Practical Skills, Project Work and Viva Voce
Practical Skills, Project Work and Viva Voce
This domain assesses laboratory work, project documentation and your ability to explain what you built. The practical examination may ask you to perform a task in an office application or write a short program, while the viva checks understanding of your record and project.
Core rules
- A practical record should state the aim, software or apparatus, procedure, observations or output, and a brief conclusion.
- Project work should define the problem, list requirements, show design, include working output and explain testing. Keep source files and a backup.
- Use meaningful file names, save regularly, and close applications properly before submission.
- During a demonstration, explain the steps in order and be ready to modify a value or formula to prove that the work is live, not copied.
- In viva, answer precisely: define the term, state why it was used, and give an example from your own project.
Worked example
A project called Student Attendance Register uses a spreadsheet. Sheet Students holds Roll, Name and Class. Sheet Attendance holds dates and P or A entries. A COUNTIF formula counts P entries for each student, and a percentage formula divides that count by the number of working days. A chart compares attendance. In viva, if asked why an absolute reference was used, explain that the total working days cell must stay fixed when the formula is copied down. The reasoning is that the reference must not shift with each student row.
Traps
Do not submit a project you cannot explain. Hard-coded totals instead of formulas are easily detected. Unlabelled output and missing steps lose practical marks. Keep a backup and do not rely on one storage device. Do not open unrelated files during the demonstration.