Key Skills ICAA Key Skills Test – Friday 6 th May 2011
Jan 26, 2016
Key Skills
ICAA Key Skills Test – Friday 6 th May 2011
Superscript
To make a character smaller than the rest of the text and it appears above the normal
line of text e.g. 90o
1. Highlight text
2. Format Font
3. Select superscript
Subscript
To make a character smaller than the rest of the text and it appears below the normal
line of text e.g. H2o
1. Highlight text
2. Format Font
3. Select subscript
Italic
Text that slopes to the right. Used to emphasise text e.g. Italic
• Highlight text
• Select
Bold
Make text stand out by making it thicker and darker e.g. Bold
• Highlight text
• Select
Underline
• Text used for headings and title e.g. Title
• Highlight text
• Select
Alignment
To position text to the left, right or centre of the page
• Highlight text
• Select your choice of left, right or centre alignment
Justify
Text is made to fit between two margins making the margins on both sides straight e.g
• Highlight text
• Select Justify
Line spacing
To alter the space between lines of text to be close together or further apart.
• Highlight text• Select Format then Paragraph• Select line spacing needed
Margins
This is the space at the top, bottom and sides of the space. They are to place the
text away from the edges of the page.
• Go to File, Page Setup
• Adjust margins as needed
Tabulation (Tabs)
Used to line up text or items on a page
• Use the tab button on the keyboard to line up text or items
• You can control how far the cursor moves when you press the tab button
• Select Format, Tabs
Tabs cont…..
• In the Tab Stop Position type in the number of cms indent that you need e.g 3cm
• Select Set and OK
Tabs cont…
• See on the ruler of your document L shapes that indicate that your indent has been set (L for left indent)
• Use you tab key to move items to be in line with these L shapes
Header and footer
Header is space at the top of the page. Footer is the space at the bottom of the page. They are used to place text, images or page numbers to be shown on every page.
• View, Header and Footer
• Insert information (e.g. name, form)
• The tool bar can be used to insert page numbers and date)
Page Orientation
Can be either Portrait
Or Landscape
• Select File, Page Setup
• Select Portrait or Landscape
• Click OK
Bullet Points
Shows where a point in a list of information begins e.g.
• Highlight text• Select• Points can also be numbered • You can also press this before you type the list
Spreadsheets – Columns and Rows
Rows go across the page and are numbered
Columns go across and have letters
Row
Column
Cells are each box in a spreadsheet
cell
Cell Reference
Where a row and column meet is the ‘name’ or reference of a cell. They are used in
formulas.
Cell A1
Formulae
Sums written to carry out calculations on data held on cells. We use cell references
NOT the actual data in the cell.
=A1+ B2
Functions
Are formulas that are built into the software
• Insert
• Function
• Select a function from the list
Numeric Data
Data entered into a spreadsheet is often numeric. It can be currency, integer, real,
date/time
• Format
• Cells
• Select type of number from list
Operators
Used in formulas to carry out calculations
• + add• - subtract• * multiply• / divide• = equals• <less than• > greater than
Absolute
A formula set up with absolute cell references does not change when moved. E.g. if =B2+B5 is moved from B6 to B7 it
stays as B2+B5.
• Dollar sign is used in an absolute cell reference e.g ????
Graphs and charts
Used to give a graphical display of data. Can be bar, pie, line or scatter graphs.
• Chart Wizard is used to create graphs
Sorting
Data can be sorted using selected row or columns. It can be sorted either
alphabetically or numerically in ascending or descending order.
• Ascending – 1,2,3,4,5, A,B,C,D,E
• Descending – 5,4,3,2,1, E,D,C,B,A
=SUM
A function that adds together the values in a range of cells
=SUM(B2:B7)
This adds together the values in cells B2, B3,B4,B5,B6 and B7. This button can be used
LOOKUPS
Are functions that LOOKUP values in a pre-named table. They can be HLOOKUP
(Horizontal Table) or VLOOKUP (Vertical Table)
=HLOOKUP(C2,Marks,2)
Look up in a horizontal table
Cell C2 In a table named marks
Look at row 2 of the marks table
MAX/MIN
Function that return the maximum or minimum value in a given range.
=MAX (C2:C7) would give the higher number from C2:C7
=AVERAGE
Function that returns the average of a range of cells
=AVERAGE (C2:C7) returns the average from cells C2:C7.
Databases - Relational
Contains tables that are related and linked together. Saves time and memory when
searching and sorting
DVD Table Members table
Databases – Flat file
Contains only one table which hold all the information. Can be slow to process
searches.
All DVD and members details
Fields
These are the categories that make up a table in a database
Surname is a field
Records
A table is made up of records – each person/item kept in the database is a
record
This is Clare’s record. There are 4 records in this table
Data Types
When entering field into a database you need to tell the database the TYPE of data
that will be entered for that fieldData types are:
•Text
•Number
•Currency
•Date/Time
•Alphanumeric
•Multiple choice
Key Field (Primary Key)
Uniquely identifies a record
No other record will have the same entry
e.g NHS number
Data collection
How data is collected before it is entered into a database. Often paper based – questionnaires or membership forms
It is can be manually entered into computer or through software called OMR (Optical
Mark Reader)
Validation
Checks that the data entered in REALISTIC
List check – data must come from a given list (Miss, Mr, Mrs)
Range check – Data must be within a given range (0-18)
Type check – Data must be a certain data type – number, character, etc
Check digit – an extra digit is added to the end of a number so I can be verified using a calculation
Validation
A manual check that the data entered is the same as the original
By visual check or double entry
Passwords
A code set in place to restrict access to data
A strong password must include letters and number and be change regularly
Encryption
Encryption software scrambles data so that it cannot be read.
An encryption key must be used to unscramble the data so it can be read
Firewall
Software that is used to stop access from computers with unknown IP addresses
Images - Bitmap
Images made up of pixels. Each pixel has a colour. Groups of pixels form shapes that
are visible.
Bitmap images cannot be stretched or re-sized as they become blurry
Vector image
Images that consist of lines and curves that are defined by vectors.
They can be stretched and re-sized without losing quality