From FatMax
| A2 Term 1 Scheme of Work |
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From FatMax |
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A2 Module 4 - Information Systems within Organisations |
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A2 Module 6 - Major Project (in MS Access) |
Autumn Term: The ICT6 option assumes that
students have already got some experience with Access. If not it's a good idea
to give them a crash course in the summer term of the AS year once the exams are
out of the way. There are some very good Access
tutorials
here to get started. The
ICT in a Nutshell website is an excellent source for explaining database
concepts in plain English and contains some great sample databases.
Suggested outline for A2 term 1 based on 6 x 50 minutes per week. Click on the orange headings for links to resources, reading and practice questions.
Download these first! Checklists for the AQA
specification from Kesgrave High.
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A2 Module 4 specification (152 KB) |
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A2 Module 6 specification (92 KB) |
Note for teachers:
You're welcome to download and edit the FatMax2 scheme of work to suit
your own course but please leave references to Psionica, the KJS, Kesgrave etc. intact. You are also welcome to host it on a school
network or give students copies on CD .
The books referred to in this scheme are:
| Heathcote (ICT4) | Mott and Rendell (ICT6) | Heathcote (ICT6) |
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Core text ICT4 |
Core text ICT6. Referred to below as ICT6 M & R |
Extra reading for ICT6 |
At least two copies of each coursework book should be available in the Library Resource Centre. You can buy personal
copies using the links above (or ask your teacher, (s)he can probably get them
cheaper directly from the publishers!!)
Note for students AND teachers - Trying to stick rigidly to any guidelines for ICT6 is a nightmare as each project is unique. The only advice I can offer is:
1. Try and learn about some of the 'advanced' features of Access first
2. Go hell for leather in the second half term to produce a 'working' model.
The 'working' model can (and
should) be refined in term 2 following individual discussion between teacher and
student. The example projects in the coursework books aren't, IMNSHO, grade A standard so don't bother copying them!
| A2 Term 1 - Scheme of Work | Access Option |
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ICT6 |
Notes/Reading |
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| 1 |
Introduction to ICT4 |
Introduction to ICT6 Recall advantages of a RDBMS. Create coursework web page using sources from Links. Major vs. minor project |
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Organisational Structure |
Normalisation 1NF, 2NF and 3NF. Primary and composite keys. Reddick-Leszynski naming. Selective denormalisation. Why spreadsheets suck! ICT6 Heathcote Ch.1 |
ICT6 M & R Ch.3 |
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Info Systems
& Organisations I Info vs. data processing systems. MIS. System life cycle. |
Data Flow Input, output, processing. Video shop example Calculated fields in queries. Data flow diagrams. 'Sending' values from a form to a query to a report. ICT6 Heathcote Ch.4 |
ICT6 M & R
Ch.1 ICT4 Heathcote Chs. 36-39 |
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Info Systems
& Organisations II Success or failure of a MIS. Development Hell! How not to implement MIS (or anything else). |
Input/Processing - Forms. Properties - killer interfaces. Subforms. Unbound fields - a million uses. Candy Floss stuff ICT6 Heathcote Chs.3 & 8 |
ICT6 M & R
Chs. 10 & 11 ICT6 M & R Ch. 16 ICT4 Heathcote Chs. 36-39 |
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Corporate IS
Strategy Factors influencing IS strategy. Tasks and personnel. Information Flow Formal & informal methods. Constraints on information flow. |
Output/Processing - Reports Sorting and grouping. Unbound fields (again!) Subreports. Mail merge/DDE. ICT6 Heathcote Chs.6 & 10 |
ICT6 M & R
Chs. 12 & 13 ICT4 Heathcote Chs. 40 & 42 |
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Information and Data I Value of information. Classification of information. Effective Presentation |
User interface Form level validation. Security. Backup (batch file). Web-based databases. ICT6 Heathcote Ch.9 |
ICT4 Heathcote Ch.42 ICT6 M & R Ch.20 |
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Information
and Data II Info needs and data capture. Validation and verification. |
Design
questionnaire or interview pro forma. Start project log. Good ideas for projects More good ideas for projects. |
ICT4 test
weeks 1 -6 Project Guide ICT6 ICT4 Heathcote Ch.43 |
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Half Term - Project research: Read project guide and carry out initial research at chosen organisation. |
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The Management of Change Consequences of change. Good and bad change management practice (hassle the Business Studies department again!) Review of test in week 7. |
Start ICT6
practical List objectives and performance criteria. Design basic model and draw entity relationship diagram(s). |
IC4 Heathcote Ch.44 FatMax1 tutorials ICT6 |
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Legal Aspects Audit requirements. Current legislation. How organisations enforce legislation. |
Prototype Table Structure Create 'basic' tables and relationships. Test referential integrity. Test cascading updates/deletes. |
ICT4 Heathcote Ch.45 ICT4 Heathcote Ch.47 FatMax1 tutorials ICT6 KJS Access resources |
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Disaster Recovery Management Threats to IT systems. Concept of risk analysis. Contingency planning. |
'Detailed' Table Structure Edit table properties - field lengths etc. Add/test validation rules. |
ICT4 Heathcote Ch.46 FatMax1 tutorials ICT6 KJS Access resources |
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User Support User support packages. Levels of documentation. The need for training. |
Queries Create select queries. Add calculated fields to select queries. Create action queries. Test queries. |
ICT4 Heathcote Ch.48 FatMax1 tutorials ICT6 KJS Access resources |
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Project
Management & Effective Teams Characteristics of good teams Information & the Professional Social, moral and ethical issues. Codes of Practice Codes of Conduct |
User Interface Create forms and subforms Add 'navigation' controls to forms and create 'switchboard'. |
ICT4 Heathcote Ch.50 ICT4 Heathcote Ch.51 FatMax1 tutorials ICT6 KJS Access resources |
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Review of
ICT4 Mock exam |
'Advanced' Features Create/edit macros. Add validation rules to cells. Test macros and validation. |
Mock exam ICT4 KJS Revision Guide Psionica past papers FatMax1 tutorials ICT6 KJS Access resources |
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| 14 | Revision Review of mock exam. Identify weaknesses. |
'Finish' ICT6 practical Submit database in zip format. Complete project log. Chill out! |
FatMax2 ICT4 pages KJS Revision Guide FatMax2 Links page |
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Xmas holidays: Revise for ICT4 exam in January!! Practice answering questions using Psionica past paper database. |
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Copyright/Disclaimer - I think everyone whose work appears on this site has been properly credited. If not, get in touch and I'll make the necessary amendments. If you'd like to write/donate a scheme of work for any of the other modules or suggest improvements to these modules I'm all ears. FatMax2 is not an official AQA site (in case you hadn't guessed!) For official AQA documents the only 'reliable' source is the Official AQA website.
