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File Maker Pro for MAC can be used over the course – the students could do some work in PHP/MySQL using MAMP, which is free.

File Maker Pro does provide some templates, but there is a huge amount of work to be done “behind the scenes”. Students can create all their own custom layouts, scripts, button events, and so on.

Functional modelling is the process of checking out design concepts/ideas to see if they are suitable for developing into an actual outcome.

Functional models are always representations, not the actual thing. They could be, for example, a sketch, a pattern or plan, a cardboard model, a CAD drawing, or even a mental picture. They may be of the whole outcome, or just a part (for example, how two sections of the proposed outcome are to be joined).

A prototype is the first complete version of an outcome – the realisation of concepts/ideas that have earlier been developed through functional modelling. It is full-sized, made of the selected materials, and painted or finished as required. The prototype can be assessed against the brief: does it have all the specified attributes, does it work as required, is it fit for purpose?

If the outcome is a “one-off”, then the prototype is “it” – the student evaluates the outcome and the technological practice used to produce it; this evaluation becomes part of their ongoing learning. If the prototype is the first of a number of same or similar outcomes, the evaluation will likely to lead to modifications.

So functional modelling and prototyping have quite different purposes, but both come under the technological modelling component of the curriculum. See the Indicators of Progression for useful suggestions on how you could teach your students about functional modelling and prototyping.

The following resources on Technology Online may also be useful:

Discovering what functional modelling is – and why it’s so important

Top scholar technology 2013: Robotic window cleaner

It’s an assessment resource, not a teaching resource, but the internal assessment resource for AS 91643 should give you a clear idea about the teaching required.

Note that the emphasis in all the “implement procedures” standards is on technology in a commercial environment, where the viability of a product can be determined by the ability to make it consistently to exacting specifications and then sell it at a profit. So quality control and the efficient use of time and resources are extremely important.

According to the standard, “complex procedures are those that require a diverse range of processing operations to be performed in a particular order based on knowledge of techniques, operations, and testing feedback”. EN 2 provides very good guidance on what complex procedures encompass and the bulleted points could be used as a basis for planning your teaching programme.

While cream puffs are used as an example in the internal assessment resource, you can choose (or let your students choose) any other food product as long as the specifications are of sufficient rigour (EN 5).

The internal assessment resource contains useful guidance on what “skillfully” (Merit) and “efficiently” (Excellence) might look like.

When AS 91096 was being created, the writers decided after a lot of discussion to restrict its application to textiles (EN#4).

Could this be changed in the future?

The processes, techniques, and tools involved in creating a pattern for a sheet metal product or a moulding are so substantially different that it is doubtful if broadening the scope of AS 91096 could cover them off, and there are currently no plans to introduce further technology achievement standards.

At some stage in the future there will no doubt be a review and changes, but even then, it is unlikely that the Ministry of Education (as owner of the achievement standards) will want to go too far down the path of duplicating industry-focused standards. Technology already has a vast array of standards – far more than any other learning area.

Having said this, have you considered assessing aspects of the pattern-making process using one of the generic standards, for example, AS 91047 Undertake development to make a prototype to address a brief or AS 91046 Use design ideas to produce a conceptual design for an outcome to address a brief? Between them, they provide for a very wide range of possible teaching contexts.

Statements such as "S needs a ball dress” or "S wants something unique to go to the ball” seem more like needs or opportunities, rather than issues. To ensure the depth and breadth of practice required at this level, it might be better for students to be establishing issues such as "uniqueness" within a context of school balls/formal occasions. 


At curriculum level 8, students will generally be establishing an issue (and thus context) that is relevant to them as an individual. 
From the beginning of their practice, students should be showing in-depth consideration for social and physical environmental factors related to their context.

For a school ball/formal occasion, this might include things such as dress code, current fashions, activities at the event (for example, dancing, eating), month and time of the event, personal culture, and so on.
 A need for one student (within the issue of uniqueness) may be to stand out at the school ball, but also to have an outfit that can be worn at future occasions.

At curriculum level 8 it is not always the best approach to allow the outcome to drive the practice. That is, a student who wants to make a particular ball dress may find it very difficult to undertake brief development as required at this level. 
The final brief must allow judgement of the outcome’s fitness for purpose in the broadest sense. This relates to the outcome itself as well as the practices used to develop the outcome. This requires ongoing consideration of the context.

At this level, when students are working on a project in which they are making a ball gown, it could be considered whether it would be better to focus on the skills that students develop (rather than on the brief development process). That is, instead they could be assessed against achievement standards such as:

• AS 90621 (Implement complex procedures using textiles materials to make a specified product)
• AS 91350 (Make advanced adaptions to a pattern to change the structural and style features of a design)
• AS 91623 (Implement complex procedures to create an applied design for a specified product).

As a general guide, it is expected that each NCEA credit requires 10 hours of teaching and learning time. Trying to assess all these four achievement standards (20 credits) in one term would therefore be too much. At level 3 NCEA (level 8 of the curriculum), it can take a whole year for students to show the depth of practice required at excellence level for this set of standards.

The aim of technology as a learning area is for students to develop broad technological knowledge, practices, and dispositions that will equip them to participate in society as informed citizens and provide a platform for technology-related careers. To achieve this, students should be participating in a cohesive programme of learning across all three strands (Technological Practice, Technological Knowledge, Nature of Technology). This approach is also essential for students to have success in Technology Scholarship.

Teachers who listen to their students and guide them to address an issue that is engaging for them will generally see high-quality evidence being produced. Depending on the project that students undertake, a manageable number of appropriate achievement standards should be selected for assessment purposes.

Complex procedures require the student to select and use a variety of techniques for the precise integration of parts. The product the student makes needs to provide opportunity for this to occur. The resource called A Power Tower is a good starting point and provides an example in wood.

As per Explanatory Note 2 of the standard, implementing complex procedures to integrate parts for products such as a ladder or sprinkler could include:

• preparation of parts for integration (preparing all parts of the ladder or sprinkler to tolerance before it is put together)
• preparation of the integration environment (making a jig to ensure the ladder is perfectly square and straight; preparing a clean assembly environment with the equipment needed to accurately assemble the product)
• integrating parts to ensure product meets specifications (putting it together)
• ongoing testing against reference points to reduce error in the integration of parts (using the jig and checking for tolerances at each stage of assembly).

Radio controlled boats could also provide a platform for this standard in plastics. The expectation would be coverage of a range of techniques in the discipline of plastics forming, for example:

• vacuum forming, including material properties affecting form and making plugs to suit assembly tolerances
• heat strip bending, including allowances for distortion, wall thickness, temp settings
• protocols relating to adhesives, including initial tack and setting times (adhesive selection and application should take into account the performance required of the adhesive in the outcome, for example, load, exposure to high temperature, water)
• mechanical fixings, including material properties relating to drilling/cutting that affect alignment and relationship of parts.

Radio Control would include many things to be integrated and require students to find such things as reference lines, centrelines, and datums or start positions for assembly alignment. Each part would need to be taken into account when assembling.

It is likely that any plastics outcome would include materials other than just plastics. A sailing yacht without radio control may also offer the complexity required for this standard. 

Additional products and possible associated examples are suggested in the following document:

Ask an expert question and answer AS91620 (Word 2007, 6 MB)

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Pattern alterations such as gathering are generally not seen as advanced adaptations. However, if the student carried out the adaptations in a similar way to that outlined below, then this would be considered an advanced adaptation to a pattern.

The student:

• determined the degree of fullness required (They measured, slashed, and added width to the front and back skirt pattern pieces for gathering based on the placement required in the finished style. They marked the skirt pieces so they could be gathered evenly to match the notches on the waistband. When adapting the pattern pieces, they determined how much fullness to add when using a particular type of fabric.)
• drafted a pattern piece for the waistband to the required finished length, height, fit, and waistband style. (The pattern piece indicated the placement of the gathering when attaching the skirt pieces to the waistband.)

NZQA manages the development of exemplars. The assessment schedule for the TKI assessment resource "Process a lemon meringue pie" provides examples of acceptable evidence for each grade. (The word file on the web page given below is titled "2.60 Food".) The teacher guidelines are also very useful in explaining requirements. See NCEA on TKI, Level 2 Technology assessment resources.