Prescriptions - general information

The primary purpose of a prescription is to specify learning outcomes and aspects for assessment of the paper. It is not intended to prescribe teaching methods or other aspects of course delivery. However, suggestions which may provide assistance to lecturers/tutors may be given.

View the list of prescriptions for the approved papers for the NZDipBus.

Prescription development

Prescriptions for development are authorised by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) on the recommendation of the National Advisory Committee for Business Studies (NACBS), and the process is managed by the NZQA or its delegated agent.

Prescriptions and legislation

Prescriptions are reviewed as the need is identified. The review process involves representatives of industry and TEOs, and takes some time (including time for consultation with teaching institutions). In some cases, legislation that affects a prescription may be enacted before there is time for the prescription to be reviewed. Lecturers/tutors should be aware of such changes, and build new legislation into their teaching programmes. National external moderation will be based on legislation that is current at the time of course delivery.

Prescription review

Suggestions for prescriptions in need of review may be made to the NACBS from any individual or organisation. A suggestion from a national organisation, or through the Business Co-ordination Forum (BCF) made on behalf of a number of teaching TEOs, is more likely to be considered than one received from an individual person or institution. A case for a prescription review should be supported by reasons for the review.

Once a prescription has been accepted for review, the process is as follows:

Tertiary Assessment and Moderation (TAM), in consultation with the Prescriptions Sub-committee of the NACBS, will determine the process for each review, including the timeframe and the consultation to be undertaken as part of the review. Typically, a review committee will be nominated to undertake the review.
Review committees will typically consist of three persons, including provider and industry representatives. Nominations are sought from national provider and industry organisations.
The timeframe for each prescription review will be set by TAM in consultation with the NACBS Prescriptions Sub-committee.

The level of NZDipBus papers

Version one (100-200 series)

Please note: 100-200 series prescriptions have an expiry date of 31 December 2008.

NZDipBus papers at 100 level lay a foundation for papers at 200 level. The focus of 100 level papers should be on developing knowledge and comprehension of principles of the subject matter, with some opportunity to apply that knowledge and understanding where appropriate. If the knowledge developed is critical to the next level, then it should be specified. However, if the knowledge is developed in order to be applied, then the prescription should specify that application is required.

At 200 level, the focus should be on interpretation and problem solving.

Characteristics of papers at 100 level	Characteristics of papers at 200 level
knowledge and comprehension of material	interpretation and application of principles and processes
application of concepts and principles to structured or familiar situations problems are generally concrete and well-specified answers can be pre-determined the situation is one of low risk	application of concepts and principles to non-structured situations problems may have some abstraction and/or be ill-defined and may therefore involve aspects of problem defining the situation may involve some risk
comprehension is commonly required, with application where possible	analysis and evaluation (justification of answers) are required
the situations dealt with are clearly defined the parameters well specified, and the limits clear	extrapolation may be required
procedures have already been established and generally no adaptation is required	procedures may need adaptation to enable principles to be satisfied
the tasks to be completed are generally distinct	tasks to be completed may be integrated as components of a broader scenario
judgements and decision being made using given criteria	increasing autonomy and independence in making judgements and decisions

Prescriptions should provide lecturers/tutors with clear guidance that enables them to identify suitable strategies to ensure that the appropriate level of skill can be observed in the assessments they set. The verb that is used in assessment criteria gives important directions to lecturers/tutors in this regard.

Version two (400-600 series)

These prescriptions are now available for assessment and (from 31 December 2008) will replace the 100-200 series. Prescriptions in the 400-600 series are:

worth 20 credits each
at level 4, 5 or 6.

Read Level descriptors.

A review of the following version one prescriptions is in progress. Contact Tertiary Assessment and Moderation for more information.

Management	232 Operations Management
	233 Human Resource Management
Marketing	242 Marketing Research
	244 Buyer Behaviour and Communications Strategies
Computing	250 Applied Computing
	252 Systems Development Project
	255 Information Management

The following prescriptions will be reviewed in 2007-2008:

Management	227 Entrepreneurial Planning
	234 Planning and Control
Banking	225 International Trade and Finance
	275 Lending and Securities

Prescriptions, literacy, and teaching programmes

Most NZDipBus prescriptions do not contain any specific literacy requirements. However, a number of moderation reports have expressed concern about the level of literacy shown by students. The NACBS endorses these comments. Industry representatives on the Committee have endorsed the expectation that employers have for literacy levels required in the workplace, and the significance written and oral communication skills have in many jobs. Tutors are encouraged to require a high level of expectation from students in all written work.

Further information

Further information on NZDipBus can be obtained from Tertiary Assessment and Moderation of the Qualifications Authority or from NZDipBus accredited providers.

Page updated: 08 October 2007