About this report
The following report gives feedback to assist assessors with general issues and trends that have been identified during external moderation of the internally assessed Agricultural and Horticultural Science standards in 2023. It provides further insights from moderation material viewed throughout the year.
On this page
Insights
91528: Carry out an investigation into an aspect of a New Zealand primary product or its production
Performance overview:
This standard requires carrying out an investigation into an aspect of a New Zealand primary product or its production.
The investigation involves producing all the following components: a statement of purpose, planning the method to be used, collecting, recording and processing primary data, interpreting findings based on own processed data, reporting on the findings and relating them to findings from another source relating to the agricultural or horticultural context, and providing a valid conclusion(s) that relates to the purpose of the investigation. All these components need to be included in the student evidence to meet the standard. Contexts for 2023 investigations included: attributes of products such as potatoes, pears, apples, honey, steak and consumer preference, management practices that influence kiwifruit taste, types of fertiliser on pasture production, and the effect of beef farming on adjacent waterway quality.
This is an individual investigation. Students may work in small groups to carry out the investigation and collect data, but the investigation report needs to be completed individually. The teacher needs to ensure that there is evidence that each student has met all aspects of the standard. Further guidance about the Conditions of Assessment can be found on the TKI website. A link can also be found in the 91528 Annotated Exemplars section on the NZQA website.
Practices that need strengthening:
The use of information from other sources is required to be directly related to the student’s findings and to the purpose of the investigation.
Scientific protocol is required to be followed when writing the report. Areas that require strengthening: the independent and independent variables should be identifiable, the method needs to be easily followed by and repeatable by another person, raw data must be processed and shown in the report, and the conclusion needs to be linked to the aim.
91529: Research and report on the impact of factors on the profitability of a New Zealand primary product
Performance overview:
This standard requires researching and reporting on the impact of factors on the profitability of a New Zealand primary product.
The report involves selecting and processing information relating to specific factors that may impact on the profitability of a New Zealand primary product, using the processed information to describe the impact of the factors on the production of the primary product, and reporting the findings in a logical manner. Examples of products seen in student evidence for 2023 reports included lamb, wool, beef, dairy milk, venison, velvet, deer milk, forestry, pork, kiwifruit, apples, honey, blueberries, and peony cut flowers.
Practices that need strengthening:
The linking of the relevant and processed information to the factors impacting the profitability of the primary product must be included in the student report to be awarded grades including and above Achieved. For Achieved, the processed information is used to describe the impact. For Merit, the processed information is interpreted to explain the impact. For Excellence, the processed information is analysed to justify the impact.
When referencing sources, the standard requires a recognised referencing style be used so sources can be verified. For example, using the APA referencing guide.
Assessor Support
Online
NZQA’s learning management system (Pūtake) offers 150+ easy to access courses, materials and products. These are designed to support teachers, as assessors, to improve their assessment of NCEA standards.
Online, subject-specific or generic, bite-sized learning modules and short courses are now available to complement the traditional face-to-face workshops that NZQA offers. These online courses can be accessed using your Education Sector Logon.
Subject-specific course/workshops available for Agricultural and Horticultural Science include:
- 91289: Carry out an extended practical agricultural or horticultural investigation
Online Making Assessor Judgements workshops are also available throughout the year. These workshops are structured to guide teachers to improve their understanding of each grade level by examining several full samples of student work. The following standards are available for enrolment in 2024:
- 91296: Produce a landscape plan
- 91529: Research and report on the impact of factors on the profitability of a New Zealand primary product
Feedback from teachers for these workshops indicates that more than 74% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the content in the module was beneficial:
“Although I was a bit sceptical that this was going to provide me with better understanding of the standard (and marking it), I found I've picked up more certainty about making judgements about the work my students might produce. I'm also more secure about guiding them through the selection of their topic and setting it up so that they are able to complete a successful investigation.”
Exemplars of student evidence for all standards at each level of achievement are available on the NZQA subject page for Agricultural and Horticultural Science.
NZQA will continue to provide generic modules and workshops designed to improve general assessment practice. The following modules and workshops will be available in 2024:
- Assessment Approaches, an online workshop exploring different methods of assessment
- Culturally Responsive Assessment
- Assessment Guidance – Reviewing Your Practice
- Tāku Reo, Tāku Mahi – My voice, My work, a guide to managing authenticity
- Why Less is More, a guide to reducing volumes of student evidence
- Integrated Assessment
- Modes of Assessment
- Alternative Assessment
- Acknowledging Sources
“This was great! I liked that I could choose from different scenarios, see how sources are used and the way the student answered the question.”
“Reassuring and very thorough. Easy to use/follow.”
We will also continue to offer the Transforming Assessment Praxis programme, an online workshop relevant to all subjects which helps assessors learn about re-contextualising assessment resources and collecting evidence in different ways, in order to better meet the needs of students.
Check the NCEA subject pages on the NZQA website regularly, as more online modules, workshops and courses will be added throughout 2024.
Assessor Practice Tool
The Assessor Practice Tool (APT) will be used to support assessors with the new NCEA standards from 2024 onwards. The purpose of the APT is to allow assessors to practice making assessment judgements and immediately receive feedback on their judgements from a moderation panel. The APT will initially have material for some existing Level 3 standards, with moderated samples for the new Level 1 NCEA standard subjects being added as material becomes available. Material for the new Level 2 and Level 3 standards will be added over time, and all material for the old NCEA standards will be archived.
Material is currently available for:
- 91528: Carry out an investigation into an aspect of a New Zealand primary product or its production
Workshops and presentations
The Best Practice Workshops offered by Assessment and Moderation continue to be viewed by the sector as significantly contributing to improved assessor practice:
“I thought the workshop was very clear and helpful, there were a lot of varied examples of ākonga work discussed and opportunity for participants to discuss and ask questions.”
We offer several options of online workshops and presentations for events to support assessors with the assessment of internally assessed standards. These can be subject-specific, or general assessment support, and tailored to the audience. Virtual presentation slots, online workshops or webinars can be requested to provide targeted support to local, regional or national audiences.