Course Overview

It is so important that you understand the course you will be studying. It amazes me how many students walk into a class and have no idea what they will be studying, when their assessments are and how they will be assessed. If you don't know those things you are being too passive in your study, ideally you should be familiar with the Study Designs for each of your VCE subjects.

Here is a quick summary, but I highly recommend that you visit the VCAA site, download the current study design and read it thoroughly. While you are there you should also check out the previous exams and assessment reports. If you are studying VCE in 2017 then obviously your exam will be somewhat different, however it's still worth getting an idea of the exam format and question styles etc.

Study Score
x/50	50%	Unit 3 25% (100 marks)	Outcome 1 (2 tasks)
			Outcome 2
		Unit 4 25% (100 marks)	Outcome 1
			Outcome 2
	50%	Exam 50%	Essay 1
			Essay 2
			Essay 3

Your study score will be a score out of 50. That score is a combination of your SAC (School Assessed Coursework) scores and your exam mark. VCAA do a little bit of voodoo calculating that score, so the exam is weighted a little more heavily, but in the simplest terms 50% of your score comes from the exam and 50% from your SACs.

Unit 3
AOS 1: Reading and Creating Texts	Text 1	Outcome One	Analytical Interpretation of a text	30 marks
	Text 2		Creative Response to a different text	30 marks
AOS 2: Analysing argument		Outcome Two	Analyse and Compare argument and persuasive language	40 marks

Unit 3 consists of two Areas of Study (AOS1 and AOS 2). For AOS 1 you will complete two tasks to achieve Outcome One. You will study two separate texts and complete two separate tasks. One task is an analytical interpretation of the text and the other is a creative response. Each task is worth 30 marks.

For AOS 2 you will complete one task. You will be provided with persuasive texts and asked to analyse and compare their use of argument and persuasive language. This task is worth 40 marks.

Unit 4
AOS 1: Reading and Comparing Texts	1 pair of texts	Outcome One	Analytical Comparison of themes, issues and ideas in two texts	60 marks
AOS 2: Presenting Argument		Outcome Two	Point of View	30 marks
			Written Explanation	10 marks

Unit 4 consists of two Areas of Study (AOS 1 and AOS 2). For AOS1 you will study a pair of texts and you will be required to produce an analytical comparison of themes, issues and ideas constructed in those texts. This task is worth 60 marks.

For AOS 2 you will be required to present a point of view oral presentation and provide a written explanation.

Exam
Reading and Creating Texts	1 text
Reading and Comparing Texts	Comparing 2 texts
Analysing Argument	Unseen text(s)

The exam will consist of three parts. You will be required to produce three essays. (more details to come on a later post)