New computing curriculum

Mynight

Mynight

Mynight

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Joined
16 Jun 2013
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Found this online from O2, a short test to show what the latest curriculum is like.

Apparently 25% of adults couldn't complete key stage 1 :eek:.

http://cdn.news.o2.co.uk.s3.amazonaws.com/quiz/index.html

How did you do?
What do you think? Good idea?

Personally I think unless the child wants to be a programmer it will end up as more information you learn at school but never use. Will definitely be much more use than the ICT lessons I was subjected to at GCSE/A-Level.

(obviously I passed key stage 4 :D)
 
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Come on, half of those questions are ambiguous or just plain incorrect in their answers.
 
The only one I thought was misleading was the array answer. The others had fairly obvious and appropriate interpretations for the level of academia.

It did also teach me about the tuple. And I have a degree in IT. How have I not heard of the tuple? Too many tipples.
 
In all my years of "using technology to survive and thrive", I have never needed to actually know what Boolean meant... and I doubt most school kids need it to operate an iPhone, either!!

I still passed KS4, incidentally.
 
gord said:
The only one I thought was misleading was the array answer. The others had fairly obvious and appropriate interpretations for the level of academia.

It did also teach me about the tuple. And I have a degree in IT. How have I not heard of the tuple? Too many tipples.
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There were plenty of them that were language dependent and very open ended questions. Some of them are not "computing" definitions either. PS, the questions are not the same for everyone, they are from a set.

I got all of them but the array one correct but with a few of them it was a toss up between 2 choices.
 
Stage 4, but I got the question on arrays wrong - I assumed the "which aren't ordered" bit refereed to the data in the arrays.

(The irony is that I'm a developer with a CS degree :p)
 
fez said:
Come on, half of those questions are ambiguous or just plain incorrect in their answers.
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I didnt think any of the answers were incorrect?

The only ambiguous question was: "what is used to build a webpage? HTML/Python/jQuery"
I suppose you could technically build an entire page in jQuery, but it would be a ridiculous thing to do so it's clearly not the correct answer.
 
Is anyone else kind of annoyed that they seem to be purposefully firing up a whole generation of coders? It feels to me like I'm just going to be screwed for work in ~15 years! You don't see the whole curriculum changing to create a generation of bankers/mech eng/insert other skilled profession.
 
gord said:
It did also teach me about the tuple. And I have a degree in IT. How have I not heard of the tuple? Too many tipples.
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I must admit I had never heard of a tuple before either but I don't have a degree in it :D.

I wonder how many of us would still pass key stage 4 if it was purely written rather than multiple choice.

Chris1712 said:
Is anyone else kind of annoyed that they seem to be purposefully firing up a whole generation of coders? It feels to me like I'm just going to be screwed for work in ~15 years! You don't see the whole curriculum changing to create a generation of bankers/mech eng/insert other skilled profession.
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Slightly miffed myself. I never had anyone tell me what to do (well other than tutorials). Looking at the questions if they are any indication on what will be taught I don't think seasoned programmers have much to worry about(other than the children that take it further). Aren't they sending all coding jobs to India anyway :D.
 
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I think the test is rubbish to be honest. I don't know how the internals of a car work but it doesn't stop me from doing every I need to do with my car.

Edit: And that said, I got a fair few of those questions wrong but I know that my ability to use things like Excel, Minitab and MS Project is more important given that's the type of work I do. Another example of qualifications being designed around the apparent "needs of today".
 
Mynight said:
Personally I think unless the child wants to be a programmer it will end up as more information you learn at school but never use.
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Problem is kids don't often know what they want to be and/or change their minds later on. Could put forth the same argument about many subjects - why learn about photosynthesis, why learn about the Norman Invasion or read Shakespeare etc... Its all part of a rounded education even if it ends up not being something you ever need to use again in future and tbh.. I reckon in terms of potential usefulness computing is likely a bit higher up than a lot of other subjects.
 
Got them all right. :)

Silly test really, it's more general knowledge about IT and definitions rather than any skill based questions on using computers.
 
dowie said:
Problem is kids don't often know what they want to be and/or change their minds later on. Could put forth the same argument about many subjects - why learn about photosynthesis, why learn about the Norman Invasion or read Shakespeare etc... Its all part of a rounded education even if it ends up not being something you ever need to use again in future and tbh.. I reckon in terms of potential usefulness computing is likely a bit higher up than a lot of other subjects.
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Very fair point. I stand corrected.
 
All correct, but as a IT professional I would be disappointed with anything else. Seems like a decent set of questions for school goers.

Kreeeee said:
Coding will all be outsourced eventually anyway. They really should be teaching more useful long term skills.
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This won't happen, there will always be UK coders. India can already do it much cheaper than the UK in general, and the north of England can do it cheaper than the south, but there are still huge development teams in London. It will never get to the stage where the UK is beaten on everything.
 
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