What is Moderation and Why Do We Need It?

Why moderate?

• To make sure your instructions are easy to follow, you’re not over assessing, the assessment is fit for purpose and your tasks meet the learning outcomes.
• Check your marking of the students’ answers are consistent with the rubrics/making criteria/marking schedule.
• MIT requires you to moderate your assessments before they are given to the students.
• It also safeguards you against any complaints for being unfair or biased.

Key features of moderation

Pre-assessment moderation:

• takes place as soon as you finish writing the assessments.
• is mandatory for all your new or revised assessments.
• ensures assessment tasks are clear and unambiguous.

You need to put together a pre-moderation pack and give it to your moderator. It must include:

• Assessment task
• Assessment matrix
• Course descriptor/assessment standard
• Instructions to students
• Assessment schedule (marking guide or answers)
• Copy of a pre-moderation report for your moderator to complete

Your assessments must ‘pass’ pre-moderation before you give them to your students. You need to table the pre-moderation report at the Programme Committee

• Post-assessment moderation
• takes place after the students have done the assessments and you have done your marking and given the results.
• confirm whether the assessment has met its learning outcomes after the students’ submission.
• confirms your marking decisions are fair and accurate.
• Samples of assessed student work as determined by the moderator (arrange with your moderator what the sample is going to be, e.g. high, middle, low, borderline)

You need to put together a post-moderation pack and give it to your moderator. It must include:

• Completed pre-moderation report
• Assessment task
• Assessment matrix
• Course Descriptor/assessment standard
• Instructions to ākonga, including any resources provided with the assessment activity or task
• Samples of assessed student work as determined by the moderator (arrange with your moderator what the sample is going to be, e.g. high, middle, low, borderline)

Post moderation has to be completed within 15 days of the end of course, before results are confirmed. Post moderation may mean that your results need to be changed, and that the assessment needs to be changed (and pre-moderated) before next use.

If post- moderation occurs after results have been released to students and requires student marks to be altered, contact your Head of School.

You need to table the post-moderation report at the Programme Committee.

Note: Post-moderation may result in readjusting assessment tasks / instructions or marking or even a new assessment. Make sure it is a ‘pass’ before you can file it away.