Review of Chemistry Level 2 achievement standards

FIELD SCIENCES

Review of Chemistry Level 2 achievement standards

Subfield Science

Domain	Id	Subject reference
Chemistry	90305-90311	Chemistry 2.1-2.7

The Ministry of Education and the Secondary Education Group Assessment business unit of NZQA have completed a review of the achievement standards listed above that were registered in October 2002.

New Registration date October 2004

Date new versions published October 2004

Planned review date March 2007

Summary of review and consultation process

This review is part of the planned cycle of review that takes place after the first year of use of the achievement standards.

� Initial feedback and comments were collated from teachers, schools, moderators, the National Assessment Panel, professional development facilitators, material developers, and other stakeholders.

� This information was reviewed by subject experts and recommendations were made in March 2004.

� The recommendations were sent out for consultation to subject networks, including teachers, assessors, moderators, facilitators and advisors in May 2004.

Main changes resulting from the review

The review process has resulted in the following modifications to the achievement standards:

� AS90305 - credits allocated have been increased from two to three to reflect the learning time involved for this standard. The first achievement criterion has been removed and changes have been made to the wording of the remaining criterion to improve fitness for purpose without altering the standard. Corresponding changes have been made to the explanatory notes. An explanatory note related to safety was added.

� AS90306 - minor changes to the title and achievement criteria have been made to clarify the intent of the standard with corresponding changes to the explanatory notes.

� AS90307 - replaced by AS90763.

� AS90308 - a minor amendment has been made to the criteria for achievement and achievement with excellence. Explanatory note 2 has been reorganised into several new explanatory notes.

� AS90309 - a minor amendment has been made to the achievement criterion for achievement with merit and achievement with excellence to improve fitness for purpose without altering the standard. The explanatory notes have been extended with the existing material reorganised and more detail included.

� AS90310 - a minor amendment has been made to the title and to the achievement criterion for achievement and achievement with excellence to improve fitness for purpose without altering the intent of the standard. The credits allocated have been increased from four to five to reflect the learning time required for this standard. The explanatory notes have been extended and changed to better organise the material and clarify the standard.

� AS90311 - the credits allocated have been decreased from four to three to reflect the learning time required for this standard. A minor amendment has been made to the achievement criterion for achievement with excellence. The explanatory notes have been extended and changed to better organise the material and clarify the standard.

Internally assessed achievement standard 90307, which is a Category C review, will expire in December 2005.

Impact on existing provider accreditations

None.

Impact on Accreditation and Moderation Action Plan (AMAP)

AMAP 0226 has been updated to reflect that AS90307 has been replaced by AS90763.

Impact on existing qualifications

None.

Impact of changes on NCEA Exclusions List

None.

Summary of main changes to achievement standards' Ids, classification, titles, levels, and credits

The following summary shows the changes made to the achievement standards as a result of the review. All changes are in bold.

Key to review category
A	Dates changed, but no other changes are made - the replacement achievement standard carries the same Id and a new version number
B	Changes made, but the overall outcome remains the same - the replacement achievement standard carries the same Id and a new version number
C	Major changes that necessitate the registration of a replacement achievement standard with a new Id
D	Achievement standard will expire and not be replaced

Subfield Science

Domain Chemistry

Id	Title	Level	Credit	Review Category
90305	Carry out qualitative analysis	2	2 3	B
90306	Perform an acid-base volumetric analysis Carry out an acid-base volumetric analysis	2	3	B
90307	Carry out a gravimetric or calorimetric analysis and solve related problems	2	3	C
90763	Solve simple quantitative chemical problems	2	2
90308	Describe the nature of structure and bonding in different substances	2	4	B
90309	Describe the structural formulae and reactions of compounds containing selected organic functional groups	2	4	B
90310	Describe principles of chemical reactivity Describe thermochemical and equilibrium principles	2	4 5	B
90311	Describe oxidation-reduction reactions	2	4 3	B

Key to review category

A