Purpose
Achievement Criteria
Explanatory Note 1
Create a computer program involves:
- using a suitable programming language to construct a program that performs a specified task
- testing and debugging the program to ensure it works on expected cases
- documenting the program with comments.
Create a well-structured computer program involves:
- using succinct and descriptive variable names
- documenting the program with comments that clarify the purpose of code sections
- testing and debugging the program to ensure it works on expected and boundary cases.
Create a flexible and robust computer program involves:
- using conditions and control structures effectively
- using constants, variables, or derived values in place of literals to make the program flexible
- testing and debugging the program to ensure it works on expected, boundary, and invalid cases.
Explanatory Note 2
The computer program must:
- store at least two types of data in variables
- take input from a user, sensor, or another external source
- produce output
- use sequence, selection, and iteration control structures
- use data stored in a collection.
Explanatory Note 3
The programming language used must support the programming constructs assessed within the achievement standard. It may be text-based or graphical.
Shared Explanatory Note
Refer to the NCEA glossary for Māori, Pacific, and further subject-specific terms and concepts.
This achievement standard is derived from the Technology Learning Area at Level 6 of The New Zealand Curriculum: Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 2007.
Conditions of Assessment
Students may not use the computer program created for this Standard for AS92005 Develop a digital technologies outcome.
Student work which has received sustained or detailed feedback is not suitable for submission towards this Standard. Assessor involvement during the assessment is limited to providing general feedback on aspects of the work that the student may need to revisit.
Submissions should consist of the student’s program (or source code) and evidence of testing.
Selection of evidence for submission is to be carried out by the student.
Students may use a text-based language or a graphical one.
Evidence for all parts of this assessment can be in te reo Māori, English, or New Zealand Sign Language.
Unpacking the Standard
Mātauranga Māori constitutes concepts and principles that are richly detailed, complex, and fundamental to Māoridom. It is important to remember that the practice of these are wider and more varied than their use within the proposed NCEA Achievement Standards and supporting documentation.
We also recognise that the cultures, languages, and identities of the Pacific Islands are diverse, varied, and unique. Therefore the Pacific concepts, contexts, and principles that have been incorporated within NCEA Achievement Standards may have wide-ranging understandings and applications across and within the diversity of Pacific communities. It is not our intention to define what these concepts mean but rather offer some ways that they could be understood and applied within different subjects that kaiako and students alike can explore.
Mātauranga Māori constitutes concepts and principles that are richly detailed, complex, and fundamental to Māoridom. It is important to remember that the practice of these are wider and more varied than their use within the proposed NCEA Achievement Standards and supporting documentation.
We also recognise that the cultures, languages, and identities of the Pacific Islands are diverse, varied, and unique. Therefore the Pacific concepts, contexts, and principles that have been incorporated within NCEA Achievement Standards may have wide-ranging understandings and applications across and within the diversity of Pacific communities. It is not our intention to define what these concepts mean but rather offer some ways that they could be understood and applied within different subjects that kaiako and students alike can explore.
The intent of the Standard
This Standard assesses the ability of ākonga to apply computational thinking skills and knowledge of basic programming structures. Ākonga will identify and correct errors, predict and test outputs, and show that they can document their program for future developers. Higher levels of achievement require ākonga to make effective use of control structures to produce an efficient program that is flexible and robust, and works on expected, boundary, and invalid cases.
Making reliable judgements
A well-structured program will be laid out logically. The code will be easy to follow — particularly for someone else who has to take the code and continue working on it — and comments will explain the purpose of sections of code (as opposed to describing what each line does). Conditions will be handled logically and the output of the program will be accurate across all likely inputs (both expected and boundary).
A flexible and robust program will function effectively across a range of situations. Flexibility may be demonstrated in the code through the use of constants and variables or derived values in place of literals, or through the reuse of code sections. A robust program will be tolerant of a range of input, may check for the validity of input data, and will manage situations where invalid or out-of-range data is received.
Using conditions and control structures effectively means using those constructs in a way that makes the program more efficient and reduces or eliminates errors. This may include avoiding checking the same condition multiple times through using chained if/else statements, nested conditionals, or the use of multiple conditions with Boolean operators. Effective use of control structures and conditions may also include appropriately ordered conditionals or naturally terminating loops.
The language used must support the programming constructs assessed within the Standard. It may be text-based or graphical, and the resulting program must:
- store at least two types of data in variables
- take input from a user, sensor, or another external source
- produce output based on the program control flow
- use sequence, selection, and iteration control structures
- use data stored in a collection.
Collecting evidence
The complexity of the computer program developed must be appropriate for Level 6 of The New Zealand Curriculum. The computer program created for this Standard may not also be assessed for AS92005 Develop a digital technologies outcome.
Ākonga should supply evidence of both testing and debugging of their programs. This evidence should be sufficient for a marker to determine the values being tested, the expected results of the testing, the actual results, and any actions taken as a consequence of the testing.
Given a boundary refers to a range, boundary test cases would normally be numeric. Testing should be carried out on either side of boundary values to understand how code functions.
Testing for invalid cases may include considerations such as mismatched datatypes, empty strings, and out of range values.
Examples of testing could be:
- an organised test table with rows for each test showing the test case, the expected result of the test, the actual result of the test, and improvements made to the program based on testing
- a video walk-through where they describe the test conditions that they considered, demonstrating what happens when these conditions are encountered, and how they were addressed during development.
Possible contexts
A wide range of contexts could be used for assessment and can differ according to the type of computer program that is developed. A quiz might support a local context such as the school environment or an activity that is significant for ākonga. A game could explore a topic of interest. It is important that Assessment Activities allow ākonga to provide evidence to meet all the requirements of the standard.
The intent of the Standard
This Standard assesses the ability of ākonga to apply computational thinking skills and knowledge of basic programming structures. Ākonga will identify and correct errors, predict and test outputs, and show that they can document their program for future developers. Higher levels of achievement require ākonga to make effective use of control structures to produce an efficient program that is flexible and robust, and works on expected, boundary, and invalid cases.
Making reliable judgements
A well-structured program will be laid out logically. The code will be easy to follow — particularly for someone else who has to take the code and continue working on it — and comments will explain the purpose of sections of code (as opposed to describing what each line does). Conditions will be handled logically and the output of the program will be accurate across all likely inputs (both expected and boundary).
A flexible and robust program will function effectively across a range of situations. Flexibility may be demonstrated in the code through the use of constants and variables or derived values in place of literals, or through the reuse of code sections. A robust program will be tolerant of a range of input, may check for the validity of input data, and will manage situations where invalid or out-of-range data is received.
Using conditions and control structures effectively means using those constructs in a way that makes the program more efficient and reduces or eliminates errors. This may include avoiding checking the same condition multiple times through using chained if/else statements, nested conditionals, or the use of multiple conditions with Boolean operators. Effective use of control structures and conditions may also include appropriately ordered conditionals or naturally terminating loops.
The language used must support the programming constructs assessed within the Standard. It may be text-based or graphical, and the resulting program must:
- store at least two types of data in variables
- take input from a user, sensor, or another external source
- produce output based on the program control flow
- use sequence, selection, and iteration control structures
- use data stored in a collection.
Collecting evidence
The complexity of the computer program developed must be appropriate for Level 6 of The New Zealand Curriculum. The computer program created for this Standard may not also be assessed for AS92005 Develop a digital technologies outcome.
Ākonga should supply evidence of both testing and debugging of their programs. This evidence should be sufficient for a marker to determine the values being tested, the expected results of the testing, the actual results, and any actions taken as a consequence of the testing.
Given a boundary refers to a range, boundary test cases would normally be numeric. Testing should be carried out on either side of boundary values to understand how code functions.
Testing for invalid cases may include considerations such as mismatched datatypes, empty strings, and out of range values.
Examples of testing could be:
- an organised test table with rows for each test showing the test case, the expected result of the test, the actual result of the test, and improvements made to the program based on testing
- a video walk-through where they describe the test conditions that they considered, demonstrating what happens when these conditions are encountered, and how they were addressed during development.
Possible contexts
A wide range of contexts could be used for assessment and can differ according to the type of computer program that is developed. A quiz might support a local context such as the school environment or an activity that is significant for ākonga. A game could explore a topic of interest. It is important that Assessment Activities allow ākonga to provide evidence to meet all the requirements of the standard.
Standard Exclusions
This Standard has exclusion(s). Standards that recognise the same or similar learning outcomes as other Achievement or Unit Standards need to be excluded to prevent ‘double dipping’. Where two or more Standards assess the same learning outcome, those Standards are specified in the Exclusions List. You can only use credits gained from one of these Standards towards your NCEA qualification.
Click here for the exclusions list for the new NCEA Level 1 pilot Standards.
Standard Exclusions
This Standard has exclusion(s). Standards that recognise the same or similar learning outcomes as other Achievement or Unit Standards need to be excluded to prevent ‘double dipping’. Where two or more Standards assess the same learning outcome, those Standards are specified in the Exclusions List. You can only use credits gained from one of these Standards towards your NCEA qualification.
Click here for the exclusions list for the new NCEA Level 1 pilot Standards.