from TKI

AS 91908 Analyse an area of computer science

3 Credits

The students will choose the area within which they wish to be assessed.

Computer science areas

The area of computer science will be selected from:

• complexity and tractability

• computer vision

• big data

• computer graphics

• formal languages

• network communication protocols.

The step-up in the levels of achievement.

Achieved – analyse/explain:

• the key aspects of the computer science area

• relevant algorithms or other mechanisms behind the area

• how the area is used, is implemented, or occurs, giving examples.

Students use information including research and/or classwork that they have previously undertaken within a computer science area in the achievement standard. They use this information to support their statements about the key aspects, how the area is implemented and to provide reasoning for the behaviour of the algorithms or mechanisms used within their context. For example (within computer vision), how an algorithm can pick up and identify facial features.

Students will provide a detailed account of how and why a computer science area occurs, within a particular context. For example (within computer vision): detailing why and how facial recognition is used by computers to match a facial scan to the photograph embedded in an e-passport.

Merit – analyse in depth:

Students use information from research and/or classwork within the chosen computer science area to:

• provide a detailed explanation of how the technical capabilities and limitations of the area relate to humans, giving examples

• compare and contrast different perspectives on the area.

Students analyse, with examples, the capabilities and limitations of the chosen computer science area and with humans. Students break an issue into its constituent parts and look in depth at each part using supporting arguments and evidence on how perspectives for and against and how these are interrelated to one another.

Excellence – critically analyse an area of computer science involves drawing insightful conclusions about the computer science area

Students critically analyse the computer science area by giving their reasoned verdict as to what extent a statement or findings within a piece of research are true, or to what extent they agree with them. Student may both agree with and contradict an argument using evidence taken from a wide range of sources. Students come to a final conclusion, basing their decision on what they judge to be the most important factors and justify how they have made their conclusions.

Format for the assessment

Digital Technologies and Hangarau Matihiko Common Assessment Tasks will be available online. Schools will download the CATs, test them, and make them available to individual candidates at the start of the scheduled assessment session(s).

Schools must choose when their candidates will undertake the DT&HM CATs and inform NZQA via an online form. Schools may choose dates within the last two weeks of Term 3 or the first two and a half weeks of Term 4. Schools may assess all three levels on one day, or may choose separate dates for each level. Schools must not split an assessment level over two or more days.

Candidates must complete DT&HM CATs under supervision. Candidate assessment responses may be sampled digitally to test authenticity requirements are met.

Each candidate’s assessment responses will be uploaded to an NZQA drive as a single portable document format (.pdf) file. NZQA markers will mark an exact copy of the file. The uploaded file and the marked file will remain online until the completion of the reconsideration process.

The common assessment tasks will ask candidates to respond to a series of prompts or questions drawn from the achievement standards. Candidates should aim to write between 800 and 1500 words.

In each following year, the questions, prompts, and range of samples may change.