The Vicphysics Teachers’ Network held a one-day hybrid in-service on Friday, 10th Nov to assist teachers with their planning of Units 3 and 4 of new VCE Physics Study Design, which commences in 2024. The material generated by the groups from the activity on Assessment Tasks is included below at the bottom of the list for the 10:05 Session.

Resources and Presentations from the Units 3 and 4 Course Planning Day

Program, Map and Questions.

Program, map and questions 304 kB pdf The day’s sequence of sessions with rooms, a map showing the location of the rooms and the questions for each of the small group discussions.

10:05 Small Group Discussion on Assessment Tasks: considering examples, completing a draft.

Examples of Assessment Tasks that have been prepared by Committee members for each of the four styles of assessment tasks.
Style A: application of physics concepts to explain a model, theory, device, design or innovation.
Operation of a device: Preparation 33 kB docx by Sandor Kazi  A document for students describing the task for Area of Study on Electrical generation.
Operation of a device: a rubric 19 kB docx by Sandor Kazi A rubric for the task for Area of Study on Electrical generation.
Style B: analysis and evaluation of primary and/or secondary data, including data plotting, identified assumptions or data limitations, and conclusions.
Analysis of data for sets of washers bouncing on a spring 175 kB pdf by Dan O’Keeffe This example uses video footage recorded during COVID to generate data for an analysis task. The students can each extract the data from one or more of the trials and then share their data with their classmates. The students would then have a common set of data with which to conduct their individual analysis and evaluation. Also available in a Word version.
Projectile motion Investigation 323 kB docx by Colin Hopkins An experimental investigation into projectile motion assessment with lesson plans and a rubric.
Analysis of data from circular motion experiment 69 kB docx by Barbara McKinnon An assessment task with supplied data and graphs.
Style C: problem-solving, applying physics concepts and skills to real-world contexts.
A question and answer booklet for Motion 714 kB pdf by Rachael Gore A set of eight questions, each with parts, using the rides at Luna Park.
Another question and answer booklet for Motion 2.2 MB pdf by Rachael Gore  A different set of eight questions, each with parts, mostly using the amusement park rides.
Style D: comparison and evaluation of two solutions to a problem, two explanations of a physics phenomenon or concept, or two methods and/or findings from practical activities.
Comparing power transmission by HVAC and HVDC 80 kB docx by Dan O’Keeffe This document includes links to articles and videos as background for teachers and reading and viewing material for students. There is an activity on the skin effect as an example electromagnetic induction and an application of Lenz’s Law. Possible questions are supplied along with a rubric.
The following documents were used by the small groups.
Starting Points for Assessment Tasks 320 kB pdf Selected examples from the output from the discussion session on Assessment Tasks at PHYSCON 2023 in February 2023. Each example has a title, possible assessment criteria for both high and low level of performance and a list of classroom activities associated with the example. For each style of assessment task, there is an example for each Area of Study. Participants selected one to develop up into an assessment task with questions and tasks for students using selected descriptors from the spreadsheet below.
Performance Descriptors for Units 3 and 4 320 kB xlsx prepared by Barbara McKinnon and Dan O’Keeffe Spreadsheet of performance descriptors with a worksheet for each of the Areas of Study and some of the Key Science Skills. Once participants have chosen one of the four styles of tasks to work on and selected one of the starting points, they can check through the descriptors for that Area of Study for relevant content knowledge, then begin thinking of questions for the assessment task.
Constructing a rubric for an Assessment Task 11 kB pdf A one page describing how to use the spreadsheet of descriptors to select ones for the content of the assessment task and assemble them into a rubric.
Presentation by Maria James, VCAA Science manager
School-based Assessment for Units 3 and 4 3.3 MB pptx The presentation provided an overview of each of the five new SAC tasks in terms of similarities and differences compared with current assessment tasks and outlined the opportunities for developing SAC tasks that meet all VCAA requirements (study design and VCE assessment principles). The audio is yet to be approved by VCAA for release.
Material for Assessment Tasks from Groups at PD Day 69 kB docx A 15 page Word document of material generated by the groups. So far there are ideas for six tasks, with more to follow. Each has a starting point from the document above as well as selected descriptors on Content Knowledge and Key Science Skills. The groups then began generating questions to be used to construct an Assessment Task.

12:00 Small Group Discussion on Scheduling Content, in particular teaching order, weeks per Area of Study

Year 12 2024 Teaching Program 38 kB doc A week by week program of topics and suggested practical activities.
2024 Units 3 and 4 Study Design comparison 93 kB pdf A document prepared by Colin Hopkins with a table of the dot points from the study design, each with a comment on how it is different from the equivalent dot point in the previous course, if at all. The document is also available in Word.
Presentation by Theo Hughes (Vicphysics Committee) on Course Changes and SR in particular
Changes to the Study Design 2.5 MB pptx The presentation covered the major content changes in the study design and then addressed the inclusion of the Michelson-Morley experiment including useful resources. Audio 36 MB m4a

2:15 Small Group Discussion on selecting practical activities

Some practical activities 167 kB pdf A description of possible practical activities for each of the Areas of Study.
There are also prac suggestions on the webpages for Course Planning, Investigations and Practical Activities and the web pages for each Area of Study.
Presentation by Rachael Gore (Vicphysics Committee) on Styles of Practical activities
Styles of Practicals 15 MB pptx A description with examples of 12 styles of practical activities, Styles of Practicals 4.6 MB pdf version and Audio 43 MB m4a
Spreadsheet of pracs 64 kB xlsx with column headings of Area of Study, Key Knowledge and the 12 styles of activities and 38 rows of entries across most columns, most entries are one-line descriptions and some are links.

Evaluation Sheet

This document can be used to provide feedback, please use the email address below.

This event is organised by Vicphysics Teachers’ Network with Swinburne University of Technology as the sponsor.

For more details email Vicphysics