ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Security

The ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Security unit provides a relatively gentle introduction into the field of cyber security.  This unit is one of the core units in the NPA in Cybersecurity at Levels 4, 5 and 6.  This means if learners already have the Cybersecurity NPA then they do not need to do an optional unit in the ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science NPA.

If a school or college is experienced in delivering the ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Security unit, then this would be a natural choice of optional unit, at least for the first year or so until educators are familiar with the other units and are interested in trying other options.

ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science Project

The ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science Project unit at Level 5 is a group project, with learners working together to source and analyse data and then communicate their findings and recommendations.  At Level 6 this is an individual project.  Learners will be investigating a problem that they have chosen themselves.

This unit has a lot of potential to be a hugely engaging and fun experience for learners, particularly if they are prompted to investigate projects that can make a real difference in their schools and communities.  For example, learners could use IoT sensors to investigate environmental conditions in their school building or in their neighbourhood, perhaps combined with available climate data.  Learners having a sense of ownership over the project and self-efficacy will be beneficial for the success of the projects.

Although it is anticipated that this unit will be a popular choice with schools and colleges, it might not be the best choice for an inexperienced teacher or lecturer the first time this course is run in a centre.  The second time around, it would be a fun option for an educator who has gained confidence with the core units, particularly the ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science unit.

Computer Programming

The Computer Programming unit covers writing algorithms to solve problems, explaining programming concepts and writing computing programs.  The programming language used is not specified, so if learners are going to use Python in the ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science unit (particularly at Level 6) then covering this unit first to introduce learners to the Python language would seem a sensible approach.

Statistics

This unit has been popular in Maths departments.  If a school or college is experienced in delivering this Statistics unit, then this would be a natural choice of optional unit, at least for the first year or so until educators are familiar with the other units and are interested in trying other options.  This would be a good optional unit choice if the course is being delivered by a Mathematics teacher with experience of teaching statistics.  Gaining this single unit qualifies learners for a Statistics Award, in addition to the NPA in ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science.

ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science Statistics

This would be a suitable optional unit choice if the course is being delivered by a Mathematics teacher or lecturer with experience of teaching statistics in the field of data science.  It would require more experience than the Statistics unit and covers more in-depth content.  It may possibly require more preparation and development time than some of the other optional unit choices.

Machine Learning

This would be a suitable optional unit choice if the course is being delivered by an experienced Computing Science educator with experience of machine learning techniques.  It would probably require more preparation and development time than some of the other optional unit choices.

You can read more about the core and optional units in the Educators Guide to the NPA (pages 6-9)

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ICT

Throughout the course, in all of the core and optional units, learners will develop their core skills in ICT.  Learners will search for information online in the form of datasets, tables, graphs and visualisations.  They will use software such as a spreadsheet package, a web tool such as CODAP or a programming language such as Python to interpret, manipulate, and analyse the information.  They will then create visualisations and present the information to others.

Numeracy

The two core units involve a good grounding in a range of numeracy concepts.  Learners will be looking at tabular data, analysing and creating graphical data, and producing summary statistics.  Many of the optional units will also support the development of numeracy skills, particularly the Statistics, ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science Statistics and ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science Project units.

Communication

Communication of findings is a crucial part of the data science lifecycle in the NPA.  Learners are expected not only to gain insights from data, but to then present their findings to others.  In the Visualisation and Storytelling topic, communicating information to an audience is a key learning point.  Learners are expected to create visualisations with that audience in mind, in order to develop a persuasive argument.  

Problem Solving

Problem solving is another core component of the ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science lifecycle, with learners encouraged to first think about the problem that needs to be solved before collecting and analysing data.  The course has been developed with the aim that learners will be solving authentic real-world problems that impact their daily lives and their communities.  As learners go through the PPDAC cycle, they will think about the Problem that needs solved, Plan their approach, gather the ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ that will be required to resolve the problem, Analyse the data, and then Communicate their findings.

Working with Others

Learners will be encouraged to work co-operatively to solve problems with data.  The ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science Project unit at Level 5 is a group project and will involve learners working in a small group to identify a problem that interests them and then plan and carry out their analysis.

You can read more about Core Skills in the NPA ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science in the Educators Guide to the NPA (pages 13)

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The course can be delivered in a range of different settings and within different subject areas.  In schools, it is already being delivered by CS, Maths and Geography teachers.  In FE colleges, the NPA has so far been embedded into courses for Health and Social Care students and Car Mechanics students. 

ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science tools and techniques are being used in some many different fields of industry.  The NPA is flexible enough that it can be taught using a wide range of examples, case studies and data sets, or it can be used to focus on a narrower field of application such as health and sports science, or geography and agriculture.

Flexible optional units

The optional unit can be selected to fit in best with the educator’s experience and interests as well as the needs of the learners.  A Computing Science educator might choose to deliver the Computing Programming unit first to introduce the learners to the Python language that they can then use later in the ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science unit.  A Maths lecturer might choose to follow up the core units with the Statistics unit to develop learners’ knowledge and skills beyond the basic statistics concepts covered in the core units.

Interdisciplinary team delivery

The NPA can be taught across different departments.  For example, ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Citizenship could be delivered by Geography or Modern Studies teachers, ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science by a Science or Computing Science teacher, and Statistics delivered by the Maths faculty.  This allows for more flexible timetabling based on staff availability, expertise and interests.

Engaging stand-alone units

Each of the units was written so that it could be delivered stand-alone.  For example, the ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Citizenship unit could be delivered as part of a digital literacy course or an additional unit in a social studies course. 

Multi-level classes

Multi-level classes are not ideal but they are a reality in many settings.  The core units in the NPA have been written to aid educators who are teaching multiple levels of learners in one class.  Topics can be delivered once to all learners, with some learners given some additional information or responding to assessments in more depth.

Flexibility for Level 4 learners

Level 4 only consists of two core units.  This potentially gives Level 4 learners the time and space to reinforce learning by going over familiar concepts in other contexts. 

Alternatively in a multi-level class, Level 4 learners could pick up an additional unit if they have extra time, such as the Level 4 units in Computing Programming or ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Security, while the Level 5 learners undertake the Level 5 equivalent. 

The NPA at Level 4, with only the two core units, could slot into a timetable with a numeracy unit, such as the Numeracy Level 5 unit.  This could be an attractive option for Maths departments looking for real-world maths courses that would engage learners. 

Complementing other
course offerings

The ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Security unit at Levels 5 and 6 is also part of the NPA in Cybersecurity, so learners could gain two qualifications by completing just five units.  Alternatively, gaining the Statistics unit at Level 6 will also qualify learners for an Award in Statistics.

You can read more about different delivery models and planning for progression in the Educators Guide to the NPA (pages 10-12)

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There are two core units, in ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science and ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Citizenship.  At Level 5 and 6 there is also an optional unit (we will cover the choices for this in a separate article.)

The core units have been written so that they can be delivered either independently or as part of the wider NPA qualification.  As a result, there is some overlap in content and learning concepts that come up in both the ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Citizenship and ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science units.  For example, both the ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Citizenship and ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science units involve learners understanding what data is and how it is represented and used, interpreting visualisations and carrying out simple summary statistics on data.

A progression pathway has been developed for teaching the two core units together in order to reduce repetition in content and to introduce learners to important concepts in a logical order.  13 main topics have been pulled together based on the content and concepts covered in the outcomes and performance criteria, with an additional topic that covers tools and languages.

This is not a fixed pathway.  Educators should feel free to introduce topics and concepts in a different order as appropriate to your learning context and situation.  Some topics, such as tools and languages, security, privacy, and ethics and bias could be delivered at various points throughout the course.  Some topics could be revisited in increasing complexity throughout the course, such as the interpreting data topic, where learners could be shown a variety of visualisations regularly as the course progresses (such as a ‘graph of the week’)

You can find out more about the sequencing of topics in the Educators Guide to the NPA (pages 14-15).  The ‘Delivery’ section of the Educators’ Guide (pages 25-41) and the majority of the Learners’ Guide is set out following this progression pathway.

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NPAs are available in a variety of subject areas and assess a defined set of skills and knowledge in specialist vocational areas.  Learners demonstrate their knowledge and understanding by internal assessments throughout the course.  Practical skills are assessed by performing a practical assessment rather than by using a written final exam.

This NPA in ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science is available at three levels, SCQF levels 4, 5 and 6.  Learners can progress through the levels of the National Progression Award.  If they wish to continue learning about ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science, they can undertake the Professional Development Award (PDA) in ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science at SCQF Levels 7, 8 and 9 at a Further Education College or apply for one of the many degree programmes available in Universities across Scotland.

Centres can set their own assessments for their learners, if they choose.  This should be done by following the evidence requirements information in the Unit Specification documents, and centres should get any assessments reviewed by the SQA prior to use.

However, most centres will prefer to use the assessment materials that have been created for the core units at all three levels.  These are available through the SQA’s SOLAR system.

The assessments for the NPA in ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Science are a mix of computer-based project assessments and computer-based tests that are dynamically generated from a bank of questions (for Level 4 and 5 these are all automatically marked.)

This project assessment supports digitally submitted evidence that is tutor-marked online through Solar using associated marking schemes. This is an e-portfolio approach where candidates can access their project multiple times over a set period to upload their evidence.

You can read more about assessment in the Educators Guide to the NPA (pages 16-17)

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The NPA has been designed to provide a great deal of flexibility in the software tools that can be used by learners for data gathering, analysis and visualisation.  It was very important that every outcome could be achieved using a selection of different tools that are free (or free for educational use) or open source.  It was also important that there were a range of tools that could be installed as well as a selection of online tools available.

In addition, the NPA can be achieved using only a basic spreadsheet tool, such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.  It is important that learners gain a secure grounding in their knowledge of data science and statistical concepts.  Gaining experience of particular tools or programming language that might be favoured by industry is much less important to learners at this stage of their career.

Although it is not a requirement, Level 6 learners would benefit from carrying out data analysis and visualisation tasks using a programming language.  This would give them an understanding of data science techniques using code and will be a better level of complexity.  Level 6 can be taught using any of the tools though, and it is understood that using a programming language would be particularly challenging when teaching a multi-level class.

You can read more about the different tool and language options in the Educators Guide to the NPA (pages 18-20)

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