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1. The Independent Review of VCAA: Vicphysics to make a submission
Stage 2 of the review will include a review of the VCAA’s structure, operations, culture and capability, including benchmarking and comprehensive consultation with VCAA staff and key stakeholders.

Teacher associations are planning to make submissions as teachers are impacted by the products and advice from VCAA.

Submissions are now open and close on 30^th June,

Teacher Survey:: To assist with preparing the submission, Vicphysics will be surveying teachers on a range of matters including:

The Units 3 and 4 assessment tasks, in particular their scope, links to the content and workload for teachers and students,
The audit process, both in terms of workload on teachers and the quality of the feedback,
The relationship between the Curriculum Unit and the Assessment Unit within VCAA,
The value of having a curriculum manager for each VCE subject, rather than one for each curriculum area, e.g. Science, Humanities,
Review of study designs should be scheduled on a regular basis,
Please submit other suggestions.

Zoom meeting: To assist Vicphysics in fully covering how the VCE and VCAA impact, both positively and negatively, teachers, students and schools, there will be a short 30 min Zoom meeting this Wednesday, 21^st May, at 6:00pm to canvas the areas the survey should cover.

If you like to participate in the zoom meeting, please email Vicphysics for the Zoom link.

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2. Physics World Quantum Briefing
To celebrate the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, Physics World (the IOP magazine) has produced a 64 page booklet with articles on the history, mystery and industry of quantum mechanics.

These include:

How civil engineering is bringing quantum physics down to earth
Return to Helgoland Conf: Delegates discuss and wonder whether Heisenberg’s work was as definitive as we like to think,
When Bohr got it wrong: the impact of a little-known paper on the development of quantum theory,
The quantum eraser that doesn't rewrite the past, it rewrites observers,
The quantum Zeno effect: how the ‘measurement problem’ went from philosophers’ paradox to physicists’ toolbox.

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3. Events for Students

Girls in Physics Breakfasts
The support of the Invergowrie Foundation has enabled Vicphysics to increase the subsidy for the student fee for the regional breakfasts. The fee this year is now $15.
a) Synchrotron; 5th June and optional Synchrotron Tour
Date: 8th June. Time: 8:00am. Venue: Australian Synchrotron, 555 Blackburn Rd, Clayton
Speakers: Drs Amelia Liu and Taissa Danilovich, Monash University.
Topics: Shedding new light on glass;  The dusty ends of Sun-like stars
Bookings Open. Closing date: 26th May.  Flyer is available
This breakfast is generously supported by ANSTO.
There are optional Synchrotron Tours after the talks for an additional cost. There is a limit of 24 students for each tour group. So there will be three tours heading off 15 mins apart with activities before each of the last two groups head off, the activities are also available after the tour.

b) Geelong, 14th August. i) How important are powders? ii) Rethinking Waste: Engineering a Circular Future with Negin Amini and Sirjana Adhikari, Deakin University Bookings open Closing date: 4th August  Flyer is available

c) Traralgon, 27th August. Molecular Movies with X-ray lasers with A/Prof Nadia Zatsepin, Swinburne University. Bookings Open. Closing date: 18th August Flyer is available

Starting Times in 2025. This year the metropolitan events will start at 8:00am and the regional events will start at 8:30am.

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4. Events for Teachers
a) Talk, Dinner and Catching up: 28th May. Hawthorn Hotel
Topic: Quantum Physics and the Photoelectric Effect: What we can and can't say about it.

The next occasion will be on Weds, 28th May and again at the Hawthorn Hotel in Burwood Rd.
The speaker is Theo Hughes who will discuss models to explain the Photoelectric Effect and in particular the saturated photocurrent.
The event will also be hybrid so you can join online at no cost.
The fee to attend is $45 with a discount for Vicphysics members and it covers food and drink.
Click here for more details and to book for both in person and online.

b) Out of Field PD: Light & Sound
The Out of Field PD continues in 2025. Forces and Motion started last week.

Light and Sound in Moe and Wangaratta in 2 two-hour online sessions after school and one full day in person session in the month of June. Presented by Barbara McKinnon and Pete Furlong. Moe dates: 10th and 24th June after school and 18th June full day. Flyer. Wangaratta dates: 3rd and 17th June after school and 11th June full day. Flyer
Cost of events: $330 per participant with a discount for teachers from Government schools and from schools with a low ICSEA rank. Discounted cost is $220.
To Book an event: Click on the link above.

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5. Seeking a Physics teacher? Seeking a new position? 1 position
There is one school seeking a physics teacher.
The Job Ads page on Vicphysics website is updated every weekend. The webpage also has a link on how schools can register a position and lodge a payment for this service.

Fountain Secondary College (closes 28th May)

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6. Physics News from the Web

Items selected from PhysicsWorld (UK) and Physics Today (US). Each item below includes the introductory paragraphs and a web link to the rest of the article.

a) Aurora on Mars
The Mars rover Perseverance has captured the first image of an aurora as seen from the surface of another planet. The visible-light image, which was taken during a solar storm on 18 March 2024, is not as detailed or as colourful as the high-resolution photos of green swirls, blue shadows and pink whorls familiar to aurora aficionados on Earth. Nevertheless, it shows the Martian sky with a distinctly greenish tinge, and the scientists who obtained it say that similar aurorae would likely be visible to future human explorers.

b) Robert P Crease: ‘I’m yet another victim of the Trump administration’s incompetence '
Robert P Crease reports on how his grant was axed because it appeared to threaten the priorities of US President Donald Trump’

c) ‘Chatty’ artificial intelligence could improve student enthusiasm for physics and maths, finds study
Chatbots could boost students’ interest in maths and physics and make learning more enjoyable. So say researchers in Germany, who have compared the emotional response of students using artificial intelligence (AI) texts to learn physics compared to those who only read traditional textbooks. The team, however, found no difference in test performance between the two groups

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7. Vicphysics matters

i) Vicphysics Membership and Access to the Teachers' Resources on the website.

Vicphysics has changed its membership structure, benefits and fees. Previously, a subscription to the website resources was separate from being a member of Vicphysics. Access to website resources is now being included as one of a number of member benefits.
Membership benefits include:

access to teacher resources section of the website
discounts to attend conferences, in-services, etc,
certification for attending each PD event,
PL certificate for committee meetings supplied at the end of the calendar year and
voting rights.

Membership fees are: Individual: $60, Retired: $40, Student (tertiary): $40, School: $120.

Vicphysics also offers a Resources Access Only option without the discounts and other benefits listed above. The fees for this option are the same as above.

Existing subscribers currently receive discounts, which will cease when their subscription expires. At that point, subscribers will need to choose between the two options above for continued access to the Teacher resources.

We are looking forward to increasing the membership base of Vicphysics and to fostering member input into our extensive range of activities from Physics teaching professional learning such as our recent SAC PD events or the Physics Teachers Conference to supporting activities for students, such as the Luna Park Physics Days or photo and poster competitions.
You can join us here!

ii) Vicphysics Forum: Tips and Questions for the Physics Teaching Community

The Vicphysics Teachers’ Network has set up an online Forum for teachers to raise issues, seek ideas, offer suggestions, etc.

Link here directly, or look out for it on our webpage where it can be found at the top right of our home page.

We hope it will be an opportunity for mutual professional development.

The forum is open to all teachers. If you are a subscriber, you can log in the usual way. If you are not a subscriber, you can register to use the forum at ‘My Account’. Given the purposes of this Forum, we ask that you use your real name when generating a topic or lodging a post.

We hope this Forum will become a valuable medium for exchanging ideas as we begin planning the new study design.

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