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

Name: Joshua Leary

Target grade:
Score on this assessment: 35/58
Grade for this assessment: C

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 the components of a computer and their functions
2. To ensure I always read the question carefully and double check that my answer is relevant
to the question
3. To ensure my work is completed to a high enough standard that it is accurate and I am able
to revise from it effectively
Review
One Written question I got right was 22.Who would use a desktop computer? Give 2
examples. I got this right because of my general knowledge and I knew who used
these computers. One written question I nearly got right was 3.Describe the
difference between RAM and ROM. I said the definitions which I got two marks but I
didnt state RAM is volatile and ROM is not so I got 2 out of four marks. One written
one wrong was 5.Give a reason why each of the following are needed in a computer
system. The reason I got it wrong is because my definition was wrong I knew what
they meant but not what they did so I didnt get any marks and the definition was
clearly structured.

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.
Describe the difference between CLI and GUI?
CLI is where you type in code as the input but they cant have any errors every capital letter or any
spelling errors and certain commands do certain things. However GUI is easier because of wimp
windows icon menu and pointers which means its more graphical easier to see more clicking with
pointers and loading programmes without code because you can click to open a programme.