Implementation workshop
VCE Psychology 2013 − 2016
July-August 2012
Purpose
The aims of this session include:
• to provide specific information regarding
changes to curriculum and assessment for VCE
Psychology 2013-2016 as a result of a move to
a single end-of-year examination of two-and-ahalf hours duration
• to gather feedback/questions/comments
regarding implementation in order to produce a
set of FAQs to support delivery of the revised
study design for VCE Psychology from 2013.
Online publication of VCE Study Designs
• From 2013, all VCE study designs, advice for
teachers, resources and assessment
handbooks will be available in an online format
only (i.e. no hard copies)
• Online publications will include a
publication/update date
• Teachers will be advised of major updates
through the VCAA Bulletin VCE, VET and VCAL
Summary of changes
A number of key knowledge points across Units 3 and 4
have been deleted and/or edited for clarity and scope, and
changes have been made to School-assessed
Coursework. These have been published in the VCAA
Bulletin VCE, VCAL and VET Supplement 1, No. 97, July
2012.
Reminder: teachers may subscribe to the VCAA Bulletin Online –
refer to VCAA home page.
Teaching and learning resources
• Changes to the study design have been made with the
intention that teachers may continue to use existing
teaching and learning resources
• The Summary of changes for VCE Psychology on the
VCAA website should assist teachers to identify study
content and sections in current texts which may no
longer be applicable to the accredited 2013–2016 course
• Teachers should note that some publishers are
producing revised materials – it is a school/teacherbased decision as to whether new resources are
purchased and/or utilised
Curriculum changes
• Key knowledge deletions
• editing of key knowledge for clarity and scope
• Research methodologies consolidated across
Units 3 and 4, and pruned
• Specific phobia becomes one of four mental
illnesses (specific phobia or major depression
or gambling or schizophrenia) from which
one is studied
Assessment changes
•
•
•
•
Single end-of-year examination of 2½ hours duration
Examination:SAC = 60:40 (change from 66:34)
Unit 3 and 4 SAC tasks and mark allocations have
changed
The study of a mental disorder and its management
(one of: specific phobia or major depression or gambling
or schizophrenia) is assessed through School-assessed
Coursework only (i.e. not end-of-year examination)
Unit 3 Key Knowledge: Deletions
The following knowledge points have been deleted from
Unit 3:
• consciousness as a psychological construct
• perceptual anomalies
• application and use of brain research methods
• specific inclusion of the work of Kandel
• role of RAS and thalamus
• mnemonic devices: peg-word method; method of
loci
Unit 4 Key Knowledge: Deletions
The following knowledge points have been deleted from
Unit 4:
• use of imaging technologies in identification of
localised changes in the brain due to learning
specific tasks
• one-trial learning; insight learning; latent learning;
specific reference to Thorndike’s puzzle-box
experiment
• strengths and limitations of Selyes’ General
Adaptation Syndrome
Key Knowledge: Clarifications
• purpose of sleep
• electromyograph (EMG)
• role of the temporal lobe including the hippocampus and the
amygdala
• the neuron in memory formation including the role of axons,
dendrites, synapses and neurotransmitters
• organisation of long-term memory including declarative
(episodic and semantic) and procedural memory, and
sematic network theory
• the neural basis of learning – the development of neural
pathways including the role of axons, dendrites, synapses
and neurotransmitters
Research methodologies
•
one set of research methodologies and ethical principles
applies across both Unit 3 and Unit 4
• reporting conventions have been specified to follow reporting
conventions as per American Psychological Association
(APA) format
Deleted:
• artificiality; demand characteristics; brain imaging and
recording technologies; reliability including internal
consistency; validity including construct and external; use of
animals in research; advantages and limitations of the use of
non-human animals in research in terms of generalisations
and conclusions; role of ethics committees
School-assessed Coursework
• contributes 40 per cent to the study score
- Unit 3 SAC: 20 per cent
- Unit 4 SAC: 20 per cent
• should form part of the teaching and learning
program, both in terms of formative (including
diagnostic) and summative assessment
Unit 3 SAC: Report of a research investigation
Report of a research investigation related to
memory conducted by the student
• 50 marks (out of 100 for the unit)
• may be a single, extended investigation
• may be a multi-part investigation composed of a series
of shorter experiments linked to a particular aspect of
memory
• may be student-designed or teacher-assigned
• should relate to development of skills listed on page 13
• should incorporate aspects of the research
methodologies listed on page 22
Unit 4 SAC: Annotated folio of activities
Folio of at least five practical activities and
annotations of at least three of these activities to
illustrate selected aspects of learning
• 50 marks (out of 100 for the unit)
• some marks should be allocated to the completion of
folio activities
• practical activities may be undertaken individually or in
groups, but assessment of the annotations must be
completed individually
FAQs
A set of Frequently Asked Questions will
be published on the VCE Psychology study
page of the VCAA website to support
implementation of the revised study design
2013−2016
Advice for Teachers
The Advice for Teachers has been updated to
include relevant employability skills derived
from the Employability Skills Framework against
specified assessment tasks for Units 1 –4
Assessment Handbook
The Assessment Handbook for VCE Psychology
2013−2016 will be available from the VCE
Psychology study page prior to Term 1 2013.
Resources
• The list of resources will be updated annually by
the VCAA and will be available from the VCE
Psychology page
• Educators may submit suggested references for
inclusion on the resource list to the Curriculum
Manager for Science at the VCAA
Examination conditions
• 15 minutes reading time
• 150 minutes writing time
• Question and Answer book + Multiple Choice
answer sheet
• 60 per cent contribution to Study Score
Examination content
•
•
•
All outcomes in Units 3 and 4, all the key knowledge and
key skills, and the set of research methodologies and
ethical principles for Units 3 and 4, except content
related to the study of a specific mental disorder
Students will be required to apply Psychology knowledge
and skills to both Unit 3 and/or Unit 4
Some questions may include content from more than one
Area of study within a Unit and/or content which may
cross both Units 3 and 4
Examination format and mark allocation
Three sections:
• Section A
- 65 marks: multiple choice questions
• Section B
- 60 marks: variety of question types
• Section C
- 15 marks: short-answer and extended response
Examination will be out of 140 marks
Examination: Section A
•
•
•
•
65 questions
65 marks
Multiple choice
All questions compulsory
Examination: Section B
•
•
•
•
60 marks
Variety of question types including
descriptions and explanations
Section not divided according to Areas
of study
All questions compulsory
Examination: Section C
•
•
•
•
One compulsory, research-based scenario
15 marks
No optional questions
The research scenario may relate to one or more
of the Areas of study
• There will be some short answer questions
relating to the scenario and one extended
response question worth approximately 10 marks
Approved examination materials
Approved:
• Stationery: pens, pencils, highlighters, erasers,
sharpeners and rulers
Not approved:
• Blank sheets of paper
• Correction fluid
• Calculator
Examination advice
• Each examination will follow the
examination specifications and will test a
representative sample of the key
knowledge and key skills
• The number of marks provides a guide to
the complexity of the expected answer/s
Sample examination paper
• Most of the questions were sourced from previous years' papers
• Solutions to past examination questions can be accessed by
referring to the relevant Assessment Reports available on the VCAA
website
• Some questions were specifically developed to illustrate that
questions can draw upon understanding of concepts across Units 3
and 4
• Teachers will be provided – as examples – with two different types
of questions that may be asked in Section C to illustrate different
ways of approaching a given research scenario; only one of these
types of questions will be included in Section C in any given
examination
Contact
VCAA branch
Science Manager
Contact Details
Curriculum
Maria James
Tel: 9651 4655
Email:
james.maria.m@edumail.vic.gov.au
Assessment
Kris Allen
Tel: 9225 2356
Email:
allen.kristin.m@edumail.vic.gov.au
© Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority 2012