Mark Scheme h446 02
Mark Scheme h446 02
Computer Science
A Level
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This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and students, to indicate the requirements
of the examination. It shows the basis on which marks were awarded by examiners. It does not
indicate the details of the discussions which took place at an examiners’ meeting before marking
commenced.
All examiners are instructed that alternative correct answers and unexpected approaches in
candidates’ scripts must be given marks that fairly reflect the relevant knowledge and skills
demonstrated.
Mark schemes should be read in conjunction with the published question papers and the report
on the examination.
© OCR 2023
MARKING INSTRUCTIONS
PREPARATION FOR MARKING
1. Make sure that you have accessed and completed the relevant training packages for on-screen marking: RM assessor Online Training; OCR
Essential Guide to Marking.
2. Make sure that you have read and understood the mark scheme and the question paper for this unit. These are posted on the RM Cambridge
Assessment Support Portal http://www.rm.com/support/ca
3. Log-in to RM assessor and mark the required number of practice responses (“scripts”) and the number of required standardisation responses.
YOU MUST MARK 5 PRACTICE AND 10 STANDARDISATION RESPONSES BEFORE YOU CAN BE APPROVED TO MARK LIVE SCRIPTS.
MARKING
3. The schedule of dates is very important. It is essential that you meet the 50% and 100% deadlines. If you experience problems, you must contact
your Team Leader (Supervisor) without delay.
4. If you are in any doubt about applying the mark scheme, consult your Team Leader by telephone or the RM assessor messaging system, or by email.
Contradictory Responses
When a candidate provides contradictory responses, then no mark should be awarded, even if one of the answers is correct.
Short Answer Questions (requiring only a list by way of a response, usually worth only one mark per response)
Where candidates are required to provide a set number of short answer responses then only the set number of responses should be marked. The
response space should be marked from left to right on each line and then line by line until the required number of responses have been considered. The
remaining responses should not then be marked. Examiners will have to apply judgement as to whether a ‘second response’ on a line is a development
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of the ‘first response’, rather than a separate, discrete response. (The underlying assumption is that the candidate is attempting to hedge their bets and
therefore getting undue benefit rather than engaging with the question and giving the most relevant/correct responses.)
Short Answer Questions (requiring a more developed response, worth two or more marks)
If the candidates are required to provide a description of, say, three items or factors and four items or factors are provided, then mark on a similar basis
– that is downwards (as it is unlikely in this situation that a candidate will provide more than one response in each section of the response space.)
6. Always check the pages (and additional objects if present) at the end of the response in case any answers have been continued there. If the candidate
has continued an answer there then add a tick to confirm that the work has been seen.
• anything is written in the answer space and is not worthy of credit (this includes text and symbols).
Team Leaders must confirm the correct use of the NR button with their markers before live marking commences and should check this when
reviewing scripts.
8. The RM assessor comments box is used by your team leader to explain the marking of the practice responses. Please refer to these comments
when checking your practice responses. Do not use the comments box for any other reason.
If you have any questions or comments for your team leader, use the phone, the RM assessor messaging system, or e-mail.
9. Assistant Examiners will send a brief report on the performance of candidates to their Team Leader (Supervisor) via email by the end of the marking
period. The report should contain notes on particular strengths displayed as well as common errors or weaknesses. Constructive criticism of the
question paper/mark scheme is also appreciated .
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Descriptor Award mark
On the borderline of this level and the one below At bottom of level
Just enough achievement on balance for this Above bottom and either below middle or at middle of level (depending on number of marks
level available)
Meets the criteria but with some slight Above middle and either below top of level or at middle of level (depending on number of marks
inconsistency available)
Consistently meets the criteria for this level At top of level
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11. Annotations
Annotation Meaning
Omission mark
Incorrect point
Follow through
Repeat
Correct point
Too vague
Zero (big)
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
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Question Answer Mark Guidance
2 Mark Band 3 – High level 9 AO1: Knowledge and Understanding
(7-9 marks) Indicative content
The candidate demonstrates a thorough knowledge and • Problem recognition is identifying that there is a
understanding of both computational thinking methods; the material problem to be solved, to determine exactly what the
is generally accurate and detailed. problem is from a description/scenario and to
The candidate is able to apply their knowledge and understanding determine if the problem can be solved with
directly and consistently to the context provided. computational methods
Evidence/examples will be explicitly relevant to the explanation. • Decomposition is splitting the problem down into
There is a well-developed line of reasoning which is clear and subproblems that can be solved independently
logically structured. The information presented is relevant and AO2: Application
substantiated. • Problem recognition: identifying the need for the
scheduling system, what it will take as its inputs,
Mark Band 2 – Mid level what will need to be output etc.
(4-6 marks) • Decomposition: subproblems could include:
The candidate demonstrates reasonable knowledge and o inputting the requirements
understanding of both computational thinking methods; the material o generating possible routes
is generally accurate but at times underdeveloped. o evaluating the routes
The candidate is able to apply their knowledge and understanding o outputting the schedule
directly to the context provided although one or two opportunities AO3: Evaluation
are missed. Evidence/examples are for the most part implicitly Computational methods allow the e.g.:
relevant to the explanation. • programmer to determine what the problem, what
The candidate provides a reasonable discussion, the majority of the challenges may be and what additional
which is focused. Evaluative comments are, for the most part information is required before starting to code the
appropriate, although one or two opportunities for development are solution
missed. • identification of the key features for programmers to
There is a line of reasoning presented with some structure. The focus on
information presented is in the most part relevant and supported by • splitting of the task into smaller, more
some evidence. manageable/solvable problems which allows for a
solution to be developed quicker
Mark Band 1 – Low Level
• design of an effective/efficient solution that makes
(1-3 marks)
best use of a processor
The candidate demonstrates a basic knowledge of both
• splitting of a task to allow programmers to focus on
computational thinking methods with limited understanding shown;
areas they specialise in.
the material is basic and contains some inaccuracies. The
candidates makes a limited attempt to apply acquired knowledge
and understanding to the context provided.
The candidate provides a limited discussion which is narrow in
focus. Judgements if made are weak and unsubstantiated.
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The information is basic and comunicated in an unstructured way.
The information is supported by limited evidence and the
relationship to the evidence may not be clear.
0 marks
No attempt to answer the question or response is not worthy of
credit.
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e.g.
red blue grey green purple orange
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3 (d) 1 mark each to max 4 4 Note descriptions could be for either appending an item
to the end of the current list or prepending it to the start.
Check space available in the free list There are different ways to achieve this.
• Check to make sure freeListPointer is not Null
Allow answers that illustrate solutions by example from
Add new data item to first free space in free list the table in Fig 3 at the start of the question.
• Insert new data item at index freeListPointer
(index 4) Reponses must refer to the relevant pointers or give
clear exemplifications.
Append e.g.
• Traverse to / locate the end of the list (index 3
‘orange’)
• Set the pointer of the last item in the linked list to
freeListPointer (pointer at index 3 ‘orange’
changes from Null to 4)…
• … update freeListPointer to the location that
new data item pointer is pointing to at present.
(freeListPointer changes from 4 to 5)
• … update pointer from new data item to Null (index 4
pointer changes from 5 to Null)
Prepend e.g.
• Update freeListPointer to point to the location
that the pointer from the first item in the free list is
pointing to (freeListPointer changes from 4 to
5)
• … Update pointer from new data item to
headPointer (index 4 pointer changes from 5 to 1)
• … Update headPointer to the index of new data
item (headPointer changes from 1 to 4)
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03
• Loop through each of the characters/digits in the number string (parameter)
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• Find the ASCII value of the current character/digit
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• Return true if the value is an integer and false otherwise
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e.g.
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while number != 0
remainder = number MOD 8
number = number DIV 8
endResult = str(remainder) + str(endResult)
endwhile
print endResult
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algorithm with large data sets
compared to algorithm 1 and 2
overall.
AO3: Evaluation
• Number of elements is unknown.
Exponential is least appropriate
because this could increase
significantly and be
unmanageable.
• Constant is the most ideal as the
time will not increase.
• Algorithm 3 is more suitable
because it has a logarithmic time
complexity, so it increases less
quickly than the other algorithms.
It will be reasonable with a small
amount (2 items) of data, but then
when very large amounts (2 billion
items) are needed it will not be
significantly more.
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7 (d) 1 mark for identification, 1 for description of feature 6 Consider awarding description
e.g. without feature.
• Error diagnostics
• … to locate and fix errors Allow other suitable answers.
• Breakpoints
• …stop a program running at a point to check variables
• Syntax highlighting
• … to identify key words, variables and help identify syntax errors
• Auto-complete
• … start typing a command/identifier and it completes it
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• Username
• Password
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e.g.
public function getLevel()
return level
endfunction
9 (b) (iii) 1 mark each 2
• Encapsulation
• Allowing an attribute to only be
accessed/changed via a method
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e.g.
procedure guessGrid(gameboard)
rCoord = input("Enter R coordinate")
cCoord = input("Enter C coordinate")
treasureItem =
gameBoard.getGridItem(rCoord, cCoord)
if treasureItem.getLevel() = "" then
print("No treasure")
else
print("This treasure is level ",
treasureItem.getLevel(), " with value ",
treasureItem.getValue())
endprocedure
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9 (e) 1 mark each to max 4 e.g. 4 1 mark per benefit identified and 1 mark per expansion.
• Code can easily be reused… Max 2 benefits and 1 expansion per benefit.
• …classes can be used in other programs
• …inheritance can be to extend upon existing
classes
• …as a class can be based on an existing class
• Easier to maintain….
• ….as classes can be modified or extended
• …debugging can be easier as encapsulation
limits how attibutes are changed.
• Code can be more secure…
• … as access to attributes can be restricted to
being via methods.
• Better for coding as part of a team…
• …as classes can be distributed between team
members.
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0 marks
No attempt to answer the question or response is not
worthy of credit.
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