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1. Open Access: Articles in IOP's Physics Education Journal
The journal 'Physics Education' is an authoritative source on physics teaching. Authors can choose to have their articles available only to subscribers or available to all and are marked 'Open Access'. There have been a good number of such articles in recent months, many of which will be of interest to VCE Physics teachers.
This is the link to the table of contents of the current edition. If you click on 'Open Access" down on the left side, you will see the details of the most recent 20 open access articles, with another 197 on following pages.
The recent articles include:

Graph plotting of 1-D motion in introductory physics education using scripts generated by ChatGPT 3.5
Australian teachers' perspective on two distinct physics curriculum paradigms (NSW only) see item below for more details.
Low-cost optical home-lab experiments
Visualising relativity: assessing high school students' understanding of complex physics concepts through AI-generated images
Work and energy during a head-on collision by Rod Cross (Uni of Syd)
Thirty-one physics words with unusual origins
The impact of AI on physics education from GCSE to university levels
Investigating the beliefs of experts on teaching quantum physics at secondary schools: key concepts, topics, and fundamentals

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2. Australian teachers' perspective on two distinct physics curriculum paradigms (NSW only)
This article appears in the latest edition of 'Physics Education' see item 1 above for access. In 2019 the NSW physics curriculum underwent a radical change of direction which has been described as a' 'back to basics' approach compared to the previous curriculum, The article describes the two curricula and also considers changes in enrolment data. The article is based on 37 responses to a survey with 18 six-point questions and 8 open-response questions.
The design of the education systems and the training of teachers in NSW and Victoria differ, so comparisons are difficult, the data below on participation in physics shows some similarities and differences. The article mentioned above has a graph of NSW physics enrolments back to 1991. This data has been combined earlier NSW data along with ABS data to give a measurement of participation that removes any variation due to changes in the retention rate to Year 12 as well as any variation due to changes in the population.

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3. Short practical activities for home: Next Activity
Activity for this newsletter: Use a pin to make several small holes in a straw about 1 cm apart. Fill your mouth with water, put your finger across the end of the straw. Now with the holes at the top, evenly blow the water from your mouth. What will be the shape of the fountain?
Check this Youtube video for the short introduction. The answer will be in the next newsletter.

Answer to the activity in the last newsletter is: B: the ball rises to the largest radius of the glass. Also check the entry, titled Physics of Advent, at the bottom of this webpage, on our website for information about the source of these activities.

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4. Events for Students

Girls in Physics Breakfast for 2024
Below are the events planned so far. Bookings are open and flyers are available for confirmed events.

Ballarat, 8th March. Speaker Prof Emma Ryan-Weber, Swinburne University, Topic: Where does stuff come from?
Mildura, 19th March. Speaker: Dr Gail Iles, RMIT, Topic: Aeroplanes and Rocket Science: Your ticket to Space.
Monash University, 22nd March. Speaker: A/Prof Kaye Morgan, Monash University, Topic: Playing with Light: X-ray imaging at the Synchrotron
Traralgon, 17th May, Speaker: Natalie Clements, Medical radiation physicist, Topic: Using physics to treat cancer.
Central Melbourne, 9th May. AIP Women in Physics Lecturer for 2024, Prof Susan Coppersmith, UNSW, Topic: From Grains of Sand to Quantum Computers
Wodonga, 30th May (TBC), Speaker Dr Renee Goreham, University of Newcastle, Topic: Nanobiotechnology: Building the Future of Medicine and Beyond
Bendigo, (Term 3). Speaker: Dr Nadia Zatsepin, La Trobe University, Topic: Making molecular movies with X-ray lasers.
Geelong, (Term 3). Speaker: TBC.

The cost this year is $25 per student inc GST with the first teacher free. A discount is available.
Please check the website for more details. Bookings can now be made for the ones with confirmed dates. The others will open for bookings as venue and speaker details are confirmed.

Physics Days at Luna Park in 2024 .
The bookings for the five days are strong. Monday has only a small number of places left, the other days in the week still have spare capacity.
Please note that Luna Park requires the 30% deposit to be paid by 14 days before the visit.
There will be no aerobatic displays this year, but realistic flight simulators from the RAAF will be there on all days in The Pavilion behind the Ferris Wheel.
The worksheets have been updated to reflect the terminology of the current study design, that is, use of 'normal force' instead of 'reaction force', force due to gravity instead of weight force, etc. Check the website to download them. Please select and adapt as you see fit for your students to use on the day. Many teachers print a section as A5 booklets.

The dates are Monday, 4th March to Friday, 8th March, for bookings. The student fee will be $31.50.

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5. Events for Teachers

a) PHYSCON 2024: 23rd February, 2024. Registration is open

Victorian Physics Teachers' Conference Friday, 23rd February, 2024 at Swinburne University of Technology

Click here for the landing page with details of workshops, the program and the link to register. A copy of the program can also be downloaded here.

For PHYSCON 2024 we are scheduling four workshop sessions, each with 12 workshops on offer, in addition to innovative and inspiring keynotes from quantum specialist Dr Liam Hall and astronomer Dr Sara Webb.
One of the workshop presenters (A3) will be Joe Cossette from the US. Joe has just been named as 2023 Teacher of the Year by the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC), which is a partnership of the American Physics Society (APS) and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). This is his webpage. Another is Prof Alan Duffy from Swinburne (B9) on 'Exploring radiation and relativity with classroom muon detectors'.

We will be live streaming 36 of the 48 workshops as well as the keynote addresses, so that the experience is accessible to all physics teachers. Participants will also be able to attend important VCAA update sessions and presentations from the Chief Assessor of the VCE Physics examination.

Conference fees:

Type
In Person	$350
Online	$300

Discounts:

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

Also note the webpage for PHYSCON 2023 with the conference proceedings and the results from the small group activity of assessment tasks has been moved from the 'Events' section to "Teachers', under 'Previous events'.

b) Out-of-Field PD for Science Teachers: Forces and Motion. Online
This Out-of-Field PD program continues in 2024. The first one is on Forces and Motion, presented in two formats. It will be presented online in six two-hour sessions from 4:30pm to 6:30pm and conducted on Tuesdays from 20th Feb to 26th March. The cost is $265 with a discount available for teachers from schools with a low ICSEA rank.
The second format is in person at Wangaratta on 2nd and 9th May. For this the cost is $220 and there is CRT coverage for Government schools.
Check here for more details.

There will also be a repeat of last year's online PD on Special Relativity in Term 2.

There will also be repeats of the Electricity PD, done in person in the after-school format and also the two full day format in both metropolitan and regional locations.
Material is being developed for PD on Light and Sound, and Energy which are expected to be conducted in the 2nd half of the year.

c) Beginning Physics Teachers' In-Service. Thursday, 11th April
A date and venue has been chosen for this in-service. It will be at Kew High School. The program will be similar to last year's. Registrations will open soon. The in-service is of value to first year out physics teachers, those returning to physics teaching after some absence and teachers of other science disciplines who have been asked by their school to take Physics.

d) Practical Activities for Senior Physics, Friday, 12th April
The plan is to set up an extensive number of physics experiments, demonstrations and other practical activities for Units 1 to 4 across 4 - 6 labs.
The program will be designed to ensure flexibility and access. Lab Techs will also be welcome to register.
On the day, there will be people to help and notes available, but it is expected that with a large number of pracs on display.
You are encouraged to offer to bring along some of your own pracs, but you will need to submit a proposal at least two weeks before the end of term, so that we are confident that bench space will be available and there is no doubling up.
Equipment suppliers will also be invited.
This event will also be at Kew High School.

e) Physics Today and AAPT Webinar: Engaging Students with Realistic Virtual Physics Labs
The AAPT's next webinar is on Thursday, 22nd Feb at 7:00pm ((US EST), or Friday, 23rd at 11:00am (Melbourne time). However you can register and receive a recording after the event.
Check the description at the link above. Part of it says 'The first half of this workshop presents a holistic interactive-engagement approach to learning and teaching physics. Students will "learn how to learn physics" by following processes that physicists employ to construct and apply new knowledge. .... The second half of this workshop will introduce virtual physics investigations that include everything a student needs to conduct a physics experiment, including 3D simulated laboratory equipment and data collection tools. ...'

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6. Seeking a Physics teacher? Seeking a new position?
There are two schools seeking a physics teacher. The second one is unknown the jobs website would not open.

Grovedale College (closes 20th Feb)

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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7. 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.

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: A Vicphysics subscription gives you access to the Teachers section of the website. The subscription will last for a year from the day payment is received. Both individual and school subscriptions are available. Check the homepage for subscription link.

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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) Exercising caution in the face of techno-optimism
There is a propensity in popular tech media – particularly coming out of Silicon Valley – to suggest that we are on a ceaseless march of technological growth and prosperity. This narrative of techno-optimism is certainly appealing – after all, we witnessed some tremendous, civilization-altering advances over the course of the 20th century that have improved the lives of countless millions and impacted sectors from transportation to healthcare. However, in his new book Invention and Innovation: a Brief History of Hype and Failure, environmental scientist and policy analyst Vaclav Smil advises scepticism when encountering the assertions of tech evangelists, looking at some infamous past failures and the lessons we can learn from them.
b) Wet scalp could protect you from lightning
While the odds of being struck by lightning is about one in a million, a direct hit can be fatal, especially to the head. So what can you do to protect yourself against such a shocking event? According to researchers in Germany, applying rainwater to the scalp could help. To investigate, they used two model “heads” that contained three layers corresponding to the scalp, skull and brain. One head was sprayed with a weak salt solution to mimic rainwater with the other one kept dry. The two heads were then exposed to ten electrical discharges of 2 kA and 12 kV. Also includes link to original article in Nature.
c) Superfluidity: the mysterious quantum effect that became a backbone of experimental physics
The effects of quantum mechanics are all around us, but the quantum properties of matter are generally only apparent at the microscopic level. Superfluid helium is an exception, and some of its bizarre characteristics can be seen with the naked eye. Superfluids can flow uphill and through very small openings, they conduct heat very efficiently, and will not boil like conventional liquids.

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