8525 Unit 1: Fundamentals of Algorithm – COMING SOON

The GCSE Computer Science AQA  course equips students with the essential knowledge and practical skills needed in computer science. Through eight comprehensive units, students delve into the integral components of this field, fostering a deep understanding of concepts, techniques, and their applications.

The units covered  are:

1. Fundamentals of algorithms
2. Programming
3. Fundamentals of data representation
4. Computer systems
5. Fundamentals of computer networks
6. Cyber security
7. Relational databases and structured query language (SQL)
8. Ethical, legal and environmental impacts of digital technology on wider society, including issues of privacy

Fundamentals of Algorithms

This unit is ‘Fundamentals of Algorithms’ from the AQA 8525 specification. There are six lessons and one assessment lesson in the package.

• Lesson one introduces the ideas around algorithms, abstraction and decomposition. It starts with explaining each key term and a demonstration of a running problem, then concludes with some practical exam-type examples.
• Lessons two and three focus on developing algorithms using pseudocode and flow charts.
• Lesson four focusses on linear and binary searching algorithms and a key comparison of both algorithms.
• Lessons five and six are centred around the bubble and merge sort and a key comparison of both sorting algorithms to the end of lesson six. Students will learn to evaluate efficiency by examining processing time/comparisons and the given scenario. There is an assessment lesson at the end to test what students learnt in this unit.