comprehensive, well-structured guidance helps teachers and their students get to grips with the requirements of the A Level OCR programming project (Component 03/04). A valuable aid to all teachers but especially those new to supervising projects.
Matches the specification perfectly
- Includes separate chapters for each section of assessment criteria
- Easy-to-read explanations and tips, contextualised with varied examples throughout
A well-structured, student-friendly decomposition of the problem posed by the NEA project for OCR A-Level
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What do teachers say about this resource? (10096)
The resource is extremely detailed, and covers the whole range of the NEA specification. The table of contents maps well to the mark scheme, and provides a good overall checklist for students to complete. Warning notifications throughout the document allow students to see what examiners are looking for, and what is not needed for this project. The suggested project structure is useful... The resource clearly defines what students have to do, and would be a good roadmap compared to the mark scheme and specification information given by OCR. There is enough detail for students to understand why they are getting marks in each area, and how the marks relate back to the overall mark scheme (grid). The resource constantly refers back to the mark scheme, but in student-readable language... The resource is excellent - and not so prescriptive that all students will end up with similar project documentation... The NEA project is notoriously difficult for students who have wild ambitions, but forget to do the steps that are required when completing the project to obtain the top mark band in each area. This resource focuses students on completing each step with a checklist to success. Teachers will find this resource useful in class, as they can approach each section with enough detail and use the start of chapter mark bands to track progress. The use of command words throughout (in example paragraphs) will help focus lower-attaining students on their written work... This resource matches the specification perfectly - it is clear it has been written by someone who has taught this previously, and has a good handle on the necessary requirements for the mark bands. As it takes detail directly from the mark bands, there can be no concern that the material does not fit the specification.
Resource is ideal to hand over to a student for working through the project in bite-size chunks... a resource like this will empower teachers to communicate the requirements without risking committing malpractice... I would be very happy to recommend this resource to other teachers
A well-structured, student-friendly decomposition of the problem posed by the NEA project for OCR A-Level ... It guides learners all the way through the project, from the potential pitfalls of different project types to the end evaluation of the finished program. The Analysis section is very useful for students struggling with how to apply what they have learned about computational methods to justify which computational thinking techniques they will incorporate into their projects. ... There are some great ideas to help students gather requirements from stakeholders and select features from existing solutions. There is some great advice and a fair few examples of how to hit the higher mark bands in each section. The design section – which, in my experience, students really tend to find tricky, especially if they struggle with devising algorithms – is excellent with its focus on breaking down the problem and presenting the solution in diagrammatic, flowchart and pseudocode form. The emphasis on testing and test data is great, as students tend to not give much thought to this whilst designing the system. Again, there are lots of examples to help students apply the advice in their own work ... very impressed
This is a good resource which tackles many of the considerations required for students to be successful...Layout is excellent and writing style is great... It is accurate and interprets the specification well... A significant improvement on most of the freely available resources as it offers lots of practical advice and examples which will help students.