Personalised Feedback Sheet for IGCSE Section 1 Types and Components of Computers

Name: Alice Mitchell-Fowles

Target grade:
Score on this assessment: 31/58
Grade for this assessment: D

General feedback/class needs:
On the plus side, most of you understood what hardware and software is and could identify
examples of each. Also, most of you managed to do well with a bit of common sense on the
true/false questions.
However, overall performance in this test by the whole class was poor. Basic knowledge was lacking
and it was painfully evident that most students had not prepared or revised properly for this test.
Worst of all, students were not even reading questions carefully and provided poor answers which
had nothing to do with the question.
Common issues:
USB is NOT a storage device. In fact the answer USB is useless in any question, it means
Universal Serial Bus, and there are countless devices that use it. You must specify WHAT USB device,
A USB Memory stick for example, otherwise your answer is meaningless.
RAM and ROM clearly many students had not learned the definitions, were confused as to the
meaning of the word Volatile and could not provide adequate descriptions as to what each does and
is for.
Operating Systems Students could not explain what it does, worse, virtually no one understood the
advantages and disadvantages of GUIs and CLIs, despite this being clearly written in your notes.
Reading the question countless marks were lost due to students not reading a question carefully
and giving a totally irrelevant answer.
Your personal targets (to be filled in during the lesson):
1. To revise RAM and ROM and be able to describe clear differences between their purposes
and uses
2. To spend a minimum of 30 minutes to 1 hour revising effectively for each assessment
3. To revise Operating Systems and learn at least 3 key tasks an operating system is
responsible for carrying
Review-
I got the question 10.What does WIMP stand for? [1 mark] Answer: Windows, Icons, Menus and
Pointers?., I knew this because my friend reminded me before the test.
The question I nearly go right was 24.Give one disadvantage of a Smartphone. [1 mark] (1 mark
for 1 of below or any other appropriate answer) im kind of a phone addict so yeahhhh.
The question I got wrong was, Describe the difference between RAM and ROM. [4 marks](1 mark
for RAM stands for, 1 mark for ROM stands for, 1 mark for what RAM does or saying its volatile, 1
mark for what ROM does or saying its non-volatile) I didnt understand this question at all.


Challenge/Extension
You will have been allocated an exam question to further your knowledge or help you to overcome a
misconception. Copy out the question here in full and answer it.

1. Describe four features of rom.
Stores programing, coding and software.
Rom means read-only memory.
Rom is non-volatile.
When the powers turned of the context is unaffected.

2. Explain the difference between cli and gui.
A CLI, or command-line interface, is a way to interact with a computer by typing text
commands into a terminal window. A GUI, or graphical user interface, allows a user to
interact with a computer by using a keyboard or mouse to manipulate visual elements on
the screen.