National 5 Computing Science

Assignment
Assessment task

This is the assessment task for the National 5 Computing Science

Assignment.

This document provides information for teachers and lecturers about the coursework
component of this course in terms of the skills, knowledge and understanding that are
assessed. It must be read in conjunction with the course specification.

Valid for session 2017–18 only.

The information in this publication may be reproduced in support of SQA qualifications only
on a non-commercial basis. If it is reproduced, SQA must be clearly acknowledged as the
source. If it is to be reproduced for any other purpose, written permission must be obtained
from [email protected].

Where this publication includes material for which SQA does not own the copyright, this
material must only be reproduced on a non-commercial basis for the purposes of instruction
in an educational establishment. If it is to be reproduced for any other purpose, it is the
user’s responsibility to obtain the necessary copyright clearance from the copyright owner.
The acknowledgements page lists the owners of copyright items that are not owned by SQA.

This edition: January 2018 (version 1.0)

© Scottish Qualifications Authority 2018

Contents
Introduction 1

Instructions for teachers and lecturers 2

Instructions for candidates 6

Introduction
This document contains instructions for teachers and lecturers, and instructions
for candidates for the National 5 Computing Science assignment. You must read
it in conjunction with the course specification.

This assignment has 50 marks out of a total of 160 marks available for the
course assessment.

This is one of two course assessment components. The other component is a

question paper.

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Instructions for teachers and
lecturers
This assessment applies to the assignment for National 5 Computing Science for
the academic session 2017-18.

The task is valid for session 2017-18 only. Once complete, you must send the
assignment responses to SQA to be marked.

You must conduct the assignment under a high degree of supervision and
control. This means:

 candidates must be supervised throughout the session(s)

 candidates must not have access to e-mail or mobile phones
 candidates must complete their work independently — no group work is
permitted
 candidates must not interact with each other
 with no interruption for targeted learning and teaching
 in a classroom environment

Time
Candidates have 8 hours to carry out the assignment, starting at an appropriate
point in the course, after all content has been delivered. It is not anticipated
that this is a continuous 8-hour session, although it can be, but conducted over
several shorter sessions. This is at your discretion.

You have a responsibility to manage candidates’ work, distributing it at the

beginning and collecting it in at the end of each session, and storing it securely
in between. This activity does not count towards the total time permitted for
candidates to complete the assignment.

Candidates are prompted to print their work at appropriate stages of the tasks.
They can print on an ongoing basis or save their work and print it later.
Whatever approach they take, time for printing is not part of the 8 hours
permitted for the assignment.

Resources
Each candidate must have access to a computer system with a high-level
(textual) programming language, database application and software that can
create, edit and run SQL, HTML and CSS.

This is an open-book assessment. Candidates can access resources such as

programming manuals, class notes, textbooks and programs they have written
throughout the course. These may be online resources.

You must not create learning and teaching tasks that make use of constructs
required in the assessment task, with the specific purpose of developing a
solution that candidates can access during the assignment.

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There may be instances where restriction of network use is prohibited (for
example a local authority-managed network with specific limitations).
However, it remains your professional responsibility to make every effort to
meet the assessment conditions.

Reasonable assistance
The assignment consists of three independent tasks. They are designed in a way
that does not require you to provide support to candidates, other than to
ensure that they have access to the necessary resources. Candidates can
complete the tasks in any order.

Once the assignment is complete, you must not return it to the candidate for
further work to improve their mark. You must not provide feedback to
candidates or offer opinion on the perceived quality or completeness of the
assignment response, at any stage.

You can provide reasonable assistance to support candidates with the following
aspects of their assignments:

 printing, collating and labelling their evidence to ensure it is in the format

specified by SQA.
 ensuring candidates have all the materials and equipment required to
complete the assignment — this includes any files provided by SQA.
 ensuring candidates understand the conditions of assessment and any
administrative arrangements around the submission and storage of
evidence, and the provision of required files.
 technical support.

Evidence
All candidate evidence (whether created manually or electronically) must be
submitted to SQA in paper-based format. The evidence checklist details all
evidence to be gathered. You can use it to ensure you submit all evidence to
SQA.

You should advise candidates that evidence, especially code, must be clear and
legible. This is particularly important when pasting screenshots into a Word
document.

There is no need for evidence to be printed single sided or in colour.

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Alteration or adaptation
The tasks are in PDF and Word formats. Each task is available as a separate file
from the secure site. Word files allow candidates to word process their
responses to parts of the task.

You must not adapt the assignment in any way that changes the instructions to
the candidate and/or the nature and content of the tasks. However, you can
make changes to font size, type and colour and to the size of diagrams for
candidates with different assessment needs, for example, visual impairment.

If you are concerned that any particular adaptation changes the nature and/or
the content of the task, please contact our Assessment Arrangements team for
advice as soon possible at [email protected].

Submission
Each page for submission has the number of the assignment task that it refers
to, for example 1a, and contains space for candidates to complete their name
and candidate number. Any other pages submitted, for example prints of
program listings, screenshots, must have this information added to them.

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Specific instructions for teachers
and lecturers: 2017-18
You must follow these specific instructions and ensure that candidates are
aware of what you will give them at each stage in the assessment.

Print each task on single-sided paper, where applicable:

 this allows candidates to refer to information on other pages

 this helps you manage tasks that are split into more than one part

Task 1 — part A requires candidates to analyse and design a database. They

must submit their evidence for this part of the task to you before you issue
part B.

Task 1 — part B is a separate section. This ensures that candidates are not able
to access part A and change their responses. A CSV file (Staff.csv) is provided
for you to create the Staff table required for part B.

Entity name: Staff

Attribute name Key Type Size Required Validation
staffID PK text
forename text
surname text
address text
topSkill text
custRating number

The partially completed database must not include validation as this would
provide candidates with examples of validation. Candidates use this partially
completed database to complete the task.

Task 2
No additional instructions.

Task 3
The following files are provided and should be given to candidates to complete
this task:

 firstStage.jpg
 middleStage.jpg
 finishedStage.jpg

Candidates do not need to print completed web pages in colour.

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Instructions for candidates
This assessment applies to the assignment for National 5 Computing Science.

This assignment has 50 marks out of a total of 160 marks available for the
course assessment.

It assesses the following skills, knowledge and understanding:

 applying aspects of computational thinking across a range of contexts

 analysing problems within computing science across a range of
contemporary contexts
 designing, implementing, testing and evaluating digital solutions (including
computer programs) to problems across a range of contemporary contexts
 demonstrating skills in computer programming
 applying computing science concepts and techniques to create solutions
across a range of contexts

Your teacher or lecturer will let you know if there are any specific conditions
for doing this assessment.

In this assessment you have to complete three short practical tasks. You may
complete the tasks in any order.

Advice on how to plan your time

You have 8 hours to complete the assignment. Marks are allocated as follows:

 Task 1 — database design and development 15 marks (30% of total)

 Task 2 — software design and development 25 marks (50% of total)
 Task 3 — web design and development 10 marks (20% of total)

You can use this split as a guide when planning your time for each of the three
tasks.

Advice on gathering evidence

As you complete each task, you must gather evidence as instructed in each
task.

Your evidence, especially code, must be clear and legible. This is particularly
important when you paste screenshots into a Word document.

Use the evidence checklist provided to make sure you submit everything
necessary at the end of the assignment. Ensure your name and candidate
number is included on all your evidence.

Evidence may take the form of printouts of code/screenshots/typed answers,

hand-written answers or drawings of diagrams/designs.

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Advice on assistance
This is an open-book assessment. This means that you can use:

 any classroom resource as a form of reference (such as programming

manuals, class notes, textbooks) — these may be online resources
 any files you have previously created throughout the course

The tasks are designed so you can complete them independently, without any
support from your teacher or lecturer. This means that you:

 cannot ask how to complete any of the tasks

 cannot access any assignment files outside the classroom

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Computing Science assessment task: evidence
checklist
Task 1 Evidence
Part A
1a Completed task 1 sheet showing analysis of database inputs

1b Completed task 1 sheet showing data dictionary

Part B
1c Printout or screenshots of new database table — showing:
• new fields 
• data types have been created for the new fields 
• correct validation has been set up for the new fields 
Printout showing evidence that a relationship exists between the
two tables 
1d SQL statement to edit staff address

Printout of Staff table showing changed staff address

Task 2 Evidence
2a Printout of your program code

2b Completed task 2 sheet showing the test table

Printout evidence of test runs showing inputs and outputs for the
test table 
2c Completed task 2 sheet showing the required extreme test data
values 
2d Completed task 2 sheet showing evaluation

Task 3 Evidence
3a Completed task 3 sheet showing the functional requirements

3b Printout evidence of HTML and CSS files showing new page

Printout of web page showing how it looks in a web browser

Please follow the steps below before handing your evidence to your teacher or
lecturer:

 Check you have completed all parts of tasks 1, 2 and 3

 Label any printouts/screenshots with the task number (for example 1c, 2a)
 Clearly display your name and candidate number on each printout

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Task 1: database design and development (part A)
Greenhands is a gardening company which employs staff to do jobs for its
customers. The company keeps its staff details on paper cards.

When requesting work to be completed in their garden, customers fill in a

Customer Job Details form and send it to Greenhands. An example of the form
is shown below.

The office staff complete the Customer Job Details Form by contacting the
customer to arrange a date and time for the task. Staff members are selected
for each job by matching their ‘top skill’ to the customer’s requested task.

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1a Greenhands wishes to create a database to store its staff and job details.
Complete the job details in the analysis of inputs table below:
(3 marks)

Staff details: Job details:

Staff ID
Staff Forename
Staff Surname
Address
Top Skill
Customer Rating

1b Complete the data dictionary for the Staff entity.

(5 marks)

Entity name: Staff

Attribute name Key Type Size Required Validation
staffID text 5 length = 5

forename text 20 Y

surname 20 Y

address text 50 Y

topSkill text 5 Y

custRating number N

 Check your answers to part A carefully, as it cannot be returned after you

hand it in.
 When you are ready, hand it in to your teacher or lecturer and collect
part B.

Candidate name________________________ Candidate number______________

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Task 1: database design and development (part B)
1c Your teacher or lecturer will provide you with a partially completed
database file.

Using the data dictionary below complete the relational database by:

 creating a new table to store the job details

 adding all validation to the job entity
 creating a relationship between the two tables
(5 marks)

Entity name: Staff

Attribute name Key Type Size Required Validation
staffID PK text 5 Y length = 5
forename text 20 Y
surname text 20 Y
address text 50 Y
topSkill text 5 Y restricted choice:
lawn, hedge,
weeds
custRating number N Range >= 1 and
<= 10
Entity name: Job
Attribute name Key Type Size Required Validation
jobID PK number Y
jobDate date Y
jobTime time Y Range >= 9:00 and
<= 18:00
custName text 40 Y
custAddress text 50 Y
custPostcode text 8 Y
phoneNo text 11 N
task text 12 Y restricted choice:
Lawn Mowed,
Hedge Cut, Weeds
Pulled
staffID FK text 5 Y existing staffID
from Staff table

Print evidence to show that you have:

 created a new table to store the job details

 added all validation to the job entity
 created a relationship between the two tables
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1d Staff member DS021 has moved house recently.

Implement an SQL statement that will change the address of this

member of staff to:

99 Willow Way, Falkirk, FA87 6FE

(2 marks)

Print evidence of your SQL statement and the Staff table (clearly
showing the new address) once the SQL statement has been
implemented.

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Task 2: software design and development
Scotven offers a mobile wi-fi service at outdoor events. They check the signal
strength by taking readings from five locations.

The analysis and design for a program is shown below:

Program analysis
A program is required to display the five readings taken at the event and a
signal pattern. The signal pattern will show the strength of readings (S = strong,
M = medium and P = poor) in the order the readings were taken (1 to 5), for
example “SSMPS”.

Assumptions
 readings of signal strengths are recorded with two decimal places from
0.00% to 100.00%
 a strong signal is greater than 80% signal strength
 a medium signal is less than a strong signal and more than a poor signal
 a poor signal is less than 30% signal strength

Inputs
 five valid readings from the venue

Processes
 round each reading to zero decimal places
 create a five character string representing the signal pattern

Outputs
 a message displaying the signal pattern
for example - Signal Pattern is: SSMPS
 the five rounded readings with each reading number
for example - Reading 1 – 89
Reading 2 – 82
Reading 3 – 56
Reading 4 – 12
Reading 5 - 99
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Program design (structure diagram)

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 Task 2: software design and development
2a Using the program analysis and design, implement the program in a
language of your choice. Ensure the program matches the structure
diagram provided.
(15 marks)

Print evidence of your program code.

2b Your program should be tested to ensure it produces different signal

patterns correctly.

Complete the table below to create one set of test data that will produce
the expected output for the signal pattern shown.
(2 marks)

Type of Expected output for

User Input Actual output
test signal pattern
Normal reading 1 Signal pattern is: MPSPS Attach printouts of
reading 2 inputs and outputs
reading 3 as evidence.
reading 4
reading 5

You must demonstrate that your program correctly outputs the signal
pattern and the rounded readings.

Print evidence of inputs and outputs to show that you have completed the
test.

2c Your program should be tested to ensure that each signal strength

character is correctly assigned as S, M or P. Six extreme test values are
required to test this fully.

State the six test data values required:

(3 marks)

Extreme 1 ____________________
Extreme 2 ____________________
Extreme 3 ____________________
Extreme 4 ____________________
Extreme 5 ____________________
Extreme 6 ____________________

Candidate name________________________ Candidate number______________

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2d With reference to your code, evaluate your program by commenting on
the following:

Fitness for purpose (1 mark)

Where your code demonstrates efficient use of programming constructs (1

mark)

Robustness of your completed program (1 mark)

Readability of your code (2 marks)

Candidate name________________________ Candidate number______________

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Task 3: web design and development
Grieve Crafts builds eco-friendly garden products. They wish to create a web
page with the following content:

 a coloured top section which includes the company name

 a coloured middle section which includes a heading and short paragraph
titled “About our Company”
 a coloured bottom section which include a heading, three photographs
showing their most popular product being built and descriptions to
accompany the photographs
 an external link to a web page about their wood source.

3a State two functional requirements for the web page.

Functional requirement 1 (1 mark)

Functional requirement 2 (1 mark)

Candidate name________________________ Candidate number______________

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3b When designing the web page, Grieve Crafts produced a wireframe and a
low-fidelity prototype of the page showing an external link to a web page
about the source wood.

The wireframe design of the page (annotated with required styles) is

shown below:

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The low-fidelity prototype of the page is shown below:

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Your teacher/lecturer will provide you with the following three graphic
files:

 firstStage.jpg
 middleStage.jpg
 finishedStage.jpg

Implement the design using HTML and CSS. All style information should
be placed in an external CSS file as Grieve Crafts may add more web
pages in the future.

The web page should include a hyperlink to:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallet

(8 marks)

Print evidence of the following:

 HTML file
 CSS file
 Web page showing how it looks in a web browser

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Acknowledgement of Copyright
Task 1 - RetroClipArt/Shutterstock.com
Task 2 - Claudio Divizia/Shutterstock.com

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Administrative information

Published: January 2018

History of changes

Version Description of change Date

Security and confidentiality

This document can be used by practitioners in SQA approved centres for the assessment
of National Courses and not for any other purpose.

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