Conference 2014
2014 Physics Teachers Conference, Friday 14th and Saturday 15th February at Monash University, Clayton VICTORIA
Program Description, Conference Opening, Conference Proceedings
Program Description
The Program included:
- An opening address by Prof Brian Schmidt of ANU on 'Some Big Questions in Cosmology: What we know, what we don't and the limits of our knowledge.
- A session of small group discussions as part of the Physics Review Consultation process. The groups discussed assessment issues. See below for more details.
- Report by Bruce Walsh, the Chief Assessor, on the 2013 Physics Exam, during the day program and again in the late afternoon program.
- Five sessions of over 75 workshops in the day and late afternoon program on the Friday.
- Extensive display of texts and equipment.
- A Saturday program of excursion tasters * and a medical physics in-service. Three physics excursion venues offered tasters at three times. A two hour medical in-service at Peter Mac was also available.
2014 Physics Teachers' Conference Map 3.23 MB
The map shows the locations of free parking, registration and workshop venues as well as walking tracks to these venues.
Brochure for 2014 AIP/STAV Physics Teachers Conference 1.07 MB
This brochure gives a description of all the workshops on offer as well as the abstract for Prof Schmidt's address and the details of the small group discussion, which is part of the Physics Review process.
2014 Physics Teachers' Conference Program 3.29 MB
The document includes the program giving the location of each workshop as well as a map showing the locations of free parking, registration and workshop venues, and walking tracks to these venues.
* Synchrotron Excursion Taster: For those who booked the Synchrotron for Saturday morning, the following documents were useful, particularly the safety rules in regard to footwear.
Small Group Discussions
Immediately following the Opening Address, there was session of small group discussion. The discussion started and ended with two short activities on sharing ideas. See the sheet below, for information about the purposes of the session, details of the discussion questions and information about the short activities.
The results of the two short activities and the discussion of assessment issues are now included below.
Sharing Ideas from the 2014 Physics Teachers' Conference 66 kB
List of Youtube videos and useful websites (with active links) that were suggested by participants as part of the group discussions at the Conference. A three page Word document.
Practical activities from the 2014 Physics Teachers' Conference 47.6 kB
Possible practical activities suggested by participants in the small group discussions for the following Areas of Study: Unit 1 Electricity, Unit 2 Movement and Light, Unit 3 Motion and Electronics & photonics and Unit 4 Electric power. A four page Word document.
Discussion Group Responses 58.4 kB
The groups discussed five questions on assessment issues associated with Inquiry skills, Science as a Human Endeavour as well as exam related matters. Each of the groups' comments have been entered as written.
Conference Opening
The opening to the conference included a rolling powerpoint of events and activities for students and teachers organised by the Committee, see below. The events and activities include:
- The Victorian Young Physicists' Tournament
- The Physics Photo and Video Clip contests
- Support for New Teachers: In-Service and Mentor Scheme
- The Travelling Scholarship
- The Physics Equipment Grants
Conference Handouts
Rolling powerpoint prior to Conference Opening 1.89 MB
The powerpoint displayed information about the conference and various AIP events such as Physics Days at Luna Park, support for beginning physics teachers, VYPT and other events for students as well as a statement of the AIP Education Committee's tasks and membership.
Physics Handout from the AIP Education Committee 91.1 kB
The four page handout was included in the registration folder. It featured detailed information about support for beginning teachers and events for students. There was also a site map of this website on the last page.
Conference Proceedings
Chief Assessor's Report
Chief Assessor's report on the 2013 Exam 791 kB
Powerpoint by Bruce Walsh, chief assessor for Units 3 and 4 exam.
The Grade Points 45.6 kB
A spreadsheet of the grade points for the years 1999 - 2019. The grade point is the raw score cut off for a particular grade. The cumulative percentage of candidates is also included alongside the raw score. The table also has the mean and standard deviation for each exam. The data for each year is added as it becomes available sometime late in Term 1.
General Marking Principles 42 kB
by Bruce Walsh, the Chief Assessor. Distributed at the 2011 Physics Teachers Conference.
Workshops
Workshops on specific Areas of Study or Year levels: Material can be downloaded from the relevant web page. Click on link.
- A10, B10: Glowing graveyards by Dr David Hoxley and Bob Aikenhead, La Trobe University. Unit 1 Nuclear and radioactivity physics
- C5, E5: Teaching Astronomy to Year 10 with lab based practical work by Russell Downie, PLC. Units 1/2 Astronomy. A set of over 20 documents including lesson plans, worksheets, powerpoints for a full topic.
- C9: Victorian Young Physicists' Tournament by Dan O'Keeffe, AIP Ed Comm. VYPT
- D1, E1: Physics in General Science: Electronics, electrcity and magnetism by Helen Lye, ACER and Dan O'Keeffe, AIP Ed Comm.Years 9 - 10
The workshop 'D13 Kids can create computer models for Physics!' by Matthew McGovern, Mill Park Secondary College has 11 files including worksheets and spreadsheets. These are at Apps, Applets and Spreadsheets.
The workshop 'D4 and E4 Easy and Engaging Light Pracs by Spiros Liacos, Cheltenham Secondary College has 7 files. These are at Wave-like Light and a couple at Electricity.
FUNcube at Lauriston 35.8 kB
The FUNcube-1 satellite was designed and built by a small group of members from the volunteer amateur satellite organisations. The aim of the FUNcube project is to create an educational satellite through which school students can learn about radio, space, physics and electronics. Paul outlines how it operates at his school, what software and equipment is needed and useful links as well as his email address.
Experiments for Electronics and Photonics 254 kB
A set of 8 experiments prepared by Rachael Barker and Jill Detez from MLC. The individual experiments can be downloaded from the 'Electronics and photonics' webpage on this website under Teachers/VCE Resources/Unit 3 The file is a docx for easy adaptation.
Engaging students in Physics though online interactions 2.77 MB
Opportunities for engaging students using freely available online tools such as: webpage, touchscreen, interactive whiteboard, Facebook page, Twitter feed, Youtube channel, Google Drive, Skype. Michael Rosenbrock from Wodonga Senior Secondary College and Steve Draper from Melbourne High School
Using Robotics and Space Science to Engage Students in STEM 7.79 MB
A pdf file by Milorad Cerovac from The King David School.
Astronomy Club - Activities for starting one in your school 7.17 MB
B3 Workshop by Paul Fitz-Gerald, Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School
Australian Senior Physics Curriculum: Overview and Opportunities 372 kB
Powerpoint for A3 Workshop by Neil Champion, Buckley Park Secondary College
Australian Senior Physics Curriculum: Overview and Opportunities 158 kB
Notes for A3 Workshop by Neil Champion, Buckley Park Secondary College
Compton Scattering - The Birth of the Photon 1.44 MB
Presentation by Theo Hughes, Monash University
Language and Understanding in Physics 496 kB
Presentation by Dr Murray Anderson, Camberwell Grammar School
Further Electronics 2.99 MB
A zip file of a package of materials by Dr Murray Anderson, Camberwell Grammar School
Delivering VCE Physics 100% online and interactive - pdf 4.08 MB
A pdf file by Bruce Carpenter from Bendigo Senior Secondary College
Delivering VCE Physics 100% online and interactive - the powerpoint 8.61 MB
The powerpoint file by Bruce Carpenter from Bendigo Senior Secondary College
Delivering VCE Physics 100% online and interactive - Practical activity 695 kB
A virtual practical activity on energy in a skate park by Bruce Carpenter from Bendigo Senior Secondary College
Chief Assessor's Report on the 2014 Exam 865 kB
Powerpoint by Bruce Walsh, chief assessor for Units 3 and 4 exam.
Using HYPATIA for analysing real ATLAS data from the LHC 3.22 MB
Document by Frank de la Ramelya, South Oakleigh Secondary College
Algorithms in solving physics problems 173 kB
Document by Yuriy Verkhatsky, Carwatha College
Galaxy Zoo; Crowd searching for exoplanets 20.5 MB
Powerpoint by Debbie Morrish, Upper Yarra Secondary College
Lessons from America: A success story in high school physics education 2.02 MB
Powerpoint by Barbara McKinnon, John Monash Science School
Useful Demonstrations for Units 1 to 4 5.53 MB
Notes by Paul Fielding of Billanook College and Paul Fitz-Gerald of Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School.
Useful Physics Demonstrations for Years 7 to 10 6.13 MB
Notes by Paul Fielding of Billanook College and Paul Fitz-Gerald of Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School.