Skip to main content
Concord Academy

Computer Science Placement Test - Topic List and Sample Questions

  1. Last updated
  2. Save as PDF
Computer Science Placement Test: Topic List
1.   On Mac and Windows computers, you should know how to
  • Do basic video editing with iMovie or a Windows-based video editor;
  • Use Google Mail and Calendar;
  • Use the web and library databases for research; use Google search tools to refine a search;
  • Create a web page with images and links using basic HTML;
  • Save and share files with cloud-based services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.;
  • Use flash drives and other removable media; connect to projectors and adjust display settings; install and update software; prevent viruses;
  • Get help from a variety of sources to solve a tech problem or learn a new technique.
2.   Using Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or Apple Pages, you should know how to
  • Format text (font, size, color, style);
  • Set margins and page layout;
  • Use headers and footers, page numbers and page breaks;
  • Insert footnotes and endnotes;
  • Create and format tables, add borders and shading;
  • Insert symbols, equations, accents, hyperlinks, and text-wrapped images;
  • Use spelling and grammar check.
3.   Using Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, or Apple Numbers, you should know how to
  • Use formulas and functions;
  • Use relative and absolute references (locked cells);
  • Create charts, including pie and column charts and scatter plots;
  • Label chart axes, set axis data source, set appropriate scales;
  • Add trend lines to graphs, and use the trend line equation for estimating values;
  • Sort and filter data;
  • Use spreadsheet printing features (reduce/enlarge, set print area, header/footer);
  • Copy tables and graphs into a word processor or presentation program;
  • Explain the difference between a spreadsheet and a database.
4.   Using Google Slides, Microsoft PowerPoint, or Apple Keynote, you should know how to
  • Add, remove, and reorder slides;
  • Insert and resize images;
  • Change slide backgrounds;
  • Insert hyperlinks into slides;
  • Add notes to a slide and print them.
5.   Other software
  • Use Photoshop to work with layers, magic wand, clone stamp, and liquify tools, drop shadows, filters, cropping, resizing, adding text, image adjustments, exporting, compression;
  • Use Scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu) or Python (http://trinket.io) to create a program with loops/repeats, if statements, and variables;
  • Use Garageband to record audio, trim, split, loop, adjust track volume, use built-in beats, snap to grid, and export to MP3;
  • Use bibliographic software.
Computer Science Placement: Sample Test Questions
I. Word Processing
  1. Create a new word processing document and name the file with your last name.
  2. Make the margins 0.75 inches.
  3. Put your name in the header and an automatic page number in the footer.
  4. Create a table with three rows and two columns, but no borders.
  5. Insert a footnote on the word “footnote” and for the source, write “source.”
  6. Make a fake word that uses three common accents.
  7. Insert a page break.
II. Research and Presentations

Start a new presentation and in each slide, put answers to the following questions:

  1. If you wanted to figure out how to use a new program, how would you go about it? Please describe the steps you would take, including where and how you would search.
  2. Briefly describe what the cloud (or cloud computing) is, and give an example.
III. Spreadsheets
  1. Below are some data for the Baking Club, showing cookie sales for their first 4 years in business.  Begin a new spreadsheet and paste in these data:
     
    Year # sold cost price profit
    1 212 0.75 1.50  
    2 344      
    3 476      
    4 608      

     
  2. In the profit column, calculate the profit based on the formula: price minus the cost, times # sold). Note that the cost and price never change, so you can lock those cells in your formula.
  3. Use a graph and a trend line to calculate how much money they'll raise in year 5, assuming the trend continues linearly (hint: you'll need to add the trend line equation).
IV. Other Software
  1. Using Scratch, create a script so the cat follows your mouse movement, but when it touches the bottom of the screen it says “Hello.”
  2. Using Photoshop, combine two images using two different layers. Clone Stamp something in the top image, and cut away the background to reveal the image below. Add a drop-shadow to one of the layers.