16 January 2025

CAS A-Level Community event - Supporting students with essay style questions for OCR

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Computing at School

If you were unable to join us for Supporting Students with Essay-Style Questions for OCR A-Level Computer Science, don’t worry! You can catch up on all the content and a recording of the session below.

Supporting Students with Essay-Style Questions for OCR A-Level Computer Science: A Recap of the Thematic Community Meeting

Key Takeaways:

High-tariff questions in OCR A-Level Computer Science can span any topic—not just ethics or cultural issues.
Preparing students through regular practice throughout the course is crucial to building their confidence.
The mark schemes for essay-style questions remain consistent in structure, emphasizing knowledge, application, and evaluation.
Effective use of command words like “evaluate” or “compare” is key to crafting high-quality answers.
Structuring responses with headings or bullet points can support clarity and help students avoid “knowledge dumps.”

The Supporting Students with Essay-Style Questions thematic community meeting, hosted by Dave Hillyard and Becci Peters, offered an engaging exploration into strategies for guiding A-Level Computer Science students. With years of teaching and examining experience, both presenters shared valuable insights into tackling high-tariff questions, demystifying mark schemes, and preparing students effectively. If you missed it, here’s an overview of the key discussions and takeaways.

The session began with a discussion about what constitutes essay-style questions in the OCR A-Level syllabus. These include nine- and twelve-mark questions that require structured responses involving knowledge, application, and evaluation. Contrary to common belief, such questions can arise from any topic—not just those typically associated with extended answers, like ethical or societal issues.

A significant portion of the session was devoted to breaking down the common challenges students face. Dave highlighted the importance of consistent practice with high-tariff questions throughout the course, noting that many teachers mistakenly reserve this for revision periods. This approach helps students overcome the fear factor and become familiar with structuring their answers.

Becci offered insights from her experience as a senior team leader for OCR’s A-Level Computer Science exams. She emphasized the need for students to carefully interpret the question, use command words effectively, and apply their knowledge directly to the given scenario. For example, students tackling a memory management question must explain not just how operating systems manage memory, but also why it is important in that specific context.

Practical strategies were shared for encouraging structured responses. These included using a framework of knowledge, application, and evaluation, as well as guiding students to:

Use headings or bullet points for clarity.
Relate their answers directly to the scenario provided in the question.
Provide sustained lines of reasoning and justify their conclusions.

Participants also discussed how teachers could create their own high-tariff questions for any topic, such as comparing methodologies or explaining technical processes, to build students’ confidence and versatility.

Next Steps

Here are some reflective questions to consider:

How do you currently prepare your students for high-tariff questions? Could you integrate practice opportunities earlier in your teaching sequence?
Are your students confident in identifying and using command words effectively in their answers?
What strategies could you use to help students apply their knowledge to specific scenarios rather than relying on rote memorization?

Example exercises you might try:

Create a nine-mark question on a technical topic (e.g., memory management) and practice structured responses using the knowledge-application-evaluation framework.
Develop a comparison exercise for methodologies (e.g., spiral vs. waterfall) and ask students to justify their conclusions.
Use past paper questions to discuss and analyse how responses align with the mark scheme.

Further Resources

For those who want to explore these strategies further, here are some recommended materials:

We hope this recap provides valuable insights and inspiration as you support your students in mastering essay-style questions. Stay connected by joining future thematic community meetings and engaging with the CAS network!