Clarification details
Updated December 2020. The sections ‘Points of view, values and perspectives’, ‘Reflect on and evaluate the findings’, and ‘Critically evaluate the processes and suggest improvements’ have been updated to address new issues that have arisen from moderation.
Points of view, values and perspectives
For 91597, there should be a clear link between how the described point of view and the values and perspectives of the individual/group underpin action in society.
A document clarifying the requirements of ‘Points of view, values and perspectives’ for all internal Social Studies standards at levels 2 and 3 can be found below.
Clarification on points of view, values and perspectives
Reflect on and evaluate the findings
The findings of the social inquiry refer to the answers to the research questions that are communicated in the student’s own words and supported by specific evidence.
The evidence also needs to reflect on and evaluate the findings. This may include:
- evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the findings
- drawing overall conclusions from the findings
- discussing the importance of the findings.
A critical evaluation of the findings is required for Excellence. A further elaboration of what this could include is provided in the second bullet point under explanatory note 3 for this standard.
Critically evaluate the processes and suggest improvements
The requirement to ‘critically evaluate the processes and suggest improvements’
(Explanatory Note 2, bullet point 6) should be addressed separately from ‘reflecting on and evaluating the findings’ (Explanatory Note 2, bullet point 5).
Students may choose to critically evaluate 1-2 strengths and weaknesses of the processes and are not required to separately critique all the sources they used. All discussion should be well supported with specific details and examples and be reflective of the requirements of curriculum level eight.
A key element of critically evaluating the processes is by suggesting areas for improvement, extension, and/or follow-up. This should be fully explained and explicitly addressed in the student evidence.
Further explanation of what a critical evaluation of the processes should include is provided in Explanatory Note 3 of the standard.
Implications of the findings in contexts outside the inquiry
Students need to apply the inquiry findings to another context and consider the implications for this context. For example:
- the same issue/social actions in a different place
- the application of similar issue/actions from the student’s issue to another issue
- the implications for different groups not studied in the original inquiry.