GCSE Computer Science – it’s programming Jim, just not as we know it!

Ceredig Cattanach-Chell, OCR Computer Science Subject Advisor

J277 GCSE Computer Science offers you a chance to change your approach to programming delivery. In this blog I discuss the changes to the specification and make some suggestions on how you can deliver an exciting programming curriculum.

We are now teaching J277!

June 2022 will be the first examination series for J277 GCSE Computer Science. We are working hard behind the scenes to support you – both now and when schools return in September.

It’s important to say “Don't worry!”. We focused on stability for our updated specification. You wanted familiar content and delivery approaches and we delivered. We improved and refreshed where needed.

We still have CPD courses available in June 2021 to support you.

Changes to programming requirements

The largest adjustment to J277 is the removal of: 

• A requirement to do a set 20 hours on a programming project 
• A requirement to collect samples and send anything to OCR.

We moved some content out of Component 2 into Component 1, which gives more time for practical coding. It now has a real feel of 50/50 delivery of ‘theory’ vs. ‘programming’. You can check the content update in our Scheme of Work. 

The programming focus is now on allowing students to ‘Design, Write, Test and Refine’ programs over their course of study. The requirements are in Section 2d of our specification. 

A student’s practical experience maps directly to the questions in Component 2: Section B examination paper. This is a ‘new’ section in the Component 2 examination. The questions in Section B reflect classroom experience and will feel natural. 

Delivering programming skills 

The flexibility of the specification allows for much more creativity. You may now do (almost) whatever you like! The only guidance to follow is:

• Is the student doing one (or more) of the following?
  • Designing
    
  • Writing
    
  • Testing
    
  • Refining
• Is the student using techniques within the specification?
  

For some students, this may mean lots of smaller programs and keeping cognitive load low. Lots of repetition will help reinforce techniques in smaller chunks. 

Blending text-based languages with visual languages may help reinforce programming techniques. The majority of programming tasks are likely to be text-based. But some students may find visual language tasks helpful to reinforce concepts. 

Other students may enjoy the challenge of larger and more complex programming tasks. Continuing to follow the J276 approach of a larger programming project may well suit them. The point is that you can now tailor your delivery to suit your students. 

One for all, or all for one? 

You can blend any of the ‘Design, Write, Test and Refine’ elements. They do not all have to be present within one programming task. 

For example, you could give a student five small programs and ask them to ‘Test’ each program and spot errors. Once they have done this, you could ask them to ‘Refine’ them, to make them work. Or you could give them a flowchart design and ask them to create the program in a text-based language. This would only focus on the ‘Write’ element. This means you can teach each element discretely, or in union with others. 

Exploring delivery approaches 

Please note that none of the below approaches are endorsed specifically by OCR. 

Sticking with the current J276 approach may well still work for you and your students. There is no need to ‘rip up the rule book’. But, looking forward, have you thought of other ways to deliver programming? 

• Program analysis and design requires strong computational thinking skills. The UK Bebras challenges provide a great set of challenges to encourage thinking. There is a competition as well to encourage participation! 
• Have you considered delivering GCSE through robotics? Vex Robotics have developed a Python-based IDE. This allows you to control a robot to achieve various tasks. With plenty of tutorials, and a worldwide competition… it’s engaging and different! 
• How about group work and collaboration? Tools like GitHub or Repl.it allow students to build projects together. There is no requirement for ‘individual work’. Knowledge is tested within the examination. Allowing stronger students to work together could allow more time to support students who find coding more challenging.
• Online learning courses/IDEs may also be used, such as this Python example from Raspberry Pi. What about learning C# with CodeAcademy? Many online courses help track pupil progress and achievement. As they are web based, students can engage with programming outside of the classroom. 
• What about app development? Start with KS3 engagement with Apps for Good perhaps. Then move into text-based app development. Using C# and MS Visual Studio, you can build Windows Forms and Apps quite quickly. This is a route that I went down when teaching in school. 
• Maybe you have budding web developers in your class? Using JavaScript as a language allows you to deliver web-based programming! 
• Teach more than one language? Seeing techniques in different languages is a powerful learning experience. Some IDEs allow you to use more than one language. Comparing a loop or an IF statement in two or three languages helps students. They can spot key words and logic in how they are written. It's not as scary as it sounds. 

Compiling these approaches… 

No single approach is best. It depends on your students, your skill set and the time you have to plan! Using one, many or a blend of some of these approaches could work. 

Our flexible approach in the specification encourages diversity and gives you opportunity to break those stereotypes. 

Computer science should be fun and creative. Allow students to explore different things in Key Stage 3. Find their ‘hook’. Then look at how that may be developed in Key Stage 4. Our specification allows this to happen! 

With the wide range of support within our community, led by the National Centre for Computing Education, and locally through Computing at School, support is always near. Team up with other local (or national) teachers and schools to share resources and ideas. 

In summary… 

Be brave and push the envelope! Be creative and share ideas. 

If you have a unique and cool way of delivering programming – send me an email! We can blog about your approach and the impact it has had on your students.

But above all – have fun and hook students into one of the best subjects they will ever have the chance to study. And looking forward, probably one of the most important.

Stay connected

Tell us about your experience teaching Level Entry Computer Science in the comments below, or email computerscience@ocr.org.uk or follow @OCR_ICT on Twitter. You can also sign up to our subject updates and receive information about resources and support.

About the author

Ceredig Cattanach-Chell – Subject Advisor – Computer science

Ceredig joined OCR in September 2015 incorporating his breadth of experience from education to support the reform and development of the new GCSE (9-1) Computer Science and Entry Level R354. A keen advocate of the challenges faced within the classroom, Ceredig led on the concept and delivery of teacher delivery packs, which have become one of the flagships for the new GCSE’s success with teachers. Prior to joining OCR, Ceredig had eight years of education and teaching experience across a wide range of schools, including primary, secondary, academies and SEN sectors. 

Ceredig has a degree in Computer Science from Liverpool University and post grads from Liverpool Hope and Cambridge Universities. Outside of work, Ceredig is a keen modeller/painter, gamer and all-around geek. From wildlife to war games, his varied hobbies ensure that he is never just ‘sitting down watching the box’.