Good Luck!
Ian B.
goes well for you, let us know how you did :-).
Ian
Toby
Yup yeah you too. I am pleased!
Samsonknight
"Toby" <tobaciou...@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:rf5150dt01f943bn0...@4ax.com...
Missed an A in RE by 5 points :@
Missed a B in RE by 3 points in another unit. :@
Got a C in ICT2 when I was so confident that I would get a A in ICT2!!!!!!!!
(well pissed) :@@@
So I guess for me it went shit!
Timmy
Seems alright. Probably the reason you didn't get an A in ICT2 was
because you were overly confident. Always best to think you will fail,
it kind of scares you into doing more work!
Max Power
> because you were overly confident. Always best to think you will fail,
> it kind of scares you into doing more work!
That is very true actually. Complacency leads to disappointment.
Samsonknight
"Max Power" <mp123...@BLOCKbigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:B%q4c.10525651$Of.17...@news.easynews.com...
Yeah, well....It is very bizarre because when I didnt revise I had got a C
and when I did I still got a C....I really can't believe it!
Rikki Prince
news:c2v4fm$m16$1...@titan.btinternet.com...
That's how A-Level ICT works.. Nobody's allowed an A...
(I'm not bitter!) ;-)
Rikki
John Smith
"Max Power" <mp123...@BLOCKbigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:B%q4c.10525651$Of.17...@news.easynews.com...
Have confidence in your abilities ; know that you are going to pass and pass
well. Don't listen to these self doubting assholes, they will get nowhere in
life.
max#
Samsonknight
> >
> > Yeah, well....It is very bizarre because when I didnt revise I had got a
C
> > and when I did I still got a C....I really can't believe it!
>
> That's how A-Level ICT works.. Nobody's allowed an A...
>
> (I'm not bitter!) ;-)
>
Tell me about it...The teacher that moderates the coursework refuses to give
top marks to anyone even if it is impressive and at high quality.
She thinks that even if you have done everything correctly and at high
quality there will always be room for improvement - It is so annoying!!!!
Like last year in my coursework I never got top marks - she always gave me
1-2 marks less from the maximum (despite the fact that I had done everything
that was required at a v good standard and even innovated with my coursework
by adding additional stuff such as adding letters from a "real" end user. So
that the coursework was given a more professional feel).
ICT is deliberately made hard due to annoying obstacles such as this- even
though in essence it isn't a very difficult subject. These obstacles have
probably been placed there so that ICT is not regarded as a 'Mickey Mouse'
subject due to the end exam results everyone achieves.
They should really scrap it, as an ICT student I feel it is very irrelevent
to everything except those going into business studies. But saying that most
people that do, end up going into business studies at degree level don't
tend to do ICT at this level anyway.
ICT should in future just be apart of the Business studies A-level course
and not a singular subject - its much more relevent that way because as an
independent subject it tends to be very monotonous, jaded as most of the
course content tends to repeat itself after the AS level. I guess I get
pissed off with the subject because I would have preferred to learn the
technically behind viruses,trojans and not the implications a virus can have
on a business for example. I have felt I have wasted 2 years doing this
course and would rather have done Art,History,Politics or something more
relevent to what I may like to do in the future. Damn those career
advisors/school teachers for advising me to choose this subject!
Anyway, thats my opinion, if you disagree feel free to reply :P
Kieren Walters
> <snippity snip>
>
>>>Yeah, well....It is very bizarre because when I didnt revise I had got a
>
> C
>
>>>and when I did I still got a C....I really can't believe it!
>>
>>That's how A-Level ICT works.. Nobody's allowed an A...
>>
>>(I'm not bitter!) ;-)
>>
>
>
> Tell me about it...The teacher that moderates the coursework refuses
to give
> top marks to anyone even if it is impressive and at high quality.
>
ICT coursework seems to be marked very strictly, but this is the exam
board, my board AQA dropped all our marks on our AS coursework. I got an
A overall in the subject but only a C in the A2 project.
> She thinks that even if you have done everything correctly and at high
> quality there will always be room for improvement - It is so annoying!!!!
> Like last year in my coursework I never got top marks - she always
gave me
> 1-2 marks less from the maximum (despite the fact that I had done
everything
> that was required at a v good standard and even innovated with my
coursework
> by adding additional stuff such as adding letters from a "real" end
user. So
> that the coursework was given a more professional feel).
>
> ICT is deliberately made hard due to annoying obstacles such as this-
even
> though in essence it isn't a very difficult subject. These obstacles have
> probably been placed there so that ICT is not regarded as a 'Mickey
Mouse'
> subject due to the end exam results everyone achieves.
>
Exam results in this were no higher than the other subjects I did really
(except Maths were people got lower results) but I do agree that the
exams seem easier than the coursework in terms of the hours you need to
put in to get a good mark.
> They should really scrap it, as an ICT student I feel it is very
irrelevent
> to everything except those going into business studies. But saying
that most
> people that do, end up going into business studies at degree level don't
> tend to do ICT at this level anyway.
>
I totally disagree, it obviously doesn't suit you but that doesn't mean
it should be scrapped. Maths didn't suit me as I found it boring so
didn't do the work required and then got a poor grade but I don't
suggest it should be scrapped. Well that didn't hold true for our class
people have gone on to Politics (me), Psychology, Building surveying, IT
based courses as well as Business Studies. and employment.
> ICT should in future just be apart of the Business studies A-level course
> and not a singular subject -
Not everything done in ICT is related to business. I remember looking at
ICT case studies in the voluntary and public sector which was of much
more interest to me.
> its much more relevent that way because as an
> independent subject it tends to be very monotonous, jaded as most of the
> course content tends to repeat itself after the AS level. I guess I get
> pissed off with the subject because I would have preferred to learn the
> technically behind viruses,trojans and not the implications a virus
can have
> on a business for example.
ICT is not CompSci and its not meant to be, but it is valuable in its
own right, I found it very interesting particularly as it seemed to
include elements of public policy/administration as well as some
practical stuff with technology. The problem comes when people think it
is useful for a computing degree/it is similar to computing where it
really isn't. Fortunately my school seemed to get the information about
the courses about right. The one person I know doing CompSci at uni did
not do ICT with me at school.
> I have felt I have wasted 2 years doing this
> course and would rather have done Art,History,Politics or something more
> relevent to what I may like to do in the future. Damn those career
> advisors/school teachers for advising me to choose this subject!
>
I don't know what you want to at uni but I don't really see how any of
the a-levels you talk about are particularly more relevant to a
particular degree path than if you actually now want to do one of those
subjects. Anyway you could easily still do a politics degree without
politics a-level (I do it) and you could do an Art foundation course
then degree if you really have the skill for art.
--
Kieren
--
Kieren
Ian/Cath Ford
<samsonk...@btopenworld.com> wrote:
>Tell me about it...The teacher that moderates the coursework refuses to give
>top marks to anyone even if it is impressive and at high quality.
This is your teacher-marker I presume? The top mark coursework will,
afaik, **always** be sent to an external moderator, who will, afaik,
**always** sample that piece as part fot heir sample work (the low
mark will also go). If the external moderator disagreed with the
teacher-marker they would know by now - and there is the possibility
marks would have been adjusted.
Also bear in mind that full marks are not required for full UMS marks
- I believe we gave a 92(ish) last year, which was unchanged on
moderation bt received, as expected, 100 UMS.
I may well agree with the rest of your article.
Ian
--
Ian, Cath & Eoin Ford
The view from Beccles
I loved the words you wrote to me/But that was bloody yesterday
No e-mail address. If you want to talk to me then talk here to start with and we can go back to your place later...
Samsonknight
"Kieren Walters" <k.e.w...@durham.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:c32d00$lc9$1...@sirius.dur.ac.uk...
> Samsonknight wrote:
> > Tell me about it...The teacher that moderates the coursework refuses
> to give
> > top marks to anyone even if it is impressive and at high quality.
> >
>
> ICT coursework seems to be marked very strictly, but this is the exam
> board, my board AQA dropped all our marks on our AS coursework. I got an
> A overall in the subject but only a C in the A2 project.
>
My board is also AQA and I agree it is marked very strictly which is why it
faustrates the hell out of me...It just sometimes feels like they mark it so
strictly to prove a point "ICT is not a mickey mouse subject, don't think
its easy and become complacent as a result"....ahh well nothing I can do!
> > She thinks that even if you have done everything correctly and at high
> > quality there will always be room for improvement - It is so
annoying!!!!
> > Like last year in my coursework I never got top marks - she always
> gave me
> > 1-2 marks less from the maximum (despite the fact that I had done
> everything
> > that was required at a v good standard and even innovated with my
> coursework
> > by adding additional stuff such as adding letters from a "real" end
> user. So
> > that the coursework was given a more professional feel).
> >
> > ICT is deliberately made hard due to annoying obstacles such as this-
> even
> > though in essence it isn't a very difficult subject. These obstacles
have
> > probably been placed there so that ICT is not regarded as a 'Mickey
> Mouse'
> > subject due to the end exam results everyone achieves.
> >
>
> Exam results in this were no higher than the other subjects I did really
> (except Maths were people got lower results) but I do agree that the
> exams seem easier than the coursework in terms of the hours you need to
> put in to get a good mark.
>
Maybe so, but it is easier to pass with some sort of grade. Without revising
I can get a C, if I had done that wiith chemestry, maths I am bound to get a
U. - this happened to me with maths last year (last minute revision) which I
regret!
Also, as they mark the coursework stricter your bound to get average
grades - its the coursework that has the most impact on your overall grade.
> > They should really scrap it, as an ICT student I feel it is very
> irrelevent
> > to everything except those going into business studies. But saying
> that most
> > people that do, end up going into business studies at degree level
don't
> > tend to do ICT at this level anyway.
> >
>
> I totally disagree, it obviously doesn't suit you but that doesn't mean
> it should be scrapped. Maths didn't suit me as I found it boring so
> didn't do the work required and then got a poor grade but I don't
> suggest it should be scrapped. Well that didn't hold true for our class
> people have gone on to Politics (me), Psychology, Building surveying, IT
> based courses as well as Business Studies. and employment.
>
Maths holds much more value then ICT. It is much more relevent to ICT, with
a good grade in maths you can get into many academic fields easier the those
that havent done it, as this shows you have a very logical brain. Like you,
I have also done maths and it isnt like ICT a tip out of the head subject so
I highly respect it to the point that I will do a years course in AS & A2
Maths in my gap year.
> > ICT should in future just be apart of the Business studies A-level
course
> > and not a singular subject -
>
> Not everything done in ICT is related to business. I remember looking at
> ICT case studies in the voluntary and public sector which was of much
> more interest to me.
>
I have to disagree here , from what I am learning now and the case studies
we cover it always gets linked back to how it effects the business. Like for
example when they talk about security in ICT, you have to often list
advantages and disadvantages of using a certain computer related
tool/crime/law back onto the implications it has on the business and staff.
> > its much more relevent that way because as an
> > independent subject it tends to be very monotonous, jaded as most of
the
> > course content tends to repeat itself after the AS level. I guess I get
> > pissed off with the subject because I would have preferred to learn the
> > technically behind viruses,trojans and not the implications a virus
> can have
> > on a business for example.
>
> ICT is not CompSci and its not meant to be, but it is valuable in its
> own right, I found it very interesting particularly as it seemed to
> include elements of public policy/administration as well as some
> practical stuff with technology. The problem comes when people think it
> is useful for a computing degree/it is similar to computing where it
> really isn't. Fortunately my school seemed to get the information about
> the courses about right. The one person I know doing CompSci at uni did
> not do ICT with me at school.
>
This is the problem though, the majority of people that do ICT tend to do it
because they want to get into a computer related field and the worst thing
is that state schools such as mine promote students like myself doing this
course for that exact reason!
It was only later that I found out from my form tutor that the only reason
why they get students to do it is because of the A-level pass rate in it
makes the school look good.
> > I have felt I have wasted 2 years doing this
> > course and would rather have done Art,History,Politics or something
more
> > relevent to what I may like to do in the future. Damn those career
> > advisors/school teachers for advising me to choose this subject!
> >
>
> I don't know what you want to at uni but I don't really see how any of
> the a-levels you talk about are particularly more relevant to a
> particular degree path than if you actually now want to do one of those
> subjects. Anyway you could easily still do a politics degree without
> politics a-level (I do it) and you could do an Art foundation course
> then degree if you really have the skill for art.
>
I have a genuine interest in the above subjects and by coming on AUA
regularly they are much more respected then ICT by Admission tutors. I don't
know about Art, but I am looking into a degree at bournemouth after my gap
year which combines programming and animation- some of you regualrs have
seen it.
Also, another problem with ICT is the actual coursework structure I find a
lot of the times I am limited on what I can do - I am NOT allowed to use
excessive amounts of VBA in my work as its too 'far ahead' of the other
students and it apparently goes off the 'course sylabus'....This is very
bizarre as other subjects then to promote the fact that you have additional
knowledge, like in maths for example I remembered that I could do
diffrentiation using the P2 technique and my maths teacher was impressed and
promoted that I used that technique for my P1 exam. The coursework is very
longwinded, its not hard just longwinded its like while I am doing it, I
sometimes think to myself what is the point! Seriously they should just have
left it at GCSE as its not like the advanced techniques they introduce in
the coursework are very hard for GCSE students to understand.
John Porcella
> That's how A-Level ICT works.. Nobody's allowed an A...
>
Maybe...however, I took the first two ICT papers and am holding an A grade
in both. However, I may stop there as I am too busy with work and other
projects to do the ICT project for unit three.
--
MESSAGE ENDS.
John Porcella
John Porcella
> lot of the times I am limited on what I can do - I am NOT allowed to use
> excessive amounts of VBA in my work as its too 'far ahead' of the other
> students and it apparently goes off the 'course sylabus'....This is very
> bizarre as other subjects
Maybe. The AQA syllabus mentions that programming is not "in the spirit" of
the ICT examination...hence why VBA is not awarded high marks in ICT, but is
in Computing.
Kieren Walters
> "Kieren Walters" <k.e.w...@durham.ac.uk> wrote in message
> news:c32d00$lc9$1...@sirius.dur.ac.uk...
>
>>Samsonknight wrote:
>>
>>I totally disagree, it obviously doesn't suit you but that doesn't mean
>>it should be scrapped. Maths didn't suit me as I found it boring so
>>didn't do the work required and then got a poor grade but I don't
>>suggest it should be scrapped. Well that didn't hold true for our class
>>people have gone on to Politics (me), Psychology, Building surveying, IT
>>based courses as well as Business Studies. and employment.
>>
> Maths holds much more value then ICT. It is much more relevent to ICT,
I think it is more relevant to computing, not necessarily to ICT. I have
seen a several million pound computer project in a company go completely
wrong because it was being run by programmers who evidently completely
understood the computing side of their job but were absolutely useless
at relating to the people who worked in the company and understanding
how the company worked. This is the kind of skill ICT is about, to run a
successful computing project you need both these skills and the
technical skills.
> with
> a good grade in maths you can get into many academic fields easier the those
> that havent done it, as this shows you have a very logical brain.
Maths is undoubtably a bonus for subjects in the natural sciences, but I
question how important it is for a subjects in the arts or social sciences.
> Like you,
> I have also done maths and it isnt like ICT a tip out of the head subject
ICT is only tip out of the head if you already have an interest in ICT,
Geography was much the same for me, I was able to bring my personal
knowledge, skills and opinions into the subject.
> so
> I highly respect it to the point that I will do a years course in AS & A2
> Maths in my gap year.
>
>>> ICT should in future just be apart of the Business studies A-level
>>> course and not a singular subject -
>>
>>Not everything done in ICT is related to business. I remember looking at
>>ICT case studies in the voluntary and public sector which was of much
>>more interest to me.
>
> I have to disagree here , from what I am learning now and the case studies
> we cover it always gets linked back to how it effects the business. Like for
> example when they talk about security in ICT, you have to often list
> advantages and disadvantages of using a certain computer related
> tool/crime/law back onto the implications it has on the business and staff.
>
I certainly remember looking at societal not just the business effects
of technology.
>
>>> its much more relevent that way because as an
>>> independent subject it tends to be very monotonous, jaded as most of
>>> the
>>> course content tends to repeat itself after the AS level. I guess I get
>>> pissed off with the subject because I would have preferred to learn the
>>> technically behind viruses,trojans and not the implications a virus
>>>can have
>>> on a business for example.
>>
>>ICT is not CompSci and its not meant to be, but it is valuable in its
>>own right, I found it very interesting particularly as it seemed to
>>include elements of public policy/administration as well as some
>>practical stuff with technology. The problem comes when people think it
>>is useful for a computing degree/it is similar to computing where it
>>really isn't. Fortunately my school seemed to get the information about
>>the courses about right. The one person I know doing CompSci at uni did
>>not do ICT with me at school.
>
> This is the problem though, the majority of people that do ICT tend to do it
> because they want to get into a computer related field and the worst thing
> is that state schools such as mine promote students like myself doing this
> course for that exact reason!
I went to a state school as well, but we were given reasonably good
information/advice over what ICT would be. I do agree there seems to be
a real information problem over the difference between ICT and Computing
and what are the best subjects to do for a Computer Science at university.
> It was only later that I found out from my form tutor that the only reason
> why they get students to do it is because of the A-level pass rate in it
> makes the school look good.
>
I think the pass rate a my school was not particularly good and the
teacher had to pressure the school for several years to be able to teach
ICT. However that pressure was clear as their was some talk of axing
Physics because the grades were poor.
Personally I would argue that whatever the best solution to the problem
is should be awarded the highest mark, however the implications of using
a particular techniques should be looked at e.g. is using VBA going to
need more testing than using other parts of a software package? does the
organisation have adequate resources to maintain the system if it is
implemented in this more complicated way?
--
Kieren
Matthew Huntbach
> Samsonknight wrote:
>> with
>> a good grade in maths you can get into many academic fields easier the those
>> that havent done it, as this shows you have a very logical brain.
> Maths is undoubtably a bonus for subjects in the natural sciences, but I
> question how important it is for a subjects in the arts or social sciences.
A lot of social sciences requires mathematical analysis. Some branches of
economics are extremely mathematical. Even for the arts, it helps
develop and test good logical thinking skills, which can't be bad.
>> Like you,
>> I have also done maths and it isnt like ICT a tip out of the head subject
> ICT is only tip out of the head if you already have an interest in ICT,
> Geography was much the same for me, I was able to bring my personal
> knowledge, skills and opinions into the subject.
I find that one of the main reason for student failure in university
is an inability to break out of thinking that studying means memorising
and regurgitating. For this reason I have little time for A-level subjects
that can be passed in this manner, and unfortunately my experience is that
ICT is one of them.
>>>ICT is not CompSci and its not meant to be, but it is valuable in its
>>>own right, I found it very interesting particularly as it seemed to
>>>include elements of public policy/administration as well as some
>>>practical stuff with technology. The problem comes when people think it
>>>is useful for a computing degree/it is similar to computing where it
>>>really isn't. Fortunately my school seemed to get the information about
>>>the courses about right. The one person I know doing CompSci at uni did
>>>not do ICT with me at school.
>> This is the problem though, the majority of people that do ICT tend to do it
>> because they want to get into a computer related field and the worst thing
>> is that state schools such as mine promote students like myself doing this
>> course for that exact reason!
> I went to a state school as well, but we were given reasonably good
> information/advice over what ICT would be. I do agree there seems to be
> a real information problem over the difference between ICT and Computing
> and what are the best subjects to do for a Computer Science at university.
As a university admissions tutor in Computer Science my experience concurs
with samsonknight - a very large number of schools and sixth form colleges
do wrongly believe that ICT is the main A-level I will be looking at, and
that the Computer Science degree I am admissions tutor for will essentially
be a continuation of what was covered in A-level ICT. However, I've
experienced this understanding from private school as well, so it isn't just
state schools.
Part of the problem is that while "IT" or "ICT" has a specific meaning in
schools, in the industrial world "IT" is used to mean anything to do with
computers, including entirely technical and programming aspects of it. So
computer programming is considered to be an "IT job", even though A-level
ICT deliberately avoids any programming.
In a Computer Science degree, firstly programming plays a core role. It
doesn't mean programming is all that's done in the degree, but it does mean
you aren't going to do well if you find programming hard. If people are
going to do badly on the degree, it tends to be because they find
programming hard - there aren't many people who find programming easy but
fall down on the rest. For this reason, the main question I want answered
when I'm picking students fro the degree is "can this person programme?" and
I don't have anything that will answer that. In general, however, it seems
there is quite a close correlation between mathematica ability and
programming ability, which is why Maths A-level is the main one I will look
at. But I still find many schools who find it a revelation to be told that.
>> It was only later that I found out from my form tutor that the only reason
>> why they get students to do it is because of the A-level pass rate in it
>> makes the school look good.
> I think the pass rate a my school was not particularly good and the
> teacher had to pressure the school for several years to be able to teach
> ICT. However that pressure was clear as their was some talk of axing
> Physics because the grades were poor.
Yes, unfortunately that happens. I have often found school admits to
discouraging people from doing "hard" subjects even if those hard subjects
are most in demand from university admissions tutors, because they believe
it will drag them down the schools league tables. I've spoken to schools who
admit they put on A-level ICT and encourage students who want to do
"something with computers" to take it because they believe it will increase
the school's overall pass rate to do that rather than encourage the students
to do A-level Maths.
Matthew Huntbach
Max Power
>
> I think it is more relevant to computing, not necessarily to ICT. I have
> seen a several million pound computer project in a company go completely
> wrong because it was being run by programmers who evidently completely
> understood the computing side of their job but were absolutely useless
> at relating to the people who worked in the company and understanding
> how the company worked. This is the kind of skill ICT is about, to run a
> successful computing project you need both these skills and the
> technical skills.
I think he meant to say "much more relevant than ICT".
Requirements gathering / engineering is the part of Computer science that
specifies how a system relates to people working at a company. There is a
lot of
written stuff you are 'meant' to do, such as drawing UML use case diagrams,
writing use case descriptions, drawing prototype GUIs.
> Personally I would argue that whatever the best solution to the problem
> is should be awarded the highest mark, however the implications of using
> a particular techniques should be looked at e.g. is using VBA going to
> need more testing than using other parts of a software package? does the
> organisation have adequate resources to maintain the system if it is
> implemented in this more complicated way?
By the sounds of it ICT takes more of a management / business perspective
on IT. I can completely understand how this management way of thinking might
get
up a technical innovator's nose (like samsonknight). Saying that though
doing a
subject like ICT might be good preparation when you eventually have to deal
with middle-managers in the real world.
The bottom line is that managers want you to justify how some new fangled
software is going to raise their bottom line.
Samsonknight
"Ian/Cath Ford" <m...@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:1pd9505f5ahp9mghg...@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 14 Mar 2004 18:12:30 +0000 (UTC), "Samsonknight"
> <samsonk...@btopenworld.com> wrote:
>
> >Tell me about it...The teacher that moderates the coursework refuses to
give
> >top marks to anyone even if it is impressive and at high quality.
>
> This is your teacher-marker I presume? The top mark coursework will,
> afaik, **always** be sent to an external moderator, who will, afaik,
> **always** sample that piece as part fot heir sample work (the low
> mark will also go). If the external moderator disagreed with the
> teacher-marker they would know by now - and there is the possibility
> marks would have been adjusted.
>
> Also bear in mind that full marks are not required for full UMS marks
> - I believe we gave a 92(ish) last year, which was unchanged on
> moderation bt received, as expected, 100 UMS.
>
> I may well agree with the rest of your article.
>
Good news!
Just found out that my coursework is at a B instead of a C....Both my ICT
teachers never told me about this - and for months I have been under the
illusion that I have got a C (not good for the morale) ...so I guess
something nice has happened!
I only wish that I got help when I most needed it because I knew I would
have got an A!