Applied ICT A Level on That Blue Square Thing

Applied ICT A Level Unit 3 - Database Design

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Note: this page applies to the AQA Applied ICT A level specification. This exam is being withdrawn in 2012, with final exams in 2013. The content will be retained as an archive and because it has some stuff that might be quite useful for someone or other

Timeplans and Management:

Oh, timeplans - how much I love you...

Yes, you need a timeplan. Again. Three marks for it. Make sure you do everything - including the evidence that you met deadlines and explain why you missed deadlines clearly.

I would suggest a standard table design for this:

Task/Sub Task	Estimated Time	Estimated Start Date	Estimated date of completion	Actual time take	Actual start date	Actual date of completion	Comments
Defining the system
Brainstorm client possibilities	30 minutes	Jan 18	Jan 18	-	-	-	-
Create timeplan	1 hour	Jan 18	Jan 18	-	-	-	-
Meet with client to discuss system	1 hour	Jan 20	jan 20	-	-	-	-
Write up client background and software specification	1.5 hours	Jan 21	Nov 1	-	-	-	-
List client needs	30 mins	Jan 24	Jan 24	-	-	-	-
Check needs with client	15 mins	Jan 28	Jan 28	-	-	-	Contact via e-mail

The sorts of task you'll need to include are:

brainstorming the client and the possible solutions
meeting with the client - you may need at least one follow up meeting
writing up clients needs etc...
designing the system, including the outputs
making the system, including validation, forms etc...
producing queries and reports
testing the system
documenting your work (this will involve a few screenshots...)
evaluating your work

a list of possible tasks/subtasks. I wouldn't expect you to have exactly the same tasks at all - in fact, you'd be better off having your own plan so long as you follow the same basic structure.

It's the monitoring of the timeplan which gets you the second and third marks - so you need to make sure you keep it up to date and add notes as required. Don't skimp on this!

This is AO4 Row 2 by the way. It wants to go on the front of the portfolio. You only need one plan - no need for an initial and an ongoing divide in this unit.

Note: this markscheme is a copy of one available freely on the AQA Applied ICT webpages. It is copyright AQA and reproduced here simply to make access easier for students. No attempt to claim copyright is being made, although I could have copied the text into my own interpretation...

Managing your work - AO1 Row 6:

There are also three marks, in AO1 Row 6, for managing your work. These are gained throughout the project so it's worth mentioning them up front.

You can get these marks by:

using sensible names for tables, queries, reports, forms and so on
using sensible filenames - including for the documentation (i.e. word processed files)
saving multiple versions of your database with version numbers
making backups regularly
using appropriate storage - so keeping a backup on a memory stick, using a sensible folder structure etc...

You'll need to provide screenshots to show this, but will also need to make sure that any screenshots you use at any point in the project have the evidence of it as well - there's no point having six screenshots which call a table Table1 and then one at the end which renames it tblCustomer to try to get the marks there!

For the third mark you need to explain why you've done this.

You should probably look at That Blue Square Blog for all the really good other A Level stuff.