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 Media Studies.
On this page
Insights
91494: Produce a design for a media product that meets the requirements of a brief
Performance overview:
This standard requires students to complete concept, treatment and pre-production activities that demonstrate design choices to meet the requirements of a brief and show evidence of reflection and/or refinement.
Designs seen in moderation that met the requirements of this standard were detailed and complete across the concept, treatment and pre-production components. Understanding of the conventions of the selected media product was demonstrated, and reflection and/or refinement was clearly evidenced during the design process, with noted rationale for changes made. The pre-production activities were sufficiently detailed to demonstrate how the production could be moved from the concept stage to a final product.
Practices that need strengthening:
Further evidence of the understanding and selection of specific media conventions appropriate to the selected product was a common issue identified in moderation. Incorporating and evidencing research into the selected media product type and associated conventions could better enable students to demonstrate their understanding and application of media conventions, rather than codes, in the product design process.
Where print media was selected, the need for a greater balance between layout planning and content was noted in some samples. The inclusion of sample extract/s or draft text/s could better enable students to demonstrate their understanding and application of narrative structures/style, vocabulary, tone, formality, use of emotive language and language devices as they relate to the brief.
The need for further evidence of ongoing reflection and refinement during the design process was also identified in moderation. To better demonstrate the iterative nature of the process and a convincing/effective design required for Merit and Excellence, ongoing refection could be evidenced by the inclusion of, for example:
- Draft concepts/scripts/articles or article extracts/layout planning.
- Colour coded/dated annotations/revisions.
- Detailed SWOT analysis that includes mitigating actions taken.
Further explicit reference to how the selected design choices and/or changes made will meet the brief and/or impact the intended target audience could also better demonstrate the deliberate/effective selection and application of design choices required for Merit and Excellence at curriculum level 8.
91495: Produce a media product to meet the requirements of a brief
Performance overview:
To meet the standard, students must produce a media product using production technology and media conventions, with control, to meet the requirements of a brief.
Moderated evidence that met the requirements of the standard included crafted media products that demonstrated consistent control over both production technology and media conventions. Requirements of the brief were also met in full, in terms of intended audience, purpose and duration/word length. The most popular media product types seen in moderation continued to be layered short films or documentaries, followed by extended print magazine features.
Practices that need strengthening:
In some submissions, the brief supplied to students required more specific detail to better inform the design process. As per the Explanatory Notes, ensuring detailed specifications are provided regarding the target audience, format, legal and ethical requirements, and overall purpose of the product, will better enable students to meet the standard.
The need for greater evidence of control over production technology was also an issue in some moderation samples. For example, the need for more consistent control over sound and shot transitions were the main issues identified for film products. For print media products, the use of pre-existing templates and stock photos prevented students from demonstrating the level of selection, application and crafting required at curriculum level 8.
Evidence of the need for greater attention to the specified audience provided by the brief was also noted. For example, there were instances of age-inappropriate material in some short films for the intended target audience. For some print media samples, the content could have been selected to better align with the local audience specified, rather than the national or global angle taken, in order to better demonstrate the deliberate/effective selection of media conventions to engage/capture and command audience attention that is required for Merit and Excellence.
In addition, some media products did not meet the duration/word-length requirements as specified by the brief.
91497: Write a media text to meet the requirements of a brief
Performance overview:
This standard requires students to write a media text, applying media conventions with control to meet the requirements of a brief.
Evidence seen in moderation that met the requirements of this standard demonstrated consistent control over the conventions of the selected text type, and met the specified brief requirements. The most popular media product types seen in moderation continued to be screenplays and magazine pieces.
Practices that need strengthening:
In some instances, further control over media conventions was needed to meet the standard. For example, although accurate industry-wide formatting conventions of screenplays were usually evident in moderation samples, further control over spelling, punctuation and grammar was sometimes required for the samples to meet the standard.
In some samples, tighter control of media conventions was needed for magazine writing to reflect the text type selected, e.g. to better reflect the conventions of a feature article, editorial or opinion piece as specified by the brief. Additionally, further evidence of consistent control of spelling, punctuation and grammar was sometimes required for the samples to meet the standard.
Media texts which do not meet the duration/word count specified in the brief will not meet the standard. Following the guideline for scripts of one page per one minute of film will better ensure that the duration/word count requirements of the brief are met.
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 Media Studies include:
- 91252: Unpacking the Concept
- 91252: Exploring the moving image treatment
- 91252: Exploring the Plan and Practicalities
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:
- 91494: Produce a design for a media product that meets the requirements of a brief
- 91495: Produce a media product to meet the requirements of a brief
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 Media Studies. Exemplars of print media at Low Achieved and Low Merit for 91495: Produce a media product to meet the requirements of a brief will be added for 2024.
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:
- 91494: Produce a design for a media product that meets the requirements of a brief
- 91496: Demonstrate understanding of a significant development in the media
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.