ZIMSEC PROJECT GUIDE ADVANCED LEVEL:
ASSESSMENT OF CANDIDATES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE SYLLABUS (6023) AND SOFTWARE
ENGINEERING SYLLABUS (6044)
This circular brings to your attention procedures for the assessment of Advanced Level
Computer Science (6023) and Software Engineering (6044) candidates.
1. The Project (6023/3 and 6044/3)
Candidates will be expected to present a project. The expectations of the project were sent out
in 2017 (see Appendix 1) and copies will be kept at Regional Offices for centres to photocopy if
they find that to be more convenient.
A contents page should be prepared to indicate the location of sections of the project. The
candidate’s project should contain the individual assessment mark sheet (See Appendix 2) with
all the teacher’s marks indicated.
The project document should contain the project assessment form (See Appendix 3) with all
candidates’ marks recorded. In addition, the teacher should submit a soft copy of the
candidates’ work in the form of a CD. Each candidate should have a folder on the CD, where
his/her project has been saved. The folder should have the candidate’s name and number.
The project should be completed by 05 October 2018 and the projects should be submitted to
ZIMSEC Regional Offices or ZIMSEC Cluster Collection Centres by 26 October 2018.
2. The Practical Examination (6023/2 and 6044/2)
Each registered candidate will sit for a practical examination as indicated in the syllabus. The
duration of the Practical Examination is 3 hours. Please note that the 3 hours does not include
printing time. Therefore, candidates will be allowed to print their work after 3 hours of writing.
In the case where the number of candidates exceeds the number of computers/machines the
centre has, the centre will be allowed to have two sessions. A maximum of 1 hour is allowable
for the change over to the second session. The subject teacher and other invigilators should
make sure that all the machines have been cleared of documents before the second group starts
writing. The two sessions would require that the subject teacher creates candidate accounts for
them to log in and save their documents.
Each candidate will be expected to submit a hard copy and a soft copy on CD. The CD should
bear the School Name, Candidate Name and the full Candidate Number. Candidates should not
use passwords on CDs.
2.1 Preparations Before the Practical Examination
Heads of Centres should make sure that adequate preparations have been made for the
practical examination. Preparations should include the following:
• Servicing of machines
• Ordering enough stationery; bond paper and printer cartridges
• Ordering enough CDs
• Having a standby power source e.g generator
• Clearing machines of saved documents
• Creating candidate accounts in the case of two sessions
• Removing papers on the walls of the computer laboratory
• Cleaning the laboratory in general.
2.2 During the Examination
There is need for thorough supervision when the examination is written. The subject teacher
should be available for consultation but not in the examination room. Other invigilators will
supervise the candidates as usual.
2.3 After the Examination
After the examination, candidates should be allowed to print their work. Printing time is outside
the 3 hours. Candidates should tie their printouts together and submit both the hard copy and
soft copy. The work is treated as examination material and should therefore be submitted in the
normal way as the other scripts.
E. Masiri (Mrs)
Assistant Director: Test Development, Research and Evaluation
ZIMBABWE SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL
APPENDIX 1
COMPUTER SCIENCE (6023/3) and SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (6044/3): PROJECT
PROJECT GUIDELINE
Examination Centres are advised to encourage candidates to identify real life problems within
their environment and develop solutions in line with the project guide lines. This will require
candidates to have practical computer science skills, with a bias towards designing, electronic,
programming or networking based projects. Knowledge of programming language syntax will be
examined in this project report. The higher ability candidates are encouraged to extend their
practical programming beyond the scope of these tasks. The project work should be carried out
from term two in Form 5 to end of term 2 Form 6.The marked project reports including the
compiled mark schedule will be submitted to ZIMSEC.
The project must not exceed 50 pages excluding appendices. The project must include the
following layout:
1 Cover Page
2 Table of Contents
3 Appendices
The Appendices to include any two of the following
• Samples of completed questionnaires
• Sample of interview questions with respondent answers
• Sample documents
NB. The project must be spiral bound.
SECTION A (25 marks)
SELECTION, INVESTIGATION AND ANALYSIS
• Define a problem [3]
- Choice of problem area and background analysis.
• Investigation of the current system [5]
- Data analysis using DFDs, flow charts and ERDs
- Research instruments e.g. questionnaire, record inspection, interviews and observation.
- Identify problems with the current system
• Feasibility study [5]
• Requirementsspecification [4]
- User
- Software
- Hardware
• Aims and objectives [5]
• Evidence that the research has been carried out [3]
- Examples are filled in questionnaires, interviews with respondent answers, sample documents
and write up on observation.
SECTION B (25 marks)
DESIGN
• Consideration of alternative method [5]
- Justification of proposed solution
• Input design [4]
- Appropriate data capture forms and screen layouts
• Data Structures/File design [5]
OR
• Object Oriented Design
- Class diagrams
- Use Case diagrams
- Sequence diagrams
• Overall Plan [3]
• Output Design [5]
- Specification and design of the required output
- Interface design (on screen commands)
• Test Strategy/Test Plan [3]
- Select test plan and justify
SECTION C (25 marks)
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
• Techniques that improve the structure, appearance and clarity of the code [10]
- Procedures
- Functions
- Scope of variables (local and global)
- Use of comments
- Blank lines
- Indentation
• Technical documentation [7]
- Algorithms
Pseudo codes
flowcharts for modules
- codes/program listings
• User documentation [8]
- Installation
- Starting the systems
- Navigation of the system
- Exiting the system
SECTION D (15 marks)
TESTING AND EVALUATION
• User Testing [5]
- Design and select test data
- Test for standard, extreme and abnormal/invalid data
- Evidence of testing to be shown through sample runs and error message
• System Testing [5]
- Ease of use
Clarity of instruction to the user
- Reliability
Produce reliable results, there should be no bugs
- Effectiveness
The system shouldwork efficiently
- Produce results with minimum delay
• Evaluation limitations of the system [5]
- Extent of success in meeting the system objectives as stated in the system requirement
specifications
- Achievements
- Limitations
- Evaluate results against the system objectives – achievements and limitations
- Opportunities for future development
SECTION E (10 marks)
GENERAL EXPECTATIONS
• Depth of Knowledge and Understanding [2]
- Reflects the degree of computing in the project
- Is the code fairly standard?
- Different techniques implemented
• Degree of Originality [2]
- Imagination and innovation
- Has an attempt been made to do something different/unique?
• Overall conduct of the project [1]
- Is the work carefully organized? The degree of help to be reflected
• Quality of the completed report [5]
- Written report should be easy to follow
- Defined sections page numbers and an index.
