Teacher Resource Bank

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1 Teacher Resource Bank GCE Information and Communication Technology INFO4: Practical Issues Involved in the Use of ICT in the Digital World Teacher Standardising Advice and Information Booklet Copyright 2010 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number ) and a registered charity (registered charity number ). Registered address: AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX. Dr Michael Cresswell, Director General.

2 The following document contains information from the Teacher Standardising meetings held in Summer and Autumn It is recommended that teachers also look at the marking grids in the Teacher Resource Bank on the AQA website for further guidance on the breakdown of marks and use the grids as an aid to marking their candidates INFO4 projects. Please refer to AQA s policy on attendance at a Teacher Standardising meeting on the website Contents Page Presenter's Slides 3 Important Information about coursework o Internal standardisation and AQA Documentation o Candidate Record Form o Information about moderation and sampling arrangements o Summary of key dates klm Copyright 2010 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 2

3 GCE ICT Standardisation Meeting for Examinations in 2010 INFO4 Unit 4 INFO4 Coursework Practical Issues Involved in the Use of ICT in the Digital World 20% of A Level 70 marks (Maximum uniform mark 80) Coursework project report, marked by centre and moderated by AQA Students complete a project involving the production of an ICT-related system over an extended period of time AQA 2 Grade A* Grade A* is awarded to candidates who have gained at least 320 uniform marks on the A level as a whole and a total of at least 180 uniform marks on the A2 units AQA 3 3 Copyright 2010 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved klm

4 Sources of Help! A copy of the Specification for 2010! AQA Website: Exemplar material! Marking grid! Coursework Advisor! JCQ guidelines on coursework AQA 4 JCQ guidelines on coursework assistance Examples of unacceptable assistance include:! detailed indication of errors or omissions;! advice on specific improvements needed to meet the criteria;! the provision of outlines, paragraph or section headings, or writing frames specific to the coursework task(s);! personal intervention to improve the presentation or content of the coursework. AQA 5 Information in the Specification 3.4 Unit 4 INFO4 possible projects Pages 16 to 18 Content of Project Report Pages 18 to 20 Marking Criteria Pages 20 to 23 AQA 6 klm Copyright 2010 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 4

5 Teachers are asked to! use the marking grid to draw the Moderator s attention to where candidates have achieved criteria and to explain the marks that they have awarded;! include an extra sheet with the marking grid, if necessary, annotate the coursework itself.! Moderators read these comments. AQA 7 Witness observation statements These can often be used to provide documentary evidence where an activity would otherwise result in evidence of an ephemeral nature. This would include confirming events such as setting up hardware or software, confirming that a software worked or was user friendly or that health and safety rules were followed. AQA 8 Witness observation statements It is important that a statement is sufficiently detailed so that it is possible for a third party (e.g. a moderator) to identify precisely the events that took place, to which evidence criteria these relate and the date (and time, if appropriate) when the events took place. This statement must be signed and dated by a competent witness. It is quite acceptable for the candidate s client to act as a witness, if the relevant event took place on the client s premises. In this case, the witness statement may need to be prepared beforehand so that the witness is aware of exactly what should be observed. AQA 9 5 Copyright 2010 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved klm

6 Witness observation statements A moderator will expect to see supporting evidence, such as preparatory notes covering different aspects of the activity, where this is appropriate. AQA 10 The Purpose of Standardisation Meetings! To ensure consistency in the application of the assessment criteria laid down in the specification. AQA 11 INFO4 mark breakdown 1 Background and investigation 14 2 Analysis and deliverables 15 3 Design and planning 14 4 Testing and documentation 13 5 Evaluation 7 6 Project report 7 Total 70 AQA 12 klm Copyright 2010 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 6

7 Internal Standardisation and the QCA GCE Code of Practice 1. According to the QCA GCE Code of Practice, the examining group responsible for the GCE award, "must require centres to standardise assessments across different assessors and teaching groups. This is to ensure that all candidates in the centre have been judged against the same standards," (para. 5.18). In other words, the internal standardisation of coursework must be carried out where more than one teacher is responsible for the assessment of coursework so that candidates' marks can be submitted to AQA in a single rank order for the whole centre. 2. It is the responsibility of the teacher representing the centre at the Standardisation Meeting to make sure that the standard set by AQA is used at the internal Standardisation Meeting. Centres which fail to conduct effective internal standardisation run the risk of jeopardising their candidates' marks. Certification Of Internal Standardisation The Head of the Centre and participating staff are required to confirm that assessments have been internally standardised across different teachers by completing a Centre Declaration Sheet. This sheet must then be sent to your Moderator with the sample of your candidates' coursework. If you do not have a copy of the Centre Declaration Sheet one can be obtained by writing to, telephoning AQA Publications, AQA Logistics Centre (Manchester), Unit 2, Wheel Forge Way, Ashburton Park, Trafford Park, Manchester, M17 1EH. (Tel: : Fax: ) or it can be downloaded from the AQA Website at: AQA Documentation The New Candidate Record Form The new ICT specification has a new Candidate Record Form (CRF). It can be found under GCE (AS/A) at: The CRF can be downloaded and word processed. One CRF must be completed for each candidate. The centre is responsible for marking its candidates projects. A breakdown of the marks should be entered onto the CRF, along with any supporting comments. Once the project has been marked, the CRF must be printed out and attached to the front of the candidate s project. An INFO4 CRF is shown on pages 8 and 9. The Centre Declaration Sheet The same link as above will take you to a Centre Declaration Sheet (CDS). One CDS must be completed for each centre and sent to the Moderator by 10 January or 15 May with the CMF. The Centre Mark Form In addition, each candidate s marks must be recorded on a Centre Mark form (CMF, which will be sent to centres in December/April). Copies of the CMF (the form is on three-part stationery) must be posted to both AQA and the Moderator by 10 January or 15 May. Centres with 20 or fewer candidates should also send ALL their work to the Moderator with the CMF. Centres with more than 20 candidates should send the CMF only. The Moderator will then request an appropriate sample of projects to be sent to him/her. 7 Copyright 2010 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved klm

8 GCE Information and Communication Technology (2520) Unit 4 Practical Issues Involved in the Use of ICT in the Digital World (INFO4) Centre number Centre name Candidate s full name Candidate number Notice to candidate The work you submit for assessment must be your own. If you copy from someone else or allow another candidate to copy from you, or if you cheat in any other way, you may be disqualified. To be completed by the candidate 1. Have you received any help or information from anyone other than your subject teacher(s) in the production of this work? Yes No 2. If you have answered yes, give details below and on a separate sheet if necessary. 3. Any books, leaflets or other materials (eg DVDs, software packages, Internet information) used to help you complete this work and not clearly acknowledged in the work itself must be listed below. Presenting materials copied from books or other sources without acknowledgement will be regarded as deliberate deception. Candidate declaration I have read and understood the above and can confirm that I have produced the attached work without assistance other than that which is acceptable under the scheme of assessment. As part of AQA's commitment to assist students, AQA may make your coursework available on a strictly anonymous basis to teachers, examining staff and students in paper form or electronically, through the Internet or other means, for the purpose of indicating a typical mark or for other educational purposes. In the unlikely event that your coursework is made available for the purposes stated above, you may object to this at any time and we will remove the work on reasonable notice. If you have any concerns, please contact AQA. Candidate signature Date Teacher declaration I confirm that the candidate s work was conducted under the conditions laid out by the specification. I have authenticated the candidate s work and am satisfied that to the best of my knowledge the work produced is solely that of the candidate. Teacher signature Date klm Copyright 2010 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 8

9 Candidate s full name Candidate number To be completed by the teacher Marks must be awarded in accordance with the instructions and criteria in the specification. Assessment criteria Maximum mark Mark awarded 1. Background and investigation Analysis and deliverables Design and planning for implementation Testing and documentation of the implementation Evaluation of the implemented solution 7 6. The project report 7 Total 70 Details of additional assistance given (if any) Record here details of any assistance given to this candidate which is beyond that given to the class as a whole and beyond that described in the specification. Continue on a separate sheet if necessary. Concluding comments To see how AQA complies with the Data Protection Act 1988 please see our Privacy Statement at aqa.org.uk 9 Copyright 2010 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved klm

10 Information about the method of sampling and moderation " Teachers meet together in the summer and/or autumn term for an AQA Standardisation Meeting to discuss the coursework exemplars provided by AQA. (Coursework exemplars are usually drawn from the previous year's cohort of candidates.) Teachers will then return to their centres to mark their candidates' work. " In December/April, centres will be sent a Centre Mark Form (CMF). Centres must insert the coursework mark for INFO4 for each candidate and send the top copy to AQA and the second and third copies to the Moderator, together with the Centre Declaration Sheet. AQA will provide your Examinations Officer with details of your centre s allocated Moderator in December/April. All Centre Mark Forms must be sent to arrive with the Moderator and AQA no later than 10 January for the January examination and 15 May for the June examination. Any requests for an extension to this deadline should be submitted, in writing, to the AQA Processing/Control department in Manchester as early as possible. Extensions will only be granted in exceptional circumstances. " Moderators then attend a training meeting at AQA to discuss administrative procedures, to mark further coursework exemplar material chosen by the Principal Moderator, and to remind themselves of the standards of marking. " When the Moderator receives the 2 copies of the CMF he/she will then return one copy to the centre to indicate which candidates' coursework, duly marked and annotated, must be sent to him/her. A signed Candidate Record Form must preface each piece of coursework requested for the sample. Further samples of work may be requested at a later date. Note if a centre has 20 or fewer candidates entered for the unit then all of the centre s coursework is sent to the Moderator with the CMF; samples are only requested by the Moderator where there are more than 20 candidates entered. " Once the Moderator s marks are received at AQA, a computer using a process known as regression may then adjust centres coursework marks. Please see, The moderation of centre-assessed components: an explanation for centres, for more information about regression on the AQA Website at: " When the results are published, centres will receive a computer print-out providing details of any adjustments to their candidates' marks. Each centre will also receive a feedback report written by the Moderator on the sample of work submitted to AQA. " Additional feedback to centres is provided through the Principal Moderator's Report on the Examination and at the subsequent year's Standardisation Meeting. " Attendance at future Standardisation Meetings will, for most centres, be at their discretion. However, for certain categories of centres, attendance at the following year's Standardisation Meeting will be compulsory. The types of centres whose attendance will be compulsory are given in the specification. klm Copyright 2010 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 10

11 Consortium: your centre's responsibility to inform AQA A consortium is formed when the same teacher or group of teachers assesses the candidates from two or more centres. As the marks of such groups of candidates must be submitted to AQA in a single rank order, it is the responsibility of the Heads of the Centres concerned to ensure that all the teachers involved undergo internal standardisation procedures, and that the centres report to AQA the names and numbers of the centres taking part in the consortium arrangement at the time entries for the examination are submitted. Summary of Key Coursework Dates for 2010 examination Last date for entries for Units and Subject Awards Date for submission of marks for INFO4 to AQA and Moderator Publication of Results Last date for Enquiries about Results January June 21 October # 21 March # 10 January 15 May 11 March (EDI) 19 August 18 March (hard copy) 13 April 20 September # Centres should be aware that a separate entry is required for each of the four units and also for the overall subject award. The subject award is not automatically awarded following the completion of all four units and will only be issued following an entry being made. Link to AQA Key Dates Calendar: All communications from AQA to your centre about GCE ICT are sent to your Examinations Officer. For contractual reasons, anything about an operational examination must be sent to the Head of the Centre who (usually) delegates this responsibility to the Examinations Officer so all our correspondence is addressed to the Examinations Officer, with the enclosures addressed to the Head of GCE ICT. The Examinations Officer should therefore be your first point of contact about any correspondence that you are expecting from AQA about ICT. 11 Copyright 2010 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved klm