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 standards in 2023. It also provides further insights from moderation material viewed throughout the year and outlines the Assessor Support available for Classical Studies.
On this page
Insights
91397: Demonstrate understanding of significant ideology(ies) in the classical world
Performance overview:
This standard requires analysing an ideology(ies) from the classical world. Popular topics range from aspects of religion in the classical world, Roman values under Augustus, Alexander the Great and the policy of fusion, funeral rites, and Socratic moral philosophy. Those with a focused analysis on ideology itself within their chosen topic, ensuring examples/sources used are specific to the ideology, tend to do well compared to those who write about everything on a topic hoping they have covered the requirements.
Practices that need strengthening:
Issues were generally around two areas. First, the ideology not being clear within the analysis – it is helpful to start an assessment with a clear statement on what ideology is to be analysed and revisit this throughout to ensure the assessment does not get off track. The second issue is around primary source evidence – the use of primary sources is required at all grade levels, and students are encouraged to use a combination of quoting, paraphrasing and referencing sources explicitly to support the analysis.
91398: Demonstrate understanding of the lasting influences of the classical world on other cultures across time
Performance overview:
This standard requires that students show understanding of the lasting influences of the classical world on other cultures. The evidence needs to show how a classical context has influenced later cultures. Popular topics are the classical hero over time (for example, how Odysseus influenced later versions of heroes), propaganda from Ancient Rome and how this influenced later forms of propaganda, as well as mythology in art over time and theatre/drama/comedy.
Successful assessments tended to focus their discussion on identifying aspects within the classical context. For example, instead of using multiple artworks across each time-period that address a range of aspects generally, stronger responses tended to focus on one classical artwork in depth by identifying aspects (like the use of colour, symbols, pose, etc). This could then be more clearly connected to art works across two later time periods with a more explicit analysis of the classical influence through the lens of the aspects identified.
Practices that need strengthening:
A key issue is the lack of analysis around influence, e.g. a focus on looking at three separate time periods with minimal analysis on how the chosen classical context influenced the later cultures. A lot of evidence is around ‘comparing and contrasting’ each culture within the assessment, which is level 7 of the curriculum. To move to level 8 of the curriculum, the analysis needs to explore the influence seen. Similarities and differences are a part of the Excellence criteria, however these should be explained through the lens of why these are present.
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 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:
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91397: Demonstrate understanding of significant ideology(ies) in the classical world
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91398: Demonstrate understanding of the lasting influences of the classical world on other cultures across time
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 skeptical 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 Dance.
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:
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91589: Choreograph a dance to develop and resolve ideas
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91593: Demonstrate understanding of dance performance practices
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.