VCE Stuff > Victorian Education Discussion
VCE Subject Reviews and Ratings
Joseph41:
We have hundreds and hundreds of university subject reviews (template largely taken from those threads), which help students select their subjects. It makes a whole heap of sense to have a place where past VCE students can review their VCE subjects - 1&2 and 3&4, it's all good!
(Units 1&2 and Units 3&4)
Review Index
Current Totals
Arts Subject Reviews: 7
Business Studies Subject Reviews: 4
English Subject Reviews: 12
Health and Physical Education Subject Reviews: 6
Humanities Subject Reviews: 11
LOTE Subject Reviews: 3
Maths Subject Reviews: 13
Science Subject Reviews: 27
Technology Subject Reviews: 2
Total: 85 Reviews
Total: 42 Subjects Covered
(2) (3) etc. denote 2nd and 3rd reviews.
Arts Subjects (7)Drama Units 3&4 - 2020
Media Units 3&4 - 2015
Music Industry: Performance (VET) - 2017
Product Design and Technology - Textiles Units 3&4 - 2015
Studio Arts Units 3&4 - 2014
Visual Communication Design Units 3&4 - 2012
Visual Communication Design Units 3&4 (2) - 2017
Business Studies Subjects (4)Business Management Units 3&4 - 2011
Business Management Units 3&4 (2) - 2018
Economics Units 3&4 - 2017
Legal Studies Units 3&4 - 2017
English Subjects (12)EAL English Units 3&4 - 2018
EAL English Units 3&4 - 2019
English Units 3&4 - 2017
English Units 3&4 (2) - 2018
English Units 3&4 - 2019
English Units 3&4 - 2020
English Language Units 1&2 - 2011
English Language Units 3&4 - 2012
English Language Units 3&4 (2) - 2017
English Language Units 3&4 - 2019
Literature Units 3&4 - 2018
Literature Units 3&4 (2) - 2019
Health and Physical Education Subjects (6)Health and Human Development Units 3&4 - 2018
Health and Human Development Units 3&4 (2) - 2016
Health and Human Development Units 3&4 (3) - 2012
Health and Human Development Units 3&4 - 2019
Outdoor and Environmental Studies Units 3&4 - 2018
Physical Education Units 1&2 - 2018
Humanities Subjects (11)Ancient History Units 3&4 - 2018
Geography Units 3&4 - 2019
Global Politics Units 3&4 - 2018
Gloabl Politics Units 3&4 - 2019
History: Revolutions Units 3&4 - 2015
History: Revolutions Units 3&4 (2) - 2017
History: Revolutions Units 3&4 (3) - 2018
Legal Studies Units 3&4 - 2019
Philisohpy Units 3&4 - 2019
Texts and Traditions 3&4: Gospel of Luke - 2018
Twentieth Century History Units 1&2 - 2017LOTE Subjects (3)Chinese (SLA) Units 3&4 - 2017
French Units 3&4 - 2016
Japanese SL Units 3&4 - 2015/16Maths Subjects (13)Further Maths Units 3&4 - 2016
General Mathematics Units 1&2 - 2017
Maths Methods Units 3&4 - 2016
Maths Methods Units 3&4 - 2017
Maths Methods Units 3&4 (2) - 2018
Maths Methods Units 3&4 -2019
Maths Methods Units 3&4 (2) - 2019
Maths Methods Units 3&4 (3) - 2019
Maths Methods Units 3&4 - 2020
Specialist Maths Units 3&4 - 2017
Specialist Maths Units 3&4 (2) - 2017
Specialist Maths Units 3&4 (3) - 2018
Specailist Maths Units 3&4 - 2020
Science Subjects (27)Biology Units 1&2 - 2017
Biology Units 1&2 - 2020
Biology Units 3&4 - 2016
Biology Units 3&4 (2) - 2016
Biology Units 3&4 (3) - 2017
Biology Units 3&4 (4) - 2017
Biology Units 3&4 (5) - 2019
Biology Units 3&4 (6) - 2019
Biology Units 3&4 (7) - 2019
Biology Units 3&4 (8 ) - 2019
Chemistry Units 3&4 - 2017
Chemistry Units 3&4 (2) - 2017
Chemistry Units 3&4 (3) - 2017
Chemistry Units 3&4 (4) - 2018
Chemistry Units 3&4 (5) - 2018
Chemistry Units 3&4 - 2019
Chemistry Units 3&4 - 2020
Environmental Science Units 1&2 - 2017
Environmental Science Units 3&4 - 2018
Environmental Science Units 3&4 (2) - 2018
Physcis Units 1&2 - 2019
Physics Units 3&4 - 2017
Physics Units 3&4 (2) - 2018
Psychology Units 1&2 - 2015
Psychology Units 3&4 - 2017
Psychology Units 3&4 (2) - 2016
Psychology Units 3&4 - 2018
Technology Subjects (2)Algorithmics (HESS) Units 3&4 - 2016
Food Studies Units 3&4 - 2020
This is a thread for subject reviews only. If you have any questions, then please PM the member who wrote the review. The views expressed are those of the authors. Keep in mind that, despite best efforts, information provided may not be accurate.
We encourage you to review the subject(s) you have completed, even if someone else has already reviewed your subject(s). The more reviews we have, the more helpful this resource will be. Please do not name teachers or denigrate your school.
Please use the following template for subject reviews:
--- Code: ---[b]Subject Name:[/b]
[b]Units:[/b] (Is it Units 1&2 or Units 3&4?)
[b]Workload:[/b]
[b]Assessment:[/b] (Outline the various assessments which make up the subject and how much each counts for)
[b]Exam Thoughts:[/b] (What's the structure? How hard was it?)
[b]Textbook Recommendation:[/b] (What did you use? How much did you use it?)
[b]Recommended Other Resources:[/b]
[b]Year of Completion:[/b]
[b]Rating:[/b] out of 5
[b]Your Mark/Grade:[/b] (Optional)
[b]Comments:[/b] Give your overall opinion of the subject, content, assessment etc. and a recommendation, plus anything else which you feel is relevant.
--- End code ---
Updated as of reply #85
K888:
Subject Name: History: Revolutions
Units: 3/4
Workload:
Such an arbitrary thing - really depends on how strong you are at the subject and what score you're aiming for as to how heavy the workload is.
It's probably higher than your regular subject, but still manageable if you stay on top of things.
Outside of class time (and when we didn't have a SAC), I'd try to regularly flip through the powerpoints I had (which was my method for memorising stuff) and do a cumulative few hours in a week - 2, maybe 3? Not too much. Regularly doing 30 minutes adds up, and it doesn't have to be super formal study - I often just explained stuff to my parents or whatever.
When it comes around to SAC time, I would say I almost doubled the amount of study I did, just because I smashed out practice questions and did more heavy study.
When it came to exam time, I'd say I was doing something Revs related (even if it was just thinking) for at least 1 hour each day in the 3-4 weeks prior, and increased that in the week or two before the exam.
If you pay attention in class, the workload isn't too bad. But you definitely need to do stuff outside of class. Also, if you're struggling to understand and memorise stuff, you're going to need to dedicate a bit more time to it. Time spent on the subject really pays off, though, and you'll be amazed at how much a small amount of effort can improve your marks.
Assessment:
I'd imagine that SACs would vary from school to school, but my class did 4 SACs (2 for each revolution), all emulating what we'd be doing on the exam. So (keeping in mind I did this with the old study design), the first SAC was 3 or 4 pointers (the 10 mark ER questions) for China - AOS1 (my first revolution), the second was a source analysis for China AOS2. For Russia, we did a source analysis for AOS1, and an essay for AOS2. Basically just helped us prepare for the exam by simulating similar conditions and questions in the SACs.
Exam Thoughts:
If you know your stuff and have done a fair bit of practice questions throughout the year, you'll be fine. Just need to keep a clear head.
It's a pretty close exam for timing, I was writing non-stop for basically all of it. So, make sure you're all good with time management.
I think VCAA are still working out the finer details for the exams with the new study design, but it seems like they're really expecting you to think deeply about stuff and not just regurgitate a pre-prepared response.
I was pretty lucky to do Revs in the last year of the study design, because I had a lot of relevant past exams at my disposal, and the exam itself was a pretty good one IMO.
In terms of actual structure, you write about the two revolutions you studied during the year - one revolution for section A, and the other for section B. Your teacher will generally have a preference and teach the class to do the exam in a specific way - eg: China for section A, and Russia for section B - but some leave it up to students to pick. I'd say know which revolution you're going to be doing for each section early, so you can refine your preparation and not have to do so much general stuff.
Under the new study design, the exam goes like:
Section A
- AOS1: source analysis
- AOS2: extended response
Section B
- AOS1: essay
- AOS2: source analysis
Textbook Recommendation:
China Rising & Reinventing Russia
I think these are the HTAV textbooks, and my school had a class set of them in the library so we could borrow them for the whole year and not have to buy them. Tbh, my teacher was really good and already incorporated a lot of the textbook and heaps of other resources into our powerpoints, etc. so I didn't have to use the textbooks that much. That being said, they're good at helping you learn what happened, and they provide a pretty balanced view of events.
Recommended Other Resources:
I didn't use any other resources, but my teacher provided us with a lot of practice questions that he'd written, which were incredibly useful.
Oh, and use the study design!! Make sure you're always referring back to it so you don't miss anything. I think people got stuck on the Alexandra Kollontai question for Russia in this year's exam, but she's clearly mentioned on the study design!
Year of Completion: 2015
Rating: 5 out of 5
Your Mark/Grade: 45 raw > 45.51 scaled
Comments:
I've said it heaps of times, but Revs was by far my favourite subject that I did during VCE. Across the state, I think it's sometimes taken as a bit of a bludge subject, but if you want to do well, you can't bludge it and need to put the effort in. Work out a system for remembering dates (I'd recommend mnemonics), make sure you learn the significance of events (and leaders), and learn how to answer questions the way VCAA want you to answer them. Try to get a good relationship with your teacher going, because it'll really help you succeed (but in the end, how you perform is all up to you!) and enjoy the subject more.
I think one of the reasons I loved Revs so much was I was learning stuff about the world that I hadn't ever covered at school before. I also felt it was a bit more relevant than some of the subjects you might commonly do in VCE.
Vaike:
Subject Name: Biology
Units: 3/4
Workload: Relatively high, large amounts of content and questions that require very thorough understanding of concepts covered.
Assessment: Unit 3 and 4 SACS usually comprise of tests and labs, alongside an extended investigation.
* GA1 (U3 SACs):16%
* GA2 (U4 SACs): 24%
* GA3 (Exam): 60%
Exam Thoughts: The biology exam consists of 40 multiple choice questions, and short answer section worth 80 marks. Personally, I think the exam aspect of VCE Biology is probably the area of the course that is least enjoyable, and could benefit from improvements. Many questions require extremely specific wording in their answers, and are often confusing as to how the marks are distributed. Biology exams always involve heavy amounts of interpretation of rather lengthy questions, which can also prove very difficult. Whilst a strong understanding of course content will help you excel in this subject, the structure of this assessment means that your ability to clearly interpret questions and concisely convey your understanding is just as important if you are aiming for high marks.
Textbook Recommendation: I honestly didn't rely on my textbooks too much throughout this subject. My school used Nelson, and I also purchased Nature of Biology. Both had shortcomings; the Nelson text often gave insufficient depth of explanation, whereas the Jacaranda Nature of Biology provided more information, but extremely large amounts of irrelevant information. Personally, I preferred NoB as the Nelson book just had too much missing, however bear in mind this is for the previous study design; I have not read the texts for the latest study design.
Recommended Other Resources: Google and ATAR Notes are your friends. Posting questions on the Biology question thread is a must; there are so many helpful posters who can give great explanations, and the amount of information online far exceeds most commercial resources. That being said, I did find the Biozone workbook quite useful, and would recommend picking it up.
Year of Completion: 2016
Rating: 5 out of 5
Your Mark/Grade: 45
Comments: I loved VCE Biology. Although there is a lot of content, most of it is extremely enjoyable *cough Human change over time*, and unlike most VCE subject, almost all aspects of the course tie neatly together in one way or another. As you continue through the course, you learn things that concepts that seamlessly integrate into past material, explaining things you may not have understood about them before. The course also has quite a broad focus, from fossils to genes, there is really a large array of fascinating topics to explore that help directly explain aspects of our everyday lives. If you can live with the wordy nature of the assessments, I can't recommend this subject highly enough.
Joseph41:
Subject Name: English Language.
Units: Units 3/4.
Workload:
I honestly don't think there's very much content in EngLang aside from the metalanguage (language used to describe language). You can find a list of metalanguage you need to know on pages 17 and 18 of the study design. This is the shit you really need to know well - so long as you can apply this to actual texts, you should be sweet, IMO.
Of course, there is still other content (see overview below), but I don't think it's a content-heavy subject. Naturally, that's not to say it's easy - quite the opposite, in my opinion.
Assessment:
Unit 3: 25%
Unit 4: 25%
Exam: 50%
SACs vary school-to-school, and can come in a range of formats (essay, analytical commentary, short-answer questions, folio of texts, investigative report, perhaps others). My school largely tried to simulate portions of the exam, which I think was beneficial.
Exam Thoughts:
There are three sections.
Section 1: short-answer questions relating to a provided text or texts.
Section 2: analytical commentary.
Section 3: essay.
I really recommend having a look at past EngLang exams to see the structure - or even these sample questions.
Textbook Recommendation:
We used Living Lingo, which I believe is still pretty common. We didn't really use it that much, though - perhaps once every few lessons we'd read something from it. I definitely don't think it's necessary to doing well in English Language, but it can help - particularly with metalanguage.
We also had a book called Mastering Advanced English, or something similar. It literally wasn't referenced a single time throughout the entire year haha.
Recommended Other Resources:
In general, EngLang isn't a subject that depends on textbooks. If you want to get a head start, I'd recommend flicking through Living Lingo, reading books like How Language Works (David Crystal), or checking out these free EngLang notes.
Perhaps one of the coolest things about English Language, though, is the fact that you have practically unlimited resources. Basically everything around you, you can use. The whole point of EngLang is to analyse language - why it's used, how it's used etc. As such, you can analyse newspaper articles, TV segments, chip packets, Tweets, online advertising, reports, death certificates. Literally anything with language, and that's a really cool thing. There might not be that many practice exams publicly available (which is frustrating), but you can make your own by using what you have around you.
I made habit of reading both major newspapers each day, and that served me well. I wasn't really interested in the stories, but I developed a passable ability to analyse language and how it was used by different people.
Some other potentially useful resources:
* Quotes and language examples for EngLang 2017+
* EngLang essay and analytical commentary submission and marking
* EngLang question thread
Year of Completion: 2012.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Your Mark/Grade: 44 raw > 45.73 scaled.
Comments:
English Language is an amazing subject, and if you're interested in it, I really strongly recommend you pursue it. It shouldn't be called English Language - it should be called Linguistics, because that's fundamentally what it is. I went on to study Linguistics for four years at uni, which is something I probably wouldn't have done without EngLang - I owe it a lot.
I'm going to quote myself now to give a brief overview of what EngLang actually involves (both 1/2 and 3/4, in case anybody's considering doing the latter without having done the former):
--- Quote ---Regarding what English Language actually is, here's a brief overview. For context, I went through English Language 1/2 and 3/4, and then went on to major in Linguistics at uni. The reason I say that is that English Language should really be called Linguistics, because that's what it is. For that reason, English Language is, perhaps, the most relevant subject of them all; language is all around us every single day.
English Language Units 1/2 (Year 11)
Unit 1
In Unit 1 AOS 1, you consider that nature of language, and what differentiates human communication systems from those of other animals. You look at how language results in meaning (super interesting IMO), how language is used for different purposes and in different ways (such as spoken, written, or signed), and how context impacts our language choices. You'll also be introduced to some "metalanguage" (language we use to talk about language): terms like morpheme and lexeme. This type of metalanguage is really important (particularly if you go on to study Linguistics), and is excellent if ever you want to teach English.
In Unit 1 AOS 2, the focus is mostly on language acquisition; that is, how we develop language proficiency. There are stages of child language acquisition, which you'll consider in some depth (again, super interesting). Development can vary between "subsystems" of language, too (basically, the five main areas of language) - and you'll learn about this in terms of phonology, morphology, lexicology, syntax and semantics. There'll further be discussion centred on differences between learning language as a child and an adult, and also differences between monolingualism, bilingualism and multi-lingualism. In an ever-globalised world, this last point is surely of particular importance.
Unit 2
IMO Unit 2 is absolutely fascinating. There's a big emphasis here on the nature of language change, and how English has developed as a language over time. In AOS 1, you look at the development of the language from Old English to contemporary English. This includes things like why the language changed, and what influence it's had on us as citizens. There's also a section on the relationship between English and other languages, and how they may have diverted from the same roots in the past. Further, there's a bunch of stuff on the concept of "Standard English" (very important in Linguistics), plus attitudes toward language, word addition and word loss.
Unit 2 AOS 2 sees more of a focus on the impact of language contact; that is, when languages "collide". Particularly relevant is how English is becoming one of if not the world's most dominant language, and the impact that that will have on us. You will also consider how new languages are formed, including pidgins and creoles. The relationship between language and culture is also considered, which, as you can imagine, is pretty important in today's world.
English Language Units 3/4 (Year 12)
Unit 3
Unit 3 is split in halves, with those halves basically considering informal and formal language. AOS 1 looks at informal language, including key characteristics, the impact of context, stylistic features, and how and why informal language is used.
AOS 2 is essentially the same, but for formal language.
Unit 4
Unit 4 AOS 1 looks more at language variation within the Australian context, including variation along geographical, national, regional and cultural axes. Standard and non-Standard English is again important, and you also consider the nature of accents.
Finally, Unit 4 AOS 2 considers the inherently intertwined (at least IMO) relationship between language and identities: both individual and group. Language variation is again a factor, this time due to personal factors (age, gender, occupation, interests, aspirations, education etc.). The concept of prestige also arises.
P.S. You can find a lot of this information in the English Language study design. :)
--- End quote ---
Bri MT:
Subject Name: Chemistry
Units: (Is it Units 1/2 or Units 3/4?) 3/4
Workload:
Moderate.
I am a fast leaner, and found that I could stay ahead of the class fairly easy.
Putting in the effort to regularly revise information and complete past exam questions is rewarded well.
Much of the work involves learning processes for answering questions (eg. find the amount in mol, then multiply by enthalpy) and memorising content (especially for fuels). Unit 4 AoS 1 also requires problem solving.
A low scoring student will know some of the content and processes.
A medium scoring student will be familiar with most of the processes and content
An exemplar student will understand where the processes come from and the connections between concepts
Assessment: (Outline the various assessments which make up the subject and how much each counts for)
GA 1: Unit 3 SACs 16%
GA 2: Unit 4 SACs 24%
GA 3: Exam 60%
My SACs consisted of a combination of tests and prac write ups.
It is very important when completing a prac to understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. It is a good idea to revise both the topic being assessed and experimental methodology before a prac. During any experiment, you should conciously maintain awareness of how scientific methods apply to this task.
There are some experiments that are paticularly common for schools to use in their pracs. It would not hurt to look at these and make sure that you understand them.
One of the unit 4 SACs is a scientific poster.
Students are not rewarded for choosing difficult or complex experiments, so I strongly advise ALL students to pick an experiment that is fairly simple. The focus should be on showing your understanding of the scientific method, conventions, and understanding of how studied concepts are applicable to the experiment.
Students should organise their time to allow for research and (ideally) draft completion at home.
Exam Thoughts: (What's the structure? How hard was it?)
The exam is broken into section A (multiple choice) and section B (short answer). A data booklet is provided, and you should be familiar with its use and contents well before the exam. It is important to practice use of the equations in the data book numerous times, with particular attention being paid to the units used in each equation and constant.
Many students found this exam challenging, due to testing of content many students lack familiarity with, experimental design questions, and application questions.
I would advise future students to carefully read the examiners report for the research methods section.
Textbook Recommendation: (What did you use? How much did you use it?)
I used the Heinemann textbook, and found it to be a very useful resource. There were, however, some errors.
I regularly used this throughout the year, and found it easy to prelearn concepts with it.
In the lead up to exams it was only used to look up specific queries.
Recommended Other Resources:
I would strongly recommend a collection of past exam questions by topics.
I had StudyOn due to it being on my school booklist, however I rarely used it as the online format was inconvenient for mathematical work and drawing diagrams.
Year of Completion: 2017
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version