- Year 11
- AQA
The project brief
I can interpret and analyse a project brief to extract clear, actionable requirements for a programming project.
- Year 11
- AQA
The project brief
I can interpret and analyse a project brief to extract clear, actionable requirements for a programming project.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- A project brief explains what the program should do.
- Analysing a brief means looking closely at the information to understand exactly what the project needs to achieve.
- Functional requirements describe what the program should do, like inputs, outputs, processes and key features.
Keywords
Project brief - a document that outlines the goals, scope and requirements of a project
Functional requirements - these define the specific actions or behaviours that a software system or application must perform
Common misconception
You don't need to consider the inputs, outputs and processes of a program during the analysis stage.
Listing the inputs, processes and outputs before coding helps you clearly understand what the program needs to do, avoid mistakes and save time later. It breaks the problem into smaller steps, making it easier to solve and explain to others.
To help you plan your year 11 computer science lesson on: The project brief, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 11 computer science lesson on: The project brief, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 computer science lessons from the Python programming project unit, dive into the full secondary computer science curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which stage of the software development life cycle (SDLC) involves checking whether the software meets its intended goals?
Q2.What does the "M" in SMART objectives stand for?
Q3.Who is mainly responsible for ensuring the software system is safe from unauthorised access?
Q4.Match each evaluation criterion to its description:
Does it do what it is supposed to do?
Is it easy to use and appropriate for users?
How simple is it to fix or update the system?
Can new features be added easily?
Q5.Arrange these project team roles in the order that they typically become involved:
Q6.What does modular design mean in software development?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is the main purpose of a project brief?
Q2.Which of the following is a functional requirement?
Q3.Why is it important to break down a project into smaller steps during analysis?
Q4.What do you need to identify at the start of a project to understand what information the program will receive from users or other systems?
Q5.Match each term to its description:
a document describing the project’s goals and needs
a specific action or feature the program must provide
the results produced by the program
the steps the program takes to handle data