Unit 6: Planning a Computing Project

(Pearson Set)

Unit code H/618/7407

Unit type Core

Unit level 4

Credit value 15

Introduction
This unit is assessed through a Pearson-set assignment. The project brief will be set
by the centre, based on a theme provided by Pearson (this will change annually). The
theme and chosen project within the theme will enable students to explore and
examine a relevant and current topical aspect of computing in the context of a
business environment.
As computing systems and technologies continually develop so do the ways in which
businesses utilise technologies to support their operations and remain competitive.
As a computing professional it is important to understand the ways in which
technology evolves and how it can be utilised in different sectors.
The aim of this unit is to give students an opportunity to demonstrate the research
skills required for developing a deeper understanding of a subject and the ability to
use evidence to inform decisions. Students will undertake independent research, and
investigation of a theme set by Pearson. Students will also investigate and research an
industry sector as outlined in the centre-set project brief. Students will use the
outcomes of their research to help them plan a computer-based project and to
support recommendations for how the identified business could utilise the tools and
technologies identified as part of their research.
On successful completion of this unit, students will have the confidence to engage in
decision making, problem solving, research activities and project planning tasks They
will have the fundamental knowledge and skills that will enable them to investigate
and examine relevant computing concepts in a work-related context, determine
appropriate outcomes, decisions or solutions and present evidence to various
stakeholders in an acceptable and understandable format.

Pearson BTEC Levels 4 and 5 Higher Nationals in Computing

124 Specification – Issue 2 – March 2022 © Pearson Education Limited 2022
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit students will be able to:
LO1 Conduct small-scale research, information gathering and data collection to
generate knowledge on an identified subject
LO2 Explore the features and business requirements of organisations in an identified
sector.
LO3 Produce project plans based on research of the chosen theme for an identified
organisation
LO4 Present your project recommendations and justifications of decisions made,
based on research of the identified theme and sector.

Pearson BTEC Levels 4 and 5 Higher Nationals in Computing

Specification – Issue 2 – March 2022 © Pearson Education Limited 2022
125
Essential Content

LO1 Conduct small-scale research, information gathering and data collection to

generate knowledge on an identified subject

Project execution phase:

Selecting appropriate methods of information gathering, data collection and
material resourcing.
The distinct phases that support a coherent and logical argument. Use of
secondary research to inform a primary empirical study.
Qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Field work:
Selecting a sample of the consumer market, businesses or individuals (those who
meet certain characteristics relevant to the research theme) used to gather data
(qualitative or quantitative).
Sampling approaches and techniques, including probability and non-probability
sampling.

Analysing information and data:

Using data collection tools, such as interviews and questionnaires, and their
advantages and disadvantages.
Using analytical techniques such as trend analysis, coding and typologies.
Sources of, and access to, data, including open and public data, administrative
and sensitive data, research data.
The principles of data to govern data, including data has value, data should be
reusable, data is managed according to its value, data should be fit for purpose.

Ethics, reliability and validity:

Ensure that all research is conducted, data stored, processed and used in an
ethical way.
Research should also be reliable (similar results achieved from a similar sample)
and valid (the research should measure what it aimed to measure).
Ensure validity and reliability of secondary data and information used, including
consideration of who wrote or collected the information or data, age of data
collected, original purpose of the data collection, potential errors or variability in
the data, potential bias, e.g. sample size, sample participants, questions used,
interpretation of results.

Pearson BTEC Levels 4 and 5 Higher Nationals in Computing

126 Specification – Issue 2 – March 2022 © Pearson Education Limited 2022
LO2 Explore the features and business requirements of organisations in an
identified sector

Features of businesses:
Types of business, their ownership and liability.
Private, e.g. sole trader, private limited company, public limited company.
Public, e.g. government department, not-for-profit, e.g. charity, voluntary.
Industry sectors, including primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary.
How an organisation may provide a specific product(s) or service within a sector.
How some organisations provide both products and services.
The concept of diversification to aid business success.

Operational areas of businesses:

The operational areas of a business (‘business functions’) and how they support
the organisation’s purpose, e.g. human resources, research and development,
sales, marketing, purchasing, production and quality, finance, customer service,
IT, administration.

Stakeholders:
Internal stakeholders, e.g. management, employees, shareholders.
External stakeholders, e.g. suppliers, customers, government agencies,
communities.
How stakeholders influence business processes and decisions.
The impact of stakeholders on an organisation’s success.

Challenges to the success of a business:

Legislation and industry standards relevant to the organisation and sector.
Change management, including planned change, e.g. expansion, diversification,
changes in legislation, system upgrades.
Unplanned change, e.g. response to a security breach, disaster response and
recovery.
Communication of need for change to stakeholders.
Management of stakeholders before during and after change, e.g. training, target
setting, support
Method of implementation of change, e.g. parallel running, direct change over,
phased changeover.
Documenting the change process, testing changes to the system and business.
Security and privacy concerns relevant to the organisation and sector.

Pearson BTEC Levels 4 and 5 Higher Nationals in Computing

Specification – Issue 2 – March 2022 © Pearson Education Limited 2022
127
LO3 Produce project plans based on research of the chosen theme for an
identified organisation

Project planning and initiation:

The role of a business or systems analyst and the activities they undertake as
part of initiation of a project.
Analysing the features and requirements of an identified organisation to
establish their requirements.
Recommend potential solutions to identified business needs, including carrying
out a cost/benefit analysis, defining business objectives, scope and purpose of
the project.
Comprehensive project plans, including defining functional and non-functional
requirements of the system, stakeholder requirements and expectations,
carrying out impact analysis, prioritising requirements, describing the
deliverables to be produced, timescales and time management, costs, change
management planning, risk and challenges analysis.
Success criteria to be used, e.g. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), performance
metrics, quality metrics, and business targets.
Use of an identified project management methodology, e.g. Waterfall, Agile,
Rapid Application Development (RAD).
Consider approaches to continuous integration, version and source control.

Tools:
Tools for effective project planning, resource planning and allocation, and work
breakdown structure, including Project Initiation Documents (PID), bar and Gantt
charts, Critical Path Analysis (CPA), risk matrix.

LO4 Present your project recommendations and justifications of decisions made

based on research of the identified theme and sector

Presenting and communicating project recommendations:

Presenting to different technical and non-technical stakeholders, e.g. emphasis
on operational or strategic information, technical terminology used, levels of
detail given and simplifying concepts.
Consider the methods and mediums to be used, including written or verbal,
report, online or presentation.
Understand how project research and intended audience will influence on
method and medium.

Pearson BTEC Levels 4 and 5 Higher Nationals in Computing

128 Specification – Issue 2 – March 2022 © Pearson Education Limited 2022
 Justification of decisions made:
Justification of recommendations, including use of key points from cost/benefit
analysis, deliverables, success criteria, impact analysis.
Justifications of planning, including chosen development methodology, work and
resource allocation, key deadlines and timescales.
Rationale for decisions made in the recommended solution and project plan,
including use of research and data for the identified technology and business
sector, analysis of evidence and business requirements, contextual factors
specific to the identified organisation.

Reflection on the quality of research:

Quality of secondary and primary data used to inform planning and make
decisions.
Awareness that some studies may result in generalised findings and how this can
impact on the quality of decisions and the accuracy of conclusions made.
Evaluate the quality of the data and information used to inform project initiation
plans, e.g. sample size, sample characteristics, user experience during collection,
domain context.
Reach conclusions as to the likely accuracy and reliability of assertions made.

Pearson BTEC Levels 4 and 5 Higher Nationals in Computing

Specification – Issue 2 – March 2022 © Pearson Education Limited 2022
129
Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Pass Merit Distinction

LO1 Conduct small-scale research, information gathering
and data collection to generate knowledge on an
identified subject

P1 Demonstrate qualitative M1 Analyse data and D1 Interpret findings to

and quantitative research information from primary generate knowledge on
methods to generate and secondary sources to how the research theme
relevant primary data for an generate knowledge on an supports business
identified theme. identified theme. requirements in the
identified sector.
P2 Examine secondary
sources to collect relevant
secondary data and
information for an
identified theme.

LO2 Explore the features and business requirements of

organisations in an identified sector

P3 Discuss the features and M2 Analyse the challenges

operational areas of a to the success of a
businesses in an identified business in an identified
sector. sector.

P4 Discuss the role of

stakeholders and their
impact on the success of a
business.

Pearson BTEC Levels 4 and 5 Higher Nationals in Computing

130 Specification – Issue 2 – March 2022 © Pearson Education Limited 2022
 Pass Merit Distinction
LO3 Produce project plans based on research of the
chosen theme for an identified organisation

P5 Devise comprehensive M3 Produce comprehensive D2 Evaluate the project

project plans for a chosen project plans that effectively planning
scenario, including a work consider aims, objectives and recommendations made
and resource allocation risks/benefits for an in relation to the needs of
breakdown using identified organization. the identified organisation
appropriate tools. and the accuracy and
reliability of the research
carried out.
LO4 Present your project recommendations and
justifications of decisions made, based on research of the
identified theme and sector

P6 Communicate M4 Assess the extent to

appropriate project which the project
recommendations for recommendations meet the
technical and non- needs of the identified
technical audiences. organisation, including fully-
supported rationales for
P7 Present arguments for
planning decisions made.
the planning decisions
made when developing
the project plans.

P8 Discuss accuracy and

reliability of the different
research methods applied.

Pearson BTEC Levels 4 and 5 Higher Nationals in Computing

Specification – Issue 2 – March 2022 © Pearson Education Limited 2022
131
Recommended Resources

Textbooks
Costley, C., Elliot, G. and Gibbs, P. (2010) Doing Work Based Research: Approaches to
Enquiry for Insider-researchers. London: SAGE.
Dawson, C. (2016) Projects in Computing and Information Systems: A Student's Guide.
UK: Pearson Education.
Flick, U. (2011) Introducing Research Methodology: A Beginner’s Guide to Doing a Research
Project. London: SAGE.
Gray, D. (2009) Doing Research in the Real World. 2nd Ed. London: SAGE.
Guay, M., Schreiber, D. and Briones, S. (2016) The Ultimate Guide to Project
Management: Learn everything you need to successfully manage projects and get them
done. Free Kindle Edition. US: Zapier Inc.
Lock, D. (2013) Project Management 8th Edition. UK: Routledge.
Pinto, J. K. (2015) Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage 4th Ed. Pearson.

Journals
International Journal of Quantitative and Qualitative Research (IJQQRM) – EA Journala
Qualitative Research Journal (QRJ) – Sage Journals

Web
www.apm.org.uk Association for Project Management
www.gov.uk/government/publications Department of Business Innovations and
Skills, Guidelines for managing projects –
How to organise, plan and control projects.
(Report)
www.hesa.ac.uk Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
– data collection and analysis for higher
education
www.ons.gov.uk Office for National Statistics(ONS)
www.pmi.org.uk Project Management Institute UK

Links
This unit links to the following related units:
Unit 3: Professional Practice
Unit 16: Computing Research Project
Unit 17: Business Process Support
Unit 35: Systems Analysis & Design.
Pearson BTEC Levels 4 and 5 Higher Nationals in Computing
132 Specification – Issue 2 – March 2022 © Pearson Education Limited 2022