National External Moderation Manual for Tertiary Education Organisations

Submitting assessment materials for moderation

Assessment material

Assessment materials sent for moderation should include:

• assessment activities
• assessment schedules including evidence and judgement statements (qualitative and quantitative) and model answers if applicable
• three assessed learner samples for each unit standard with either NC (No Credit) or C (Credit)
• eight assessed learner samples for each achievement standard, from across a range of achievement: N (Not Achieved), A (Achieved), M (Merit), E (Excellence), and including borderline samples.

The materials can be in the form of:

• materials developed by or under the jurisdiction of the TEO, including evidence guides and workplace assessment briefs
• commercially produced assessment materials
• assessment materials published by the Ministry of Education (MoE) for achievement standards
• assessment materials published by NZQA for unit standards
• modified MoE materials for achievement standards
• modified NZQA materials for unit standards
• assessment evidence including attestations, witness testimonies, verified checklists
• video evidence if appropriate (please use VHS & DVDs only).

Assessment materials sent to the moderator should:

• for unit standards, have learner samples verified as being assessed either at NC (No Credit) or C (Credit).
• for achievement standards, have learner samples verified as being assessed with N (Not Achieved), A (Achieved), M (Merit), E (Excellence)
• have the learner samples identified as A, B, C or 1, 2, 3 or first name only
• have passed through an internal moderation process
• be sent by the submission date on the moderation plan
• include a tertiary moderation cover sheet (see Section 3.2 and Section 10.1 for completed samples) for each standard being moderated.

Information about available assessment resources can be found in Section Nine of this manual.

Integrated assessment materials

Best practice assessment principles for the assessment of unit standards states that “ Assessment of related or similar learning outcomes should be integrated, where possible”. Chapter 4 of the publication Learning and Assessment: A Guide To Assessment For the National Qualifications Framework, available on the NZQA website at: http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/for-providers/resources/index.html , includes an explanation of this type of assessment.

Submitting integrated assessment materials for moderation

TEO moderation plans may include standards where assessment has been integrated with other standards not selected for national external moderation. TEOs may submit the whole integrated assessment package to NZQA, but assessment material and learner samples must clearly indicate which parts of the material apply to the standard selected for moderation. For example:

• assessment materials and learner work could be marked with Post-it notes or be printed on different coloured paper
• an assessment grid or “map” that indicates which elements/standards have been assessed in which assessment activities could be included with materials
• written information could be included that clearly explains to the moderator how (and in which part of the materials) the standard selected for moderation has been assessed.

Contact TAM if you would like further advice on this matter.

Commercial assessment materials

Please remember that your organisation is responsible for the validity of any assessment materials it uses leading to the reporting of credit, whether these materials are self-designed or commercially produced. This means that your internal moderation processes should also be applied to such materials.

Commercial materials may include a moderation report and/or a certificate verifying that the purchased materials have been internally moderated by the vendor. This does not mean that the materials have met the national standard or that NZQA has verified the materials. Commercial materials are not exempt from national external moderation.

Incomplete assessment materials

Materials cannot be moderated if assessor judgements are not identified on either the learner samples or on the tertiary moderation cover sheet. In such cases, the moderator will notify TAM. TAM will contact the TEO for further clarification.

If assessment materials are sent without assessed learner samples, the moderator will contact TAM. TAM will contact the TEO for an explanation. This may result in TAM asking the moderator to return the assessment materials without moderation. The TEO may be requested by TAM to submit assessment materials for an alternative standard for which they have assessed learner work.

Please Note: NZQA does not undertake any pre-assessment moderation of assessment materials. This is part of the internal moderation process of the TEO.

Late submission of assessment materials

TEOs are expected to submit assessment material by the submission date as stated on the moderation plan. If this date is unable to be met, email: tam@nzqa.govt.nz. Assessment materials not submitted on time will be recorded as late on the National External Moderation Results report (see Section Five).

Preparing visual submissions for moderation for NQF standards

Assessors involved in assessment of performance in Māori Performing Arts, Operational Languages (ESOL), Business and Management, Dance, Drama, English, Languages, Media Studies, Music, Te Reo Māori, Te Reo Rangatira and Physical Education may need to submit audio-visual copies of assessed work of selected students for moderation.

Assessors and Moderation Liaison are asked to bear the following considerations in mind when preparing visual submissions for moderation:

Performance identification

Please present visual copies of only the performances to be moderated.

Format

CD-R or DVD-R format or standard VHS videotape (standard play, not long play) should be used.

Do not send Blueray discs, Hi8, DV or MiniDV tapes, or HD files.

Other technology such as USB flash drives, YouTube, are not suitable due to high security and virus transmission risks.

CD/DVD File Format Type

The following file format types are acceptable:

• Portable Document Format (.pdf)
• JPEG Image Format (.jpg, .jpeg, .jpe …)
• Graphics Interchange Format (.gif)
• Standard formats as used in Windows Media Player
• PowerPoint
• QuickTime

Other graphics formats may not be able to be read.

Apple Macintosh users must ensure submitted files can be read easily on a PC, except in the case of Media Studies. For Media Studies, PC users must ensure submitted files can also be read easily on an Apple Macintosh.

Quality

Use new, previously unrecorded tapes, DVDs or CDs. To ensure the material is readable, it should be tested on a machine other than the one used for recording before being sent for moderation.

Damage

To avoid damage to tapes, DVDs or CDs, TEOs are asked to package materials carefully in bubble-wrap or similar packaging for transport to the moderator.

Learner identification

It will assist moderators if the Student Identification for Visual Submissions for NQF Standards form is used to identify the student whose work is to be moderated. A copy of this form can be downloaded from the links opposite.

Strategies for successful identification on the videotape, CD or DVD itself include:

• a personal introduction
• the student's name written on the board behind the performer
• a voice-over introduction of the student
• placing all of each student's work in a folder named after the student, e.g. "Sarah". Each file within the folder can then be named and numbered to indicate the sequencing of the work, e.g. "Sarah1.jpg", "Sarah2.jpg". etc.
• submitting a student's work in the form of a PowerPoint presentation which clearly sequences images as separate slides in the form of a slideshow. Written student evidence may be added as notes if PowerPoint is used.

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Page updated: 05 July 2009