[Year 12 SofDev] Review of VCE IT - your thoughts

[Christophersen, Paula P]

Dear colleagues

The process of reviewing the current study design has just begun, and the VCAA would like to hear your thoughts on the current study and future directions. These viewpoints (strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvements) will be considered by the review panel, comprising teachers, academics and industry representatives who responded to an invitation extended in the VCAA April Bulletin.

When proposing future developments, it is worthwhile considering the curriculum platform that some students might be launching from, namely the Australian Curriculum, Digital Technologies. The draft version of this curriculum (beginning at page 63)   is located at: http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Draft_revised_Australian_Curriculum_Technologies.pdf It is the current intention that this curriculum, once approved by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) board in October 2013, will be implemented in Victorian government and Catholic schools in 2015. This means that towards the end of reaccredited study period (expiry 31 December 2019), some students would have studied Digital Technologies for a couple of years.

Review process
The review process is a lengthy one involving an assessment of the current offering, including a statistical analysis of enrolments and assessment results, a comparison with similar national and international curricula, the development of a draft study design, public consultation, independent reviews, and the scrutiny of a range of VCAA committees and the Board.

There is some good news regarding enrolments: there has been a 28% increase in enrolments in Software Development from 2012 to 2013. While it is impossible to directly confirm a cause-and-effect relationship, I am suggesting that maybe the mandating of programming in Unit 2, coupled with data visualisation, has inspired some students to further their interest in this area through studying Software Development. I would be particularly interested in hearing from any Software Development teachers who have had increased enrolments in 2013 - do you know why?

The proposed timeframe for this process is as follows:

*         Review and development of draft study design - August 2013 to April 2014

*         Consultation on draft study design - May 2014

*         Response to consultation and preparation of revised study design, including Advice for teachers - June to October

*         Online publication of study design - January 2015

In line with VCAA policy, 2015 will be a period for teachers to familiarise themselves with the reaccredited study design, supported by a VCAA implementation program. The reaccredited study design will be operating from the beginning of 2016.

To help collate and analyse your feedback, it would be appreciated if you could organise your comments according to the key categories of:

*         Strengths

*         Weaknesses

*         Opportunities for future development

Your comments can also cover assessment matters, not just content, for example, weighting of outcomes in units 3 and 4; task types; examination weighting etc

Looking forward to being inundated with constructive feedback.

Regards
Paula


Paula Christophersen
Curriculum Manager, Digital Technologies
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment
Authority
2 Lonsdale Street
MELBOURNE 3000
(03) 9032 1724
0407 043 110


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