What Does This Course Cover?

This self-guided study course is divided into ten modules which cover one section of the syllabus at a time. These modules are:

• Module One: Data Representation
• Module Two: Data Transmission
• Module Three: Hardware
• Module Four: Software
• Module Five: The Internet and Its Uses
• Module Six: Automated and Emerging Technologies
• Module Seven: Algorithm Design and Problem Solving
• Module Eight: Programming
• Module Nine: Databases
• Module Ten: Boolean Logic

Each module is subdivided into topics so that you can study the course in manageable chunks; this will help you to get the most out of your coursebook.

Each topic is set out as follows:

Introduction

This section clearly sets out the learning objective of the topic and how it applies to the syllabus and final exam.

Read

This section includes both the page references and required activities from your coursebook.

Links

We suggest links to resources that will enhance your understanding of key concepts and will give you an opportunity to apply your knowledge.

Review

At the end of every chapter in your coursebook you will find a useful summary of key information, exam-style questions to help you review your understanding of the topic and also a self-evaluation checklist so that you can assess your confidence in the subject matter.  You will find a review task in the last topic of every module with page references to the above sections in your coursebook.

Quiz

At the end of each module, you should complete the end-of-module quiz to test your understanding of material covered in the module. This is a multiple-choice activity that can be completed as many times as you wish to ensure that you have achieved all the learning goals for the module.

Assignment

At the end of every module you will complete an assignment and submit it to your tutor for marking and feedback.

You will also see a Module Eleven: Exam Preparation in your course. While named as a module, this is essentially sample papers to prepare you for the exams.

Part of your course involves some practical work in programming. As you can see from the list of modules above, there is a theoretical module on programming quite late on in the course but, just like learning a human language, learning programming is something that can only be done through repeated practice. For this reason, the assignments for Modules One to Six will feature a short Programming Practice section at the end, whatever the focus of the rest of the assignment may be. Module Seven (on algorithms and problem solving) will then focus on the more theoretical aspects of programming, while Module Eight (the Programming module) will concentrate more on actual coding to develop your skills further.