Performance Standard

The text below is taken directly from the Performance Standard, which is available on the NZQA New Zealand Scholarship Technology webpage.

Outcome description

The student will use knowledge of technology to demonstrate synthesis, integration, justification, and critical reflection on technological experiences.

Scholarship Performance Descriptor

The student will demonstrate aspects of high level:

• analysis and critical thinking
• integration, synthesis, and application of highly developed knowledge, skills, and understanding to complex situations
• logical development, precision and clarity of ideas.

Outstanding Performance Descriptor

In addition to the requirements for Scholarship, the student will also demonstrate, in a sustained manner, aspects of:

• perception and insight
• sophisticated integration and abstraction
• independent reflection and extrapolation
• convincing communication.

Explanatory Notes

1. This standard is derived from the Technology learning area in The New Zealand Curriculum (Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 2007) up to and including Curriculum Level 8, and is related to the Technology Teaching and Learning Guide.
2. Subject specific definitions:

   • Critical reflection involves accessing, analysing and evaluating information and understanding about past, contemporary and possible future technological developments, and justifying how this impacted on technological experiences

   • Technological experiences will include:

     • undertaking technological practice to develop a technological outcome(s) that is justified as fit for purpose in the broadest sense and shows elements of elegance and / or originality

     • demonstrating understandings of concepts underpinning Technological Knowledge

     • demonstrating understandings of the Nature of Technology.

   • Elegance refers to attributes such as ingenuity, simplicity, polish, and optimisation.

   • Originality refers to attributes such as inventiveness, innovation, and elements of unconventionality.

3. Fitness for purpose in its broadest sense refers to the ‘fitness’ of the outcome itself as well as the practices used to develop the outcome. These practices may involve consideration of such things as sustainability of resources used, treatment of people involved in manufacture, ethical nature of testing practices, cultural appropriateness of trialling procedures, determination of lifecycles and / or ultimate disposal.
4. This performance standard should be read in conjunction with the Assessment Specifications for the standard, which can be accessed through the Subject page on the NZQA website.
5. Assessment against this performance standard is administered under the Procedures for Secondary Schools, which can be found on the NZQA website.

Assessment Criteria

Grading

The cut scores below are used to award scholarship. These are subject to change, however they usually do not.

Mark	Result
< 13	No scholarship awarded
13-18	Scholarship
19-24	Outstanding Scholarship

Synthesis and Integration

Show your thought process for making decisions.

Marks	Level	Criteria
1-2	Below Scholarship	Demonstrates some synthesis and integration of technological experiences in bringing together knowledge, skills, ideas and methods to allow their technological outcome to be realised.
3-4	Below Scholarship	Demonstrates synthesis and integration of technological experiences in bringing together highly developed knowledge, skills, ideas and methods to allow their technological outcome to be realised.
5-6	Scholarship	Demonstrates sophisticated synthesis and integration of technological experiences in
bringing together knowledge, skills, ideas, and methods to allow their technological outcome to be realised.
Demonstrates:
- elegant synthesis and integration terms of ingenuity, simplicity, optimisation, and polish of their technological practice and its resulting outcome
OR
- original synthesis and integration in terms of inventiveness, innovation and elements of unconventionality.
7-8	Outstanding Scholarship	Demonstrates sophisticated synthesis and integration of technological experiences in
bringing together knowledge, skills, ideas, and methods to allow their technological outcome to be realised.
Demonstrates:
- elegant synthesis and integration terms of ingenuity, simplicity, optimisation, and polish of their technological practice and its resulting outcome
AND
- original synthesis and integration in terms of inventiveness, innovation and elements of unconventionality

Justification

Justify why not how you have made your outcome.

Marks	Level	Criteria
1-2	Below Scholarship	Explains how some of the complexities of the situation have been identified and explored.
Explains why the outcome addresses the problem(s).
3-4	Below Scholarship	Justifies why the outcome addresses the problem(s),
OR
Justifies the technological practice undertaken.
5-6	Scholarship	Justifies the technological practice undertaken
AND
Justifies why the outcome addresses the problem(s).
7-8	Outstanding Scholarship	Communicates convincingly to justify comprehensively the technological practice undertaken
AND
Communicates convincingly to justify why the outcome addresses the problem(s).

Critical Reflection

This is the section that is often overlooked. Reflect on learnings, improvements, the experience, quality of feedback, stakeholder, etc. Positives, negatives, draw conclusions.

Marks	Level	Criteria
1-2	Below Scholarship	Some reflection on technological experiences of self or others to inform the development of their technological outcome.
3-4	Below Scholarship	Reflects on information, technological experiences of self or others to inform the development of their technological outcome.
5-6	Scholarship	Critically reflects on technological experiences of self and others to inform the development of their technological outcome.
7-8	Outstanding Scholarship	Independent critical reflection and extrapolation on technological experiences, across a range of contexts, to inform the development of their technological outcome.