Curriculum

NSW Education Standards Authority Documents

NESA Stage-6 Learning Areas - Technologies - Software Design & Development

Typical performance bands

NESA Stage-6 Learning Areas - Technologies - Software Design & Development - Performance Bands

Band 6

• demonstrates a thorough understanding of the phases of the software development cycle in producing a solution relevant to client needs and concerns
• uses appropriate development methodologies and project management techniques to analyse a problem and design a complete software solution
• develops well-constructed algorithms for a variety of unfamiliar problems using appropriate control structures and data structures
• effectively uses appropriate resources, tools and documentation to manage the development and to communicate the essential features of software solutions
• designs an effective software solution to a problem reflecting a sophisticated understanding of the interrelationships between hardware and software
• critically evaluates the social and ethical issues related to the development of software solutions and the impact on society of the use of computer-based solutions
• analyses the effects of historical developments on current and emerging technologies and practices, and the development process

Band 5

• demonstrates an understanding of the phases of the software development cycle in producing a solution recognising client needs and concerns
• uses development methodologies and project management techniques to analyse a problem and design a relevant software solution
• develops algorithms for a variety of problems using appropriate control structures and data structures
• uses a variety of resources, tools and documentation to manage the development and to communicate the essential features of software solutions
• designs a software solution to a problem reflecting an understanding of the interrelationships between hardware and software
• makes informed judgement about the social and ethical issues related to the development of software solutions and the impact on society of the use of computer-based solutions
• relates knowledge and understanding of historical developments to current and emerging technologies and practices, and the development process

Band 4

• outlines the phases of the software development cycle required to produce a solution to a specified problem
• uses development methodologies and project management techniques to design a software solution
• develops an algorithm for a specified problem showing some understanding of control structures and data structures
• uses a limited number of resources, tools and documentation to develop and communicate some features of software solutions
• modifies a software solution to a problem reflecting knowledge of the interrelationships between hardware and software
• gives a clear explanation of the impact on society of the use of computer-based solutions
• demonstrates knowledge and understanding of historical developments and current and emerging technologies

Band 3

• demonstrates a basic understanding of the phases of the software development cycle
• designs a partial software solution recognising the need for project management techniques
• reads, interprets and modifies simple algorithms that use a variety of data structures
• recognises and describes some resources, tools and documentation used to develop and communicate software solutions
• demonstrates a basic knowledge of the interrelationships between hardware and software
• describes some issues related to the impact on society of the use of computer-based solutions
• shows some knowledge

Band 2

• identifies the phases of the software development cycle
• recognises some development methodologies and project management techniques
• reads and interprets simple algorithms that use simple data types
• recognises some resources, tools and documentation used in software development
• distinguishes between hardware and software components
• identifies some issues related to the impact on society of computer-based solutions
• identifies examples of current technologies

Band 1