Subject adaptation · Years 7–8 · Technology · Field-Based STEM · Tony Jones
A finished prototype shows what a student built. It does not show what they decided. The Trace Map captures the decisions before the prototype can speak for itself.
Phase 1
Decisions Identified
Phase 2
Reasons Recorded
Phase 3
Evidence Attached
Phase 4
Submitted With Prototype
The Strategy
As the design or build progresses, students identify three decisions they made that shaped the outcome, such as a material choice, a structural choice, or a change to the original plan.
For each decision, students write one reason that explains why they chose it over an alternative.
For each reason, students attach one piece of evidence, such as a test result, a sketch, a measurement, or feedback from a trial.
If AI was used at any point in ideation, students name where and what it contributed, separate from their own decisions.
The completed Trace Map is submitted alongside the prototype, not after it, and is assessed as design evidence in its own right.
In Practice
Materials Technology
A student building a structural model records why a particular joint method was chosen, what test revealed a weakness, and what material substitution followed.
Digital Technologies
A student building a simple app or game records a decision about user flow, the reason it improved usability, and feedback from a peer test that confirmed it.
Food Technology
A student adapting a recipe records a substitution decision, the reasoning behind it, and the result of a taste or texture trial that confirmed or changed the approach.
Implementation Notes
Decision Checkpoint
Record decisions as they happen during the project, not reconstructed from memory at the end. A Trace Map written retrospectively loses its evidential value.
Teacher Judgement Note
Naming AI involvement in ideation is not a deduction. It is information that helps you see which parts of the thinking belong to the student.
