Course Descriptors

Course descriptors:

• contain important information about the course and assessments.
• are the 'one version of the truth'.
• are formally approved documents by NZQA 
• cannot be changed without prior approval. 

NZQA has awarded Unitec wakaritenga to deliver each course according to the details in the descriptor.

Course descriptors include information such as:

• Hours of delivery
• Learning Outcomes (ie, what ākonga will learn)
• Topics to be covered
• Assessment names & weightings (ie, assessment details)
• Number of credits available for a course

Find your course descriptor in the e-academic library here:

H:/2.Academic Development/E-academic Library/3.0 Programme library

Ensure you have the most recent copy of the Course Descriptor for your course to refer to.  Talk to your APM immediately if you notice discrepancies between the Course Descriptor and what is being delivered. Doing this will show responsibility for the course, or rangatiratanga, one of Unitec's values. 

When you provide a moderation pack (learn more about this later) to the moderator of your course, you will need to include the relevant Course Descriptor because it lists the number of assessments, assessment weightings, and titles of assessments. The moderator must check that assessments align with the Course Descriptor.

There should be an explicit connection between the Learning Outcomes in the Course Descriptor and the teaching activities and assessments,. (If you are unsure, you can talk to your School's Te Puna Ako Learning Advisor.) 

1. Learning Outcomes always begin with a verb such as Describe, Explain, Critically Evaluate. 
2. Note the verbs in the Learning Outcomes. This is what students are asked to do via the assessments.
3. Make sure you know which Learning Outcomes each assessment is related to.

It will look like this: