So I am busy moderating IA for the Maths Studies course. This is something I have always enjoyed. The downside is endless agonising about the fine details and whether or not it is a 2 or a 3, but this is good for me as a teacher. On my workshops, I am always making the point that it is not worth spending time arguing about exact boundary definitions when we could spend our time more usefully helping students to clear the boundary with ease! Anyway, there is always lots to talk about here, but I just wanted to make a point about the notes we include with samples for moderators. I think making these notes is a really valuable exercise. This year I was a little behind with marking. Whereas I would normally have marked them and then waited to see which were called for sample before writing the notes, this year I wrote moderator notes for all of them as I was marking them so that when I had the names of the sample all I had to do was pick them out and send them.

I always feel that I want the moderator to know I have spent a good deal of time thinking about and justifying the marks I give. As such, I want make reference to the aspects of a project that I felt justified or precluded a given mark. Equally, there are some key points such as correctness and relevance and if I can give a moderator a hand in judging this then I want to. As a moderator, it can be frustrating when you dont have any information to help you understand why a teacher gave a particular grade. Of course, there is no obligation for teachers to be really detailed about this, it is just something I choose to do. As with so many things, it is probably easier to just show you an example. Here are some moderator notes I have written. Obviously the work is annonymous as it would not be appropriate to share that at this stage.

There are more examples of this in the IA section of the website. You might also find this blog post on IA issues helpful.