Overview of assessment

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit

Evidence of the ability to:

identify and categorise the different types of hardware, internal hardware and peripheral hardware components

install components across a variety of situations and account for unexpected contingencies

modify system's hardware, internal hardware and peripheral hardware components to meet client requirements

plan the modification and connection hardware, internal hardware and peripheral hardware components according to vendor and technical specifications

test components and rectify identified problems.

Context of and specific resources for assessment

Assessment must ensure access to:

hardware, internal hardware and peripheral hardware components for installation and configuration

use of current industry standard performance testing software

documents detailing organisational guidelines and requirements

technical manuals and tools

appropriate learning and assessment support when required

modified equipment for people with special needs.

Method of assessment

A range of assessment methods should be used to assess practical skills and knowledge. The following examples are appropriate for this unit:

verbal or written questioning to assess candidate’s knowledge of systems diagnostic software and systems functionality

direct observation of candidate:

connecting hardware, internal hardware and peripheral hardware components

testing components and rectifying identified problems

evaluation of client requirements and candidate’s final recommendations

review of candidate’s written notes.

Guidance information for assessment

Holistic assessment with other units relevant to the industry sector, workplace and job role is recommended, where appropriate.

Assessment processes and techniques must be culturally appropriate, and suitable to the communication skill level, language, literacy and numeracy capacity of the candidate and the work being performed.

Indigenous people and other people from a non-English speaking background may need additional support.

In cases where practical assessment is used it should be combined with targeted questioning to assess required knowledge.

Personal computer devices may include:

iPAD (or similar)

laptop

notebook

personal digital assistant (PDA)

personal computer (Mac or PC)

server

workstation.

Personal computer components may include:

cooling systems:

case fans

CPU fans

heat sinks

thermal compound

memory:

adapter cards

capture cards (TV and video)

graphics cards

I/O cards:

Firewire

parallel

serial

universal serial bus (USB)

media reader

sound cards

storage controllers:

eSATA cards

redundant array of inexpensive or independent disks (RAID) cards (RAID array - levels 0,1,5)

wired and wireless network cards

motherboards:

advanced network basic input/output system (BIOS) settings

bus speeds

chipsets

complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) battery

expansion slots

firmware updates

front panel connectors

I/O ports

jumper settings

memory slots

socket types

sound, video, USB 1.1, USB 2.0, serial, IEEE 1394 or Firewire, parallel, NIC, modem, PS/2

power supplies:

connector types and quantity

output voltage

wattages and capacity

processors:

32bit versus 64bit

cache

front side bus

number of cores

power consumption

socket types

speed

storage devices:

CD, DVD, RW or blu-ray

external

floppy disk drive (FDD)

hard disk drive (HDD):

parallel advanced technology attachment (PATA)

serial advanced technology attachment (SATA)

solid state

optical drives

removable.

Mobile personal computer components may include:

components of the LCD, including inverter, screen and video card

communication connections:

Bluetooth

cellular wireless area network (WAN)

ethernet

infra-red

modem

expansion devices:

docking station

peripheral component interconnect (PCI) express cards

Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) cards

hard drive and memory

input devices:

function keys

point devices, such as touch pad, point stick or track point

stylus or digitiser

internal laptop expansion slot types

keyboard, processor, plastics, pointer devices, heat sinks, fans, system board, CMOS battery, and speakers

power and electrical input devices:

auto-switching

batteries

fixed input power supplies

wireless cards and video card.

Peripheral hardware components may include:

input devices:

bar code reader

biometric devices

keyboard

KVM switch

mouse

multimedia, such as web and digital cameras, MIDI, microphones

touch screen

output devices:

printers

screen

speakers

printer consumables

printer drivers (compatibility).

Clients may include:

department within the organisation

person within a department

third party.

Organisational requirements may include:

how and what the organisation wants in regard to work environment

preventative maintenance and diagnostic policy

problem solution processes

roles and technical responsibilities in the IT department

vendor and product service level support agreements.

Testing tools may include:

anti-static pad and wrist strap

cable testers

extension magnet

loop back plugs

multi-meter

power supply tester

specialty hardware or tools.

Print devices may include:

impact

inkjet

laser

local versus network printers

thermal.

Printer issues may include:

blank paper

error codes

garbage printout

ghosted image

lines and smearing

no connectivity

out of memory error

paper jams.

Printer issue resolution may include:

clean printer

clear paper jam

install maintenance kit (reset page count)

power cycle

replace drum

replace fuser

set IP on printer.