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1. The Physics Source: A US-based online collection of resources
The Physics Source is a part of ComPADRE, the online collection of resources in physics and astronomy education. It is for introductory college level physics courses. It includes curriculum support material, reference material, and pedagogical and physics education research inspired content.

The above webpage has the headers: Mechanics, Thermo & Fluids, E & M, Wave & optics, Modern, Related subjects and Reference. Each heading had 8 - 12 categories such as vectors, kinematics, Newton's Laws, etc. Once you choose a category you can refine your search further by for example specifying Newton's 3rd Law, as well as specifying the levels of maths and the year level.

Each entry has a short description and a weblink. The pedagogical articles are also worth checking out.

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2. Perimeter Institute: Teacher Courses - Online including 'Wave-particle Duality'
The Perimeter Institute is running a number of Teacher courses. The courses include about 5 hours of asynchronous sessions and two synchronous Zoom sessions of 90 mins each. There is no cost. One course is called 'Teaching Wave-particle Duality'. The course starts on 1st March with the synchronous sessions on Friday, 10th and 24th March at 10:00am Melbourne Time. Participants must attend and participate in both synchronous sessions. Details are available here .
Registration is now open and it will fill quickly.
There are other courses on Teaching Climate Change, Galaxies and Wave functions & Quantum Computers, each with a similar structure.

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3. Combining Yr 11 and 12 classes in 2023

To cover classes some schools ask the physics teacher to combine Years 11 and 12 students in the one class and teach Units 1 and 2 alongside Units 3 and 4. This presents special challenges, which this year is complicated by the fact that Units 1 and 2 are from a different study design to Units 3 and 4.

To assist Vicphysics would like to set up a Zoom session to explore issues and solutions, please get in touch with Vicphysics if you would like to participate either because you are in this situation or you have experience you would like to share.

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4. Seeking a Physics teacher? Seeking a new position?
The Vicphysics Teachers' Network has a Job Ads page to assist schools in finding a physics teacher.
There are two (2) schools are seeking a physics teacher. The Vicphysics webpage above has a link to the Government schools jobs website. The following Gov't Schools are seeking a physics teacher.

Melton Secondary College (closes 13th Feb)
Warrandyte High School (closes 16th Feb) two positions

The webpage is updated every weekend. The webpage also has a link on how schools can register a position and lodge a payment for this service.

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5. Vicphysics matters

i) 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. The link is on the top line of our website’s home page: https://www.vicphysics.org/ 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 login in the usual way. If you are not a subscriber you can register to just 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 a lodging a post.

Currently there are six categories for the topics:

I’m looking for help with ...: For that hard to assign question
Curriculum matters: To post questions about designing a course, interpreting dot points, ordering the Areas of Study, and depth of coverage.
Teaching strategies: To post questions about tackling misconceptions, engaging students, finding resources, etc.
Practical Activities: To post about all things practical: what activities can be considered a prac, sharing equipment, generating topics for practical investigations and developing rubrics.
Assessing students: To post questions and tips on monitoring students’ learning and giving efficient feedback as well as designing assessment tasks that vary in style and cover a range of skills.
Exams and Revision: To post tips and questions about techniques for revising the subject, managing practice papers, the use of two page summary and reading time.

Generating a Topic

Click on the category in which you want to place your topic.
Enter a short title for your topic (max 80 characters)
In the next box write your topic.
Be sure to include some topic tags to help those searching for topics.
Click the box at the bottom if you want to receive an email when someone replies.
Finally click 'Submit'.

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

ii) Subscriptions: Subscriptions will last for a year from the day payment is received. Both individual and school subscriptions are available.

iii) Tutor Listing Service: The website has a Tutor Listing Service. There are now six tutors listed. If you tutor and wish to add your name to the list, please check the website.

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6. Events for Students

a) Physics Days at Luna Park. 2023 Dates: Monday, 6th March and then Wednesday, 8th to Friday, 10th March. There will be no aerobatic display this year.
There was a prior booking for the Tuesday 7th, hence the different dates for this year. To make a booking with Luna Park, click here.

Luna Park tallies your number of students on the day and then invoices the school accordingly.
You can book a data logger from Ciderhouse.

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7. Events for Teachers

a) PHYSCON 2023: Victorian Physics Teachers' Conference: 24th February
Vicphysics Teachers' Network will be presenting PHYSCON 2023 with the support of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the Swinburne University of Technology. PHYSCON 2023 will be held at their Hawthorn Campus in Burwood Rd on Friday, 24th February.

The conference will be a hybrid conference offering both face to face and on-line sessions.
The Conference website is now live and registrations are open.

The conference program includes:

Live-streamed keynote addresses,
3 sessions with over 40 workshops in person and online,
Access to exhibitors
Round table activities on course planning of Units 3 & 4 for 2024,
Networking lunch,
In-depth review of the 2022 VCE Physics exam, with Andrew Hansen, the Chief Assessor
VCAA presentation by Maria James, Science Curriculum Manager,
Laboratory tours of cutting-edge facilities and visits to the Virtual Reality theatre,
Saturday morning Excursion Tasters and Peter MacCallum Medical Physics In-Service.

Conference fees:
In person: $330 Online: $270
Discounts:

Individual Vicphysics Subscribers: $50
Student and Retiree Subscribers: $100
School Vicphysics subscribers: $10

For information about the workshops on offer, please click the link above or download a pdf of the conference program here.

b) New Scientist Lecture Series: The Greatest Physics Experiments in the World
The New Scientist magazine has organised a series of online talks for the year. The lectures are held at 6pm GMT, which is 5am local time, but a ticket gives you access for 12 months.

The topics include:
a) Secrets of the LHC with Dr Clara Nellist, 7th Feb
b) FermiLab: Solving the Mysteries of Matter and Energy, Space and Time with Don Lincoln, 4th April
c) James Webb Space Telescope: Opening the infrared Treasure Chest, with John Mather, 17th May.

Individual tickets are £14, Series ticket £38. For more details and to book click here

c) CSIRO's STEM Professionals in Schools - Bringing real-world STEM to your classroom.
Last year, STEM Professionals in Schools program celebrated 15 years of partnering teachers with scientists, mathematicians, technologists and engineers to bring real world STEM to the classroom. The program creates and supports ongoing partnerships between school teachers and volunteer STEM professionals – helping to bridge the gap between classroom STEM subjects and real-life applications and career possibilities.

STEM Professionals in Schools is a free, nationwide program funded by the Australian Government Department of Education. There are two initiatives in 2023.
i) School-based
For more information and to join the program, visit the STEM Professionals in Schools website to find out more about the different ways they can work with you in your school. You can also read more about program activities and hear from current participants in this CSIRO blog.

ii) Online for regional and remote schools
The program is also offering an online Regional and Remote Initiative for teachers in regional Victoria to connect with industry through on-line partnerships with a STEM professional. The initiative consists of a series of 3 x 45 minute webinars spread over a couple of months. It provides teachers with support to get started in their partnership and to plan and evaluate their on-line activities.
The dates and details of the webinars are:

Webinar 1 [Monday 20 March, 4pm] - Introduction of STEM professionals and teachers. After this session, teachers will be partnered with a STEM professional.
Webinar 2 [Monday 3 April, 4pm] - Development and planning of a partnership activity.
Webinar 3 [Monday 8 May, 4pm] - Sharing and evaluating after an activity.

Teachers have the opportunity to meet with their STEM professional via phone or web conferencing between each of the webinars for introductions and planning of their first activity.  This initiative requires less than 5 hours of teacher’s time over this start-up period (inclusive of the 3 webinars). It is expected that partnerships will continue beyond this initial period.
To register interest in the initiative or for more information, please contact Maria Barrett

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8. Physics News from the Web
Items selected from the bulletin of the Institute of Physics (UK).
Each item below includes the introductory paragraphs and a web link to the rest of the article.

a) Sound-speed measurements shed light on Earth’s interior
Researchers have measured the speed of sound in pure iron under pressures similar to those that exist at the Earth’s inner core boundary. The result suggests that this region of the core may be enriched in silicon and sulphur.

b) Read all about it: how typography influences your understanding
Physicists might not realise, but typography has a huge impact on the reading experience. Bad design, Bringhurst says, makes “the letters mill and stand like starving horses in a field”, while careless design makes them “sit like stale bread and mutton on the page”. Good design involves an “energetic repose” whose paradoxical ambition is to draw our eyes in and then vanish. The late Beatrice Ward, Bringhurst’s scholarly predecessor, compared typography to a crystal goblet, “because everything about it is calculated to reveal rather than hide the beautiful thing which it was meant to contain”

c) Instead of celebrating the lone genius in physics, we should focus on collective efforts
Why is physics different from other sciences? While our perceptions of who does science are broadening – at least in terms of gender – our default image of a physicist remains firmly stuck in the past. Recent studies have shown that we still picture physicists as people who are more innately brilliant, more socially awkward, and less collaborative than those in other scientific disciplines.

These stereotypes are not only wrong – they can be damaging and can even put prospective physics students off entering the subject. For those already in the field, such stereotypes can make them feel more uncertain about their place in physics altogether. But where do these stereotypes come from? While the media are often blamed for caricatured depictions of physicists, and sometimes rightly so, the persistence of the brilliance stereotype may be down to us.