Day 6: Buckley Park College, VSSEC, and Vicphysics

Today I spent the morning with Neil Champion at Buckley Park College. Buckley Park is a state run school in a suburb north of Melbourne. It has an accelerated group of 25 students who compete to be admitted, but I didn't have the opportunity to observe these students. Instead, I observed several different classes: the tail-end of a year 10 class, a year 12 class, and a year 7 class.

The students were quite welcoming and Neil gave me ample opportunity to talk with them. Curiously, the thing they were most interested in discussing was accents, which I found quite interesting. Several students were astonished to learn that, to my ear, they have accents. When I spoke with the younger students I got the chance to ask them about their future plans in science. Several students I spoke with didn't plan to continue studying science after year 10 because they didn't think that their careers would need it. I asked for an example and it was business or law. Another student who wants to be a midwife was unsure if she would need science (I suggested biology would be a good starting point). Other students thought they'd take chemistry, but just because it was the next thing to do, not because it was of particular interest. 

The year 10 class was a mixture of boys and girls, the year 12 course has dwindled to 6 boys and 1 girl, and the year 7 was 14 boys and 10 girls. The seating in the year 7 class was curious- many of the boys chose to sit close to the back while the girls sat toward the front. One of the girls said that the exact opposite thing occurs in some of the other courses- the boys sit toward the front. She wasn't sure why this phenomena happens. 

Neil said that for the year 12 students the females seem to enroll in the course only if they're confident that they can handle the material, while more of the boys take it without really thinking it through and consequently end up dropping the course. 

Neil has had an extensive career in education in a variety of different roles. He has worked as a teacher, administration, textbook writer, and also in curriculum design. He was one of the authors of the textbooks his students use, which were really interesting in that they are hybrid. This means that the students have paper copies but also electronic access, not only to the textbook but also to the website with associated worksheets and simulations.

This afternoon I went to visit the Victorian Space Science Education Centre, which is typically abbreviated as VSSEC. This is a facility similar to GTAC, in that its mission is to use space as a vehicle to get kids interested in science. They have programs for students in years 3-12, and will soon add programs for the three younger years as well. They have programs for students to come to the center and experience working in mission control or as astronauts. They also have water rocket programs for younger students. Another notable thing is that the fees for the students depend on the type of school they're coming from: students from economically disadvantaged or rural schools come for free. There are also outreach programs where VSSEC staff take lessons to classes, frequently giving them equipment and lessons. VSSEC serves approximately 13,000 students each year.

To be honest, by this point in the day I was, to put it in the local vernacular, "knackered." I took a lot of pictures of the facility and was overwhelmed and impressed by everything they do. The Mars room was incredible and I wish I had a facility similar to this to take my students to experience. 

I'll leave you with the pictures and field any questions you have- leave them in the comments below and I ought to get a notification.

Finally, this evening I attended the monthly Vicphysics meeting. It was great to see a group of professional teachers working together to improve their craft and help other teachers. This reminds me of the Western New York Physics Teachers' Alliance, which I wish were closer to me!