AS 91229 Annotated exemplars

This annotated exemplar is intended for teacher use only. Annotated exemplars are extracts of student evidence, with commentary, that explain key parts of a standard. These help teachers make assessment judgements at the grade boundaries.

Download all exemplars and commentary [PDF, 347 KB]

TKI History assessment resources (external link)

For Excellence, the student needs to comprehensively carry out an inquiry of an historical event or place that is of significance to New Zealanders.

This involves making perceptive annotations on the evidence and providing a perceptive evaluation of the inquiry.

This student has provided annotations. They include a description of the links between the evidence and the focussing questions [1] and examples of where there is a need for caution in using the evidence [2]. They also identify particular perspectives [3] and provide cross-referencing to support the analysis of the evidence [4].

The student has also provided evaluative comments that evaluate strengths and weaknesses and/or successes and difficulties in the inquiry process [5] and explain the comparative usefulness of sources [6]. Comments also identify issues that affect the usefulness and the reliability of the evidence gathered [7] and they discuss reliability [8]. Note that some evaluative comments may be located in annotations.

For a more secure Excellence, the student could:

• in the annotations, make further explicit comments of the higher-level sort suggested on the last four bullet points of Explanatory Note
• in the evaluation, provide further specific examples of each of the different types of comment suggested in EN7 of the standard.

For Merit, the student needs to carry out, in-depth, an inquiry of an historical event or place that is of significance to New Zealanders.

This involves making detailed annotations on the evidence and providing a coherent evaluation of the inquiry.

This student has provided annotations that include examples of where there is a need for caution in using the evidence [1], cross referencing to support the analysis of the evidence [2] and weighing of the evidence the sources contain [3].

The student has also provided evaluative comments that evaluate strengths and weaknesses and/or successes and difficulties in the inquiry process [4] and explanation of the comparative usefulness of sources [5].  There is also identification of issues that affect the usefulness and the reliability of the evidence gathered [6] and explanation of reliability issues [7]. Note that some evaluative comments may be located in annotations.

To reach Excellence, the student could:

• use a wider range of types of annotation
• provide more in-depth examples of the types of evaluative comment suggested in EN 7. For example:
  • discussion of why terms such as “believed” and “likely” represent problems [8]
  • which historians are unaware of the Freedom Riders aspect [9]
  • explanation of what was interesting about the evidence in the two interviews [10].

For Merit, the student needs to carry out, in-depth, an inquiry of an historical event or place that is of significance to New Zealanders.

This involves making detailed annotations on the evidence and providing a coherent evaluation of the inquiry.

This student has provided annotations that describe the links between the evidence and the focussing questions [1], identify the particular usefulness of a piece of evidence [2] and identify the need for caution in using the evidence [3]

There are also evaluative comments that evaluate strengths and weaknesses and/or successes and difficulties in the inquiry process [4] and identification of issues that affect the usefulness and the reliability of the evidence gathered [5].

For a more secure Merit, the student could provide a broader range of types of annotation, more detail to support what is stated in annotations (for example, who might manipulate information, and why, with examples) [5] and a broader range of types of evaluative comment.

For a more secure Merit, evaluative comments could also be contained in the annotations. They could include several comments that are of the higher-thinking sort indicated in Explanatory Note 5.  The evaluation could provide more detail by identifying who talks about personal opinions and accusations [6]; what is the angle shown in the visual image and who might interpret it differently [7].

For Achieved, the student needs to carry out an inquiry of an historical event or place that is of significance to New Zealanders.

This involves:

• preparing to carry out an inquiry
• making annotations on the evidence
• organising sources and evidence
• evaluating the inquiry.

This student has identified the topic, providing some thinking behind the choice of context [1] and provided evidence of preliminary reading by being able to cite specific possible sources and a brief indication of relevant evidence they appear to contain [2]. Focussing questions have been developed [3] as well as a research plan towards successful completion of the research on time [4].

Annotations that describe the relevance of selected evidence to focussing questions have been provided [5].

There are evaluative comments that evaluate difficulties in the inquiry process [6], explain the comparative usefulness of sources [7] and identify issues that affect the usefulness and the reliability of the evidence gathered [8].

To reach Merit, the student could provide more detailed evidence of how possible sources appear to be useful [2] and ensure that focussing questions are not too closed - Question 1, nor too broad, Question 3 [3].

To reach Merit the student could also provide specific detail throughout the plan (for example, identify times to use the internet, identify specifically when and where other sources will be accessed, specify times of day the research will be conducted, avoiding other commitments).  There could be a wider range of types of annotation and examples to support generalisations in the evaluation, for example [8].

For Achieved, the student needs to carry out an inquiry of an historical event or place that is of significance to New Zealanders.

This involves:

• preparing to carry out an inquiry
• making annotations on the evidence
• organising sources and evidence
• evaluating the inquiry.

This student has briefly identified the topic [1], provided evidence of preliminary reading by being able to cite specific possible sources and a brief indication of relevant evidence they appear to contain [2] and developed focussing questions [3]. There is also a very brief research plan [4] and annotations that describe the relevance of selected evidence to focussing questions [5].

The student has also provided evaluative comments that describe some limitations of evidence [6], some aspects of the research that were successful [7] and improvements that could be made [8].

For a more secure Achieved, the student could:

• write a sentence or two to further define the topic and/or state why it is worth researching
• provide a much more detailed research plan (including details about how, when and where research will occur)
• provide a wider range of types of annotation
• support generalisations in the evaluation with specific examples, for example [9] [10] [11].

For Achieved, the student needs to carry out an inquiry of an historical event or place that is of significance to New Zealanders.

This involves:

• preparing to carry out an inquiry
• making annotations on the evidence
• organising sources and evidence
• evaluating the inquiry.

This student has briefly identified the topic [1], provided evidence of preliminary reading by citing specific possible sources and a very brief indication of relevant evidence they contain [2] and attempted to develop feasible focussing questions [3]. There is also a very brief research plan [4] and annotations that describe the relevance of selected evidence [5].

There are evaluative comments that describe briefly, limitations of evidence [6], a few aspects of the research that were successful [7] and, briefly, how improvements could be made [8].

To reach Achieved, the student could further define the topic and/or state why it is worth researching, ensure that the research questions are clear and are not going to lead to duplication of evidence (see FQ 1 and FQ 2) and indicate preliminary reading by being more specific about the evidence within each source that is relevant to the inquiry e.g. [9].

To reach Achieved there could also be a much more detailed research plan (including details about how, when and where research will occur), a wider range of types of annotation and clear links to focussing questions and, in the evaluation, greater depth.  This could include specific examples to support generalisations, for example, which were the best sources of evidence [10].