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 History.
On this page
Insights
91434: Research an historical event or place of significance to New Zealanders, using primary and secondary sources
Performance overview:
The standard requires a research process to be followed and evaluated. At level 8 of the curriculum the research process should demonstrate thorough engagement with a range of quality, relevant, primary and secondary resources (some of which will be specifically identified during the preliminary reading phase of the research process); a detailed research proposal, organisation of the evidence, and an evaluation that clearly steps up the nature of evaluative comment expected in 91229. Annotations of the sources must also be provided. These should demonstrate an understanding of how a historian would consider and assess the usefulness and reliability of a source when conducting historical research.
Students generally had greater success in demonstrating the various elements required of the standard when they developed and worked with a single research question. By doing so they were more likely to provide sufficient evidence for comprehensive analysis, and the selected sources often addressed the research question more thoroughly and with more balance. This also helped to keep the volume of evidence manageable.
This was most successful when the research question clearly reflected a strong engagement with the context and preliminary reading prior to its formation. Some examples include:
- To what extent did Bloody Sunday change the attitudes of the Catholic faction in Northern Ireland?
- To what extent did the introduction of the oral contraceptive pill liberate women from the 1960s to 1984?
- To what extent did the Japanese government's actions of mobilisation during World War II negatively impact the lives of the Japanese people?
Practices that need strengthening:
At level 8 of the curriculum the ability to engage with both primary and secondary sources should be demonstrated. The inclusion and use of primary sources in the research could be strengthened. Encouraging students to seek out and engage with sufficient primary evidence during the preliminary reading process (before confirming their historical context and developing their research question(s), helps to ensure that the context chosen allows students to engage with primary evidence in a meaningful way.
Selection of relevant historical evidence from both primary and secondary sources is required. This evidence should be sufficient to later allow comprehensive analysis of the research context. Where sources are too few, too brief or superficial in the evidence they provide, this criterion is unlikely to be met. Inclusion of some more complex or academic sources should be encouraged to help support this criterion. This might include (but is not limited to) a chapter from the work of a historian, articles from academic journals, parliamentary debate or legislation, royal commission reports, documentaries and interviews.
When evaluating the research process, the standard offers several suggestions for the type of comment that could be made, particularly at Excellence. This discussion should focus more critically on the research process and findings, rather than the more common challenges students encounter such as time management and locating sufficient sources.
In addition to the ideas suggested in the standard, some examples of how this criterion was successfully met include discussion of the sufficiency of the evidence found and the impact of this on the findings, the perspectives captured (or absent) from the findings and how this could have been better addressed, and the way in which the sources work together to address the research question in a way that is balanced and complete.
91435: Analyse an historical event, or place, of significance to New Zealanders
To achieve this standard, students must communicate key historical ideas, provide evidence of their own analysis of the chosen context (rather than merely a description or explanation), and establish its significance to New Zealanders.
Analysis was most successfully elicited when students took a position on a moot or question related to the topic and supported this using historical evidence. Alternatively, this was achieved when students consistently cited, discussed and challenged the ideas found in historical evidence to support their argument pertaining to the historical event or place of significance to New Zealanders.
Practices that need strengthening:
In some instances, analysis of the strengths and limitations of the sources was provided (similar to the nature of evidence provided as annotations for 91434), rather than analysis of the ideas or arguments conveyed in the sources pertaining to the historical context chosen.
Clearly differentiating between what it is that students are required to analyse in each of the standards will help to ensure the nature of evidence provided correctly aligns with the intent of the standard.
91437: Analyse different perspectives of a contested event of significance to New Zealanders
To achieve this standard, students must analyse different perspectives of a contested historical event.
As was the case in 2022, schools increasingly chose to assess 91437 and 91435 as a combined assessment. As the overlap between these standards has become better understood, the volume of evidence produced for these combined assessments has reduced. Further information about how this can be managed effectively can be found in the online module Combining 91435 and 91437 (see below).
Practices that need strengthening:
Choosing a context that clearly has a contested element is integral. Historical discussion or debate at the time of the event, or by historians since, should exist on the contested element chosen. This may mean choosing an event where the causes are contested, or the morality of the decision debated.
In addition, the context chosen must focus on a contested historical event, rather than merely relate to history. For example, contexts such as analysing perspectives on the appropriateness of statues celebrating controversial historical figures more closely reflect a contemporary social issue rather than a historical event, and therefore are less likely to meet the requirements of the standard.
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 History include:
- Bite-sized module - Annotations for 91229 and 91434
- Short course - Combining 91230 and 91232
- Short course - Combining 91435 and 91437
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:
- 91230: Examine an historical event or place that is of significance to New Zealanders
- 91232: Interpret different perspectives of people in an historical event that is of significance to New Zealanders
- 91437: Analyse different perspectives of a contested event of significance to New Zealanders
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 History.
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:
- 91435: Analyse an historical event, or place, of significance to New Zealanders
- 91437: Analyse different perspectives of a contested event of significance to New Zealanders
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.