Clarification details
Updated September 2015. This clarification has been updated to address issues that have arisen from moderation.
The purpose of clarifications
We create clarification documents to help people understand the current requirements of achievement standards. Clarifications do not introduce new criteria, change the intent of the standard, or change what we expect from assessment.
These documents unpack and explain the language and intent of the standard so people interpret and apply the standard consistently. We provide examples or guidance as illustrations only. They are not prescriptions or requirements.
For official requirements, always refer to the current version of the achievement standard as published by NZQA.
Nature of the event
When outlining the nature of the event it is important to include evidence that indicates why the event is considered significant. This can be explained through numbers attending, whether it is national/regional, economic importance, etc.
An annotated map with explanatory notes showing the spatial dimension and the interaction between people and the environment could be used to support this aspect.
Planning and decision making
Explanation of the planning and decision making needs to include the major components of the planning. Ideally the explanation will be show the sequential nature of the planning process. A section called ‘further guidance’ is given in the tasks on TKI identifying these components.
A comprehensive analysis of the event will include an evaluation of the planning and decision making involved. The evaluation needs to clearly focus on judging how effective the planning and decision making was.
Impact of the event
When explaining and evaluating impacts of the event, students can select from social, economic and/or environmental. They need to focus on at least two of the three and their selection could be determined by the nature of the event. For example: if the event is held in a stadium, social and economic impacts will be more relevant than environmental.
Students will need to be familiar with a range of evaluation techniques/strategies to enable them to effectively evaluate the impact. Strategies could include social cost benefit analysis, sieve analysis, environmental impact assessment, etc.
Geographic terminology and concepts
When analysing the event from a geographic perspective students need to use geographic terminology and show application and integration of concepts throughout their response.