VCE Stuff > VIC Year 10 Discussion

Year 10 Subject/Elective Reviews & Ratings

(1/3) > >>

Joseph41:
This is a space where all current Year 9 students can read reviews by current/past Year 10 students in regards to Year 10 electives. This will, hopefully, assist with subject selection. Please note that, especially prior to VCE level, subjects many differ from school to school.

YEAR 10 SUBJECT REVIEWS:
Review Index
Current Totals
Creative Arts Subject Reviews: 1
English Subject Reviews: 1
Humanities Subject Reviews: 2
LOTE Subject Reviews: 0
Maths Subject Reviews: 1
Science Subject Reviews: 3
Technology Subject Reviews: 0
Health and Physical Education Subject Reviews: 2

Total: 10 Reviews
Total: 10 Subjects Covered

(2) (3) etc. denote 2nd and 3rd reviews.

Creative Arts Subjects (1)Visual Communication Design - 2010English Subjects (1)English - 2019
Humanities Subjects (1)Governing the modern world - 2019
History - 2019
LOTE Subjects (0)Maths Subjects (1)Maths advanced - 2019
Science Subjects (3) Cells to Systems (Bio/Psych) - 2017 
Core Science - 2015
Forensics and the criminal mind - 2019
Technology Subjects (0)Health and Physical Education Subjects (1)Physical Education - 2019
Health and PE - 2019

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]Continued from Year 9 or picked up in Year 10?:[/b]

[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 #010

Joseph41:
Subject Name:
Visual Communication & Design

Continued from Year 9 or picked up in Year 10?:
I continued from Year 9 (started in Year 7), but you could pick it up fresh in Year 10.

Workload:
Moderate. It's one of those subjects where you could feasibly spend hours and hours on it, because design stuff is never really finished. But for the most part, I had time in class to complete the relevant assessments. I remember spending a few lunch times working on stuff but honestly, this was probably because I just enjoyed the subject.

There isn't a heap of theory like some other Year 10 subjects - it's mostly practical understanding and application. That's not to say that there's no theory at all, but it's different to, say, a science or maths subject.

Assessment: (Outline the various assessments which make up the subject and how much each counts for)
A lot of the year was spent working on drawing techniques and technical understanding through various assessments. For example (admittedly might be mixing up my years here a little):
* To learn about different technical drawing types, drawing the same object in isometric, orthogonal, planometric, one-point perspective etc.
* Going through the design process (research, idea generation, idea development etc.) by designing something from start to finish. We did this with the front cover of our school diary; whichever was deemed the best/most suitable was used the following year.
* Mini assignments responding to various briefs of fictional clients.

Exam Thoughts: (What's the structure? How hard was it?)
I honestly don't recall there being an exam at all. If there was, I'd imagine it would have covered basic drawing techniques, a little bit of theory (design elements and design principles), and responding to briefs.

Textbook Recommendation: (What did you use? How much did you use it?)
I don't think we had a textbook for Year 10 VCD. For VCE, I used this one, which was fine but seldom used.

Recommended Other Resources:
If your school has access to Copic markers, learn how to use them! They are genuinely the most beautiful things in the world, and I hope you develop the same passion for them I did.

Year of Completion:
For Year 10, 2010.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: A+

Comments:
I very genuinely enjoyed this subject - perhaps initially due to my teacher (who was a complete legend), but after that, too. I enjoyed it so much it developed in me an interest in design, and I was very close to pursuing design after high school in the end. If you take up VCD, don't do it as a bludge - it won't work out well. I know heaps of people who have done this, thinking it's "just drawing" or whatever, but the reality is, it can actually be quite time-consuming. If you end up producing a folio in Year 10, which you probably will, that's not going to be a bludge at all.

I recommend speaking with your teachers as much as you can to improve your drawing and design skills. And don't do what I did and assume that the research stage of the design process is pointless - it's actually very important!

undefined:
This only applies to one school but it seems like half the year 9s on here want to go to JMSS anyways so

Subject Name:
Cells to Systems (Bio/Psych)

Continued from Year 9 or picked up in Year 10?:
Picked up in year 10

Workload:
Not very high but varies from teacher to teacher

Assessment: (Outline the various assessments which make up the subject and how much each counts for)
- Practical group write up (20%)
- Cells test (10%)
- Growth/development test (10%)
- Neuroscience test (10%)
- Exam (50%)
Exam Thoughts: (What's the structure? How hard was it?)
The exam was pretty straight forward and easy but this is dependent on which semester you study the subject, as there are different teachers who have varying exam difficulties.

Textbook Recommendation: (What did you use? How much did you use it?)
No textbook. Teacher made powerpoints.

Recommended Other Resources:
N/A

Year of Completion:
2017

Rating:  out of 5
5/5

Your Mark/Grade: (Optional)
A

Comments: Give your overall opinion of the subject, content, assessment etc. and a recommendation, plus anything else which you feel is relevant.
The subject itself is great if you intend to accelerate into Biology 3/4 in year 11 as it is essentially a combination of Biology and Psychology 1/2. It was very enjoyable and the teacher was great (he left at the end of last year however).


Subject Name:
Pharmaceutical Science (Chem)

Continued from Year 9 or picked up in Year 10?:
Picked up in Year 10

Workload:
Moderate. Practical write up every week.

Assessment: (Outline the various assessments which make up the subject and how much each counts for)
- Monthly quizzes (20%)
- Solubility of enteric and non-enteric aspirin practical (15%)
- Practical logbook (10%)
- Promotion of drug pamphlet (25%)
- Exam (30%)

Exam Thoughts: (What's the structure? How hard was it?)
Split into 2 parts; practical and exam. Exam itself was almost the same as the previous year's and was very crammable. Practical was meant to be completed and written up in 25 minutes so it was very difficult to do well.

Textbook Recommendation: (What did you use? How much did you use it?)
None. Although, now that I think about it, both Chem 1/2 and 3/4 textbooks would of helped a lot with the organic chemistry part of the course.

Recommended Other Resources:
Khan Academy, Chem textbook

Year of Completion:
2017

Rating:  out of 5
2/5

Your Mark/Grade: (Optional)
B

Comments: Give your overall opinion of the subject, content, assessment etc. and a recommendation, plus anything else which you feel is relevant.
The subject was great and started off interesting until the organic chemistry topic came. The workload suddenly increased substantially and we were given very little time to complete the practicals so it was very easy to fall behind. The content was around Unit 1 and 4 chemistry as well as some stuff related to pharmacology and drug absorption. Overall I recommend this subject if you're very interested in chemistry, however, it can turn tedious and hard very fast especially since there isn't a textbook to refer to if you start to struggle.

Bri MT:
Subject Name:  Core Science

Continued from Year 9 or picked up in Year 10?:   We had standard science in year 9, year 10 was the first year we could choose a science stream (core (VCE science pathway) or forensic (more simplistic)

Workload:
Pretty easy. Just paying attention in class was enough to learn the content & the homework was fairly light.
Eg. going through the difference between distance and displacement was over multiple lessons.

Assessment: (Outline the various assessments which make up the subject and how much each counts for)
All I remember is that there was an assignment on cloning & also tests throughout the year

Exam Thoughts: (What's the structure? How hard was it?)

Textbook Recommendation: (What did you use? How much did you use it?)
I think there was no textbook, or if there was we didn't use it much

Recommended Other Resources:


Year of Completion:
2015

Rating:  4 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: (Optional)

Comments: Give your overall opinion of the subject, content, assessment etc. and a recommendation, plus anything else which you feel is relevant.

Basic introduction to scientific concepts used in VCE sciences. There was some opportunity for self extension and the teacher tried to implement a range of teaching styles targeted to the students.
Would choose certainly choose this over forensic science again.

caffinatedloz:
Subject Name:
Governing the Modern World (Legal/Politics)

Continued from Year 9 or picked up in Year 10?:
This was a continuation of some units we had done in Year 9 humanities.

Workload:
For my school at least, there was almost no homework and if there was it was very minimal. The time-consuming thing about this subject was how content dense it was when trying to revise. We covered the entire legal and political systems of Australia and Saudi Arabia as well as briefly looking at Afghanistan.

Assessment: (Outline the various assessments which make up the subject and how much each counts for)
For our school, there were three assessments: political systems test, legal systems test and the exam. Obviously, the exam was the largest assessment.

Exam Thoughts: (What's the structure? How hard was it?)
The exam was broken up into three sections, each worth 25 marks.
1. The Government (Australia)
2. The Legal System (Australia)
3. Saudi Arabia

Textbook Recommendation: (What did you use? How much did you use it?)
We had the Oxford Big Ideas Hums Textbook and probably only used it two or three times. We also had digital access to a different textbook that our teacher provided which we used for the entire legal systems unit.

Recommended Other Resources:

Year of Completion:
One so far, but I am hoping to continue with global politics through VCE.

Rating:  out of 5
4/5 : Although I enjoyed the content I found the method that it was taught quite frustrating at times.

Your Mark/Grade: (Optional)
A* on all the assessments,

Comments: Give your overall opinion of the subject, content, assessment etc. and a recommendation, plus anything else which you feel is relevant.
I would recommend this subject, particularly if you have an interest in global politics ect. The best part was probably the excursion that we got to go on to Parliament House and the Courts.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page