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 Religious Studies.
On this page
Insights
90825: Analyse a religious tradition(s) in Aotearoa New Zealand
Performance overview:
This standard requires students to consider a religious tradition in Aotearoa New Zealand in detail and to draw conclusions about the tradition, supported by evidence.
Evidence that aligned with the requirements of the standard used authoritative and appropriate evidence to support the analysis of the selected aspects of the chosen religious tradition. For example, historical data and census statistics were used effectively to support the analysis of the evolution of the Catholic Church in New Zealand.
Practices that need strengthening:
Meeting the requirements of the standard became possible when evidence was used successfully to support the conclusions made. Challenges emerged when there were insufficient conclusions drawn from the analysis or when credible supporting evidence from authoritative sources was absent.
90826: Analyse the response of a religious tradition to a contemporary ethical issue
Performance overview:
This standard requires students to consider in detail the response of a religious tradition to a contemporary ethical issue, supported by evidence.
Evidence that met the requirements of the standard discussed a contemporary ethical issue which had two clearly opposing views in New Zealand today and the response of the religious tradition to the issue. For example, there are a variety of viewpoints on euthanasia in New Zealand including Christian world view, secular world view, End of life Choice Society, Hospice New Zealand.
When the ethical issue chosen had two opposing sides and the view of the religious tradition was analysed and supported by authoritative sources, the standard was able to be met. Additionally, a discussion of more than one ethical principle from within the tradition that influenced the response is needed to meet the Merit criteria. This could include an explanation of more than one of the principles of Catholic social teaching and how these influence the Catholic Church’s response to the issue of euthanasia in New Zealand.
Practices that need strengthening:
Issues arose when there was no appropriate supporting evidence, particularly from within the religious tradition, and the response of the religious tradition was not analysed. This was especially evident when the assessment activity was created to assess another standard as well as this one. Supporting evidence can come from the Bible, church documents, the Nathaniel Centre, Lobby groups or documents from Parliament.
When developing tasks to assess more than one standard in a single assessment, the assessor needs to ensure the criteria can be met for both standards using the task.
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.
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:
- 90826: Analyse the response of a religious tradition to a contemporary ethical issue
- 90827: Analyse the key beliefs of a religious tradition and a secular world view in relation to ultimate questions
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 Religious Studies.
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:
- 91725: Analyse the meanings in a sacred text within a religious tradition
- 90827: Analyse the key beliefs of a religious tradition and a secular world view in relation to ultimate questions
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.