VCE Physics – Revised Study Design for 2023 – 2027
Units 1 & 2 – Units 3 & 4
Planning for Units 1 and 2
Units 1 and 2 of the revised VCE Physics Study Design were introduced in 2023.
The study design is available on the VCAA website. The document is located at the bottom of the page.
Some course planning resources for Units 1 and 2 were developed in 2023.
A Sample week by week plan for Units 1 and 2 47 kB docx
The plan for Units 1 and 2 has the dot points from the study design grouped in a teaching sequence. Each group of dot points has suggested activities. The plan includes details on managing a few options at once as well as suggestions for running the practical investigation.
Additional resources are available on the webpage for the Units 1 and 2 Course Planning Day held on Monday, 21st November, 2022.
Managing Multiple Options 92.2 kB doc
This list of ideas was generated at the networking meeting held a few years ago, but they are still relevant. It addresses questions such as i) How many options should I run and what is a good minimum number of students per option, ii) formats for learning, iii) Practical Activities Issues and iv) Assessment issues.
Planning for Units 3 and 4
Units 3 and 4 of the revised VCE Physics Study Design began in 2024.
The study design is available on the VCAA website. The document is located at the bottom of the page.
Following the 2022 Physics Teachers’ Conference, Maria James the VCAA Science manager, prepared this material to address the questions raised during the conference.
Additional Notes on Revised Study Design 47 kB pdf: The three page article provides examples of assessment tasks and addresses questions raised about indicative grades, statistical moderation and SACs.
Vicphysics also produced materials to help unpack the revised study design and to assist teachers in planning courses for 2023, 2024 and beyond. This document on connections between assessment tasks across the study design was an initial effort.
Connections between Assessment Tasks 17 kB docx.
In June 2024 held a PD on SACs. The resources generated for the event and supplied by teachers can be accessed here.
Vicphysics held a Units 3 and 4 Course Planning Day on Friday, 10th November, 2023. It was a hybrid event hosted at Swinburne University. For more details click here. Resources for the Planning Day and product from the workshops at the Planning Day are available at this link.
Year 12 2026 Teaching Program 39 kB doc
A week by week program of topics and suggested practical activities.
Practical Activities
Practical Activities for Units 1 to 4 213 kB pdf
The 8 page document is a table of practical activities for each Area of Study, updated in 2024.
The webpage Investigations and Practical Activities has useful information on EPI’s including lists of topics and templates for an electronic poster.
Managing Combined Classes
Some schools are asking their physics teacher to combine their Year 11 and Year 12 Physics classes into the one timetabled group and use the class time to teach both subjects. Vicphysics has produced some support material, which is in this webpage.
On this Day in Physics
Dan Jones, the UK Physics teacher, whose has a website of simulations, has had another idea. He asked an AI program to come up with a Physics Calendar of facts with three facts for each day of the year. He shared this file on a UK Physics Teachers Email List.
Other resources on this website
that are of value when designing your course are:
- Information on different teaching strategies.
- Physics websites that cover a range of content areas.
- Sources of Apps and Applets.
- Topic lists, advice, assessment criteria and poster templates for the Unit 4 Practical Investigation.
- Webpages for the Unit 3 topics Fields, Electrical Energy and Motion.
- Equipment Lists: An Excel file of suggested equipment to teach physics topics in Years 7 – 10 and VCE Physics. The Excel file has worksheets for each of the main content areas.