ridiculous Terminology in GCSE IT

Evidently! The age of the terminator is upon us! :rolleyes:

However you will find that the highscool computing classes are dire... hardware and programming (Programming being my area of main interest) the course has very very outdated information and/or completely wrong information.. but there was nothing i could do, i quickly learnt that if i didn't use their terminology in my answers i would be marked down the drain, and i was for my first prelim. :eek:

I understand your pain, but bite the bullet and go with it for now, see when you hit uni... like everyone else says, the fun starts ;) (They know their stuff!)
 
I got a C for my A-level computing... I'd already been building computers for about 6 years and knew vastly more then my tutor did about day-to-day computing (not to sound arrogant, but it's the truth!), to the point where I was teaching HIM stuff pretty often. you're absolutely spot on that most (not all, but most) schooling is about regurgitating "stuff" in the right order and in the right way, whether it's correct/useful or not.

you just have to grin and suffer with it mate...
 
my college IT support teacher didnt know how to turn a computer on, he just sat there waving the mouse about and pressing keys on the keyboard and was looking around the back to see if it was all plugged in and he seemed totally clueless and he was getting frustrated with it, i went over and just pushed the on button in and it magically come on :rolleyes:
 
all these questions are written by people so stupid, so dumb they can barely make it to work in the morning. I am in the process or ripping a new hold for hte local college about the quality of their BTEC computer course..
 
Gundog48 said:
I understand that being technical it does connect to the processor. But in reality, we would all say connecting it to the computer or whatever device we are talking about. I just find it ridiculous that they focus so strongly on catching you out on your terminology rather than your actual knowledge of IT.
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Sorry, you understand that you are wrong, yet you continue to whinge.
It is a GCSE, there are definitions, they have to be learned. By the nature of the exam they will ask you for these definitions and you score points on use of certain words within them.
Its that basic, the exam is that simple, all GCSEs are based on the same principle, there is no need for independent thought.
They are marking exams for millions of people each year, they grant marks for correct answers and those they 'catch out' don't get marks. In a GCSE 'actual knowlegde' as you put it, refers to giving correct answers for the ciriculum that you've been set, not being able to build a system or code in C++.

Just learn your definitions and then move on, when you get to Big School (Uni) then some potential for independent thought exists.
 
new GCSE question

Define a peripheral:
A piece of hardware that connects to the computer
A piece of hardware that connects to the processor

Older 'O' level question

Define a peripheral: Discuss.
:)
 
nkata said:
new GCSE question

Define a peripheral:
A piece of hardware that connects to the computer
A piece of hardware that connects to the processor
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well the first is hard to define what they're looking for, are they looking for internal components like graphics cards, Hard Drives, optical drives, or memory sticks or mice/keyboards

the second one, well true techies can answer that in so many different ways some of which a lot of people wouldn't understand, certainly not the exam boards and anyone who isn't a techie probably doesn't know WTH the question's about.
 
You are quite right. Im afraid it gets worse at Alevel so get ready for that! I only managed a C at ICT A-level, yet here I am 2/3 of the way through an IT degree doing well and currently working full time as an IT Support Engineer. The exams are dodgy and my teacher was less then useful to say the least..
 
nkata said:
new GCSE question

Define a peripheral:
A piece of hardware that connects to the computer
A piece of hardware that connects to the processor

Older 'O' level question

Define a peripheral: Discuss.
:)
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Questions like your one make marking harder.:)

A peripheral : Something that resides on the periphery. :D

Totally correct, but I doubt they'd mark it as such!
 
jimbob27 said:
Questions like your one make marking harder.:)

A peripheral : Something that resides on the periphery. :D

Totally correct, but I doubt they'd mark it as such!
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Just stating the difference between a multiple choice question and one where the examinee can prove his knowledge. More difficult to mark OK but then again the examiner should know from what is written that the answer is correct and applicable to the topic.
 
A major part of studying a technical subject academically is learning the correct technical language and moving beyond laypersons' concepts/terminology. It's very important to be precise with terminology, especially if you get into science/engineering. Being sloppy results in the replacement 'hard drive' situation above or far worse. The question tested whether or not you appreciate this, and unfortunately you didn't. The correct answer should have been obvious - 'processor' is a very specific term and the technically correct answer, 'computer' is a much wider more ambiguous term, a concept even (and which, conceptually, a peripheral is arguably part of rather than connected to).

Or am I giving GCSE exam writers far too much credit? :)
 
Both answers are infact correct. Unfortunately the people who set the exam were looking for only 1 of the correct answers. Which is unfair
 
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Technically a peripheral is a horribly vague term and should not be different from component in this context.

Your ISP is a peripheral in that it is connected wirelessly and wired to your processor.

You are connected via nervous impulses to your input device therefore are you merely a peripheral?

andy
 
In the end passing all exams is about jumping through hoops and at GCSE level that means learning and regurgitating your syllabus. This is something to accept, do and move on from otherwise you may as well just not have bothered taking the course.

And this is the exact reason I didn't do IT at any level, my knowledge was far above and beyond that of my teachers, I also didn't want to turn my hobby into a job.

Definations within a profession are of importance and fundamental. The reason for this is so that you can converse accurately with other people in your field so they know exactly what you mean. It doesn't have anything to do Joe Retard your consumer who doesnt know one end of the system from the other. Once you start working at a high level in any field you will realise this. Its also why you should bother learning the definitions to start with, as boring and irrelevant as it seems.

Hawker
 
^ I find the problem is more that my definitions are of a higher grade than what is requested at GCSE level, except Geography, no-one should take that for GCSE.

which is awesome when I 'school' some of the teachers (My Chem teacher didn't believe there was an element D ,deuterium BTW, and considering he's been a teacher since my Dad was at school...)but it also means I have to dumb things down in exams which I find extremely hard to do.
 
HW91 said:
which is awesome when I 'school' some of the teachers (My Chem teacher didn't believe there was an element D ,deuterium BTW, and considering he's been a teacher since my Dad was at school...)but it also means I have to dumb things down in exams which I find extremely hard to do.
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Careful about being too much of a smartass. Deuterium is an isotope of Hydrogen - not an element in its own right :p:p I'm shocked your chem teacher didn't 'school' you right back and give you a detention to boot :)
 
^ it can still be given the denomination of D which was what we were talking about, probably should have explained the situation a bit better
 
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