Computer Studies / Computing

Course summary

The theory side of computer science teaches about the internal workings of a computer, right down to the basics of how all data is stored using binary, whether that data consists of numbers, text, pictures or even music. It goes on from there to cover aspects of computer architecture, showing exactly how data is accessed from main memory using assembly language instructions and the fetch-execute cycle. As well as covering programming the course aims to promote good programming practices such as avoiding global sensible variable naming, structured programming, good re-use of code through procedures and functions, and proper commenting of code. It also covers higher-level concepts such as the social and legal impact of computers, and how to go about breaking down a big problem into individual programmable steps. Computer Systems • The characteristics of contemporary processors, input, output and storage devices • Software and software development • Exchanging data • Data types, data structures and algorithms • Legal, moral, cultural and ethical issues Algorithms and Programming • Elements of computational thinking • Problem solving and programming • Algorithms to solve problems and standard algorithms Programming Project • The learner will choose a computing problem to work through according to the guidance in the specification • Analysis of the problem • Design of the solution • Developing the solution • Evaluation