VCE Arts

Art

UNits 1 - 4     2023 - 2027

Scope of study

Art is an integral part of life and contributes to a progressive society. Artworks and visual language are a potent and dynamic means to communicate personal experiences and ideas, and cultural values, beliefs and viewpoints on experiences and issues in contemporary society.

In the study of VCE Art Creative Practice, research and investigation inform art making. Through the study of artworks, the practices of artists and their role in society, students develop their individual art practice, and communicate ideas and meaning using a range of materials, techniques and processes.

In the practice of Making and Responding, students develop their skills in critical and creative thinking, innovation, problem-solving and risk-taking. By combining a focused study of artworks, art practice and practical art making, students recognise the interplay between research, art practice and the analysis and interpretation of art works.

This study provides students with an informed context to support an awareness of art as a tool for cultural, social and personal communication, and the stimulus and inspiration to develop their art practice.

Rationale

VCE Art Creative Practice introduces the role of art in contemporary and historical cultures and societies and values the meaningful and unique impact of artists on the development of arts knowledge, tradition and experiences, both locally and globally. Students build an understanding of how artists, through their practice and the artworks they create, communicate personal experiences and ideas, and cultural values, beliefs and viewpoints. In this study, students view artworks and investigate the working practices of artists from different cultures and periods of time. 

Students are challenged to articulate their understanding of the meanings and messages contained within artworks and to examine the effects of artworks upon the viewers or audiences who experience them. Students learn to pose and solve problems, and work independently and collaboratively, to create and convey meaning through art making.

Throughout the study students have opportunities to construct knowledge and communicate personal interpretations by working as both artist and viewer or audience. In making artworks, students use their creativity to solve problems and experiment with visual language and expression. They create personal responses and meaning by applying diverse materials, techniques and art processes. 

Students develop skills in research, art history and critical theory to analyse, interpret and debate the ideas and issues that are raised by artworks and by artists in their practice.

VCE Art Creative Practice uses inquiry through art practice to develop students’ critical and creative thinking skills and individual responses through researching, exploring, experimenting, developing, reflecting, refining and resolving. Through Making and Responding, and through the presentation of artworks in different contexts, students understand and appreciate the role of visual art in past and present traditions, societies and cultures.

By building skills in visual literacy and creative and critical thinking, which are essential to both artist and viewer or audience, learning in VCE Art Creative Practice empowers young people to be discerning, and to engage with and make sense of what they see and experience. Students are equipped with practical and theoretical skills that enable them to follow pathways into tertiary art education, further training in art-related careers, as well as roles that require highly developed critical and conceptual engagement with ideas and issues. 

VCE Art Creative Practice also offers students opportunities for personal development and encourages them to make an ongoing contribution to the culture of their community through participation in lifelong art-making practices.

Structure

The study is made up of four units.

Unit 1: Interpreting artworks and exploring the Creative Practice

Unit 2: Interpreting artworks and developing the Creative Practice

Unit 3: Investigation, ideas, artworks and the Creative Practice

Unit 4: Interpreting, resolving and presenting artworks and the Creative Practice

Each unit deals with specific content contained in areas of study and is designed to enable students to achieve a set of outcomes for that unit. Each outcome is described in terms of key knowledge and key skills.

Entry

There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1, 2 and 3; however, Units 1 and 2 form the foundation of the key knowledge and key skills for Units 3 and 4. Students must undertake Unit 3 and Unit 4 as a sequence. Units 1–4 are designed to the equivalent standard of the final two years of secondary education. All VCE studies are benchmarked against comparable national and international curriculum.

Unit 1: Interpreting Artworks and Exploring the Creative Practice

In Unit 1 students use Experiential learning in Making and Responding to explore ideas using the Creative Practice. As the artist and audience, students consider their connection to artworks, and how their communication of ideas and presentation of artworks challenge, shape and influence viewer or audience perspectives.

They focus on the making of art and examine how artists communicate ideas and meaning in artworks. They examine artists in different societies, cultures and historical periods and develop their own interpretations and viewpoints about the meanings and messages of artworks. They explore how artists create new ways of thinking and representation, while developing their own art practice.

Students explore the practices of artists who have been inspired by ideas relating to personal identity. They study at least three artists and at least one artwork from each of the selected artists. Through their analysis and interpretation students learn how to formulate and substantiate personal opinions about artworks. Students apply the Structural Lens and the Personal Lens to analyse and interpret the meanings and messages of artworks and to document the reflection of their own ideas throughout their art practice.

Students learn about the components of the Creative Practice and explore areas of personal interest to develop a series of visual responses. They use a range of materials, techniques, processes and art forms to create a body of experimental work in response to their research of the practices of artists and their personal observations of artworks. They experiment with a range of approaches to develop technical skills and promote creative thinking through the study of both traditional and contemporary art practices. They are guided through an Experiential learning process to research, explore, experiment and develop, and to evaluate and reflect upon their use of the Creative Practice. 

Unit 2: Interpreting Artworks and Developing the Creative Practice

In Unit 2 students use Inquiry learning to investigate the artistic and collaborative practices of artists. They use the Cultural Lens, and the other Interpretive Lenses as appropriate, to examine artworks from different periods of time and cultures, and to explore the different ways that artists interpret and communicate social and personal ideas in artworks.

Students explore the collaborative practices of artists and use the Creative Practice to make and present artworks. They develop visual responses based on their investigations, exploring the way historical and contemporary cultural contexts, ideas and approaches have influenced the artworks and the practices of the artists they investigate, as well as their own art practice.

Artworks can acknowledge specific ideas or beliefs, or commemorate people, institutions, social movements and events. They can reinforce the intentions and purpose of a social, cultural or community group, or they can challenge social or cultural attitudes and assumptions. Throughout Unit 2, students examine the importance of the social and cultural contexts of artworks and analyse the varying social functions that art can serve. 

They also investigate how artworks can be created as forms of expression for specific social and cultural contexts. Students research historical and contemporary artworks and explore diverse and alternative approaches to making and presenting artworks.

While the focus of this unit is on the Cultural Lens, students should continue to apply aspects of the Structural and Personal Lenses where relevant in the analysis and interpretation of artworks and in the documentation of their art practice.

Unit 3: Investigation, Ideas, Artworks and the Creative Practice

In this unit students use Inquiry and Project-based learning as starting points to develop a Body of Work. They explore ideas and experiment with materials, techniques and processes using the Creative Practice. The research of historical and contemporary artists is integral to students’ use of the Creative Practice and informs the basis of their investigation. 

Students also investigate the issues that may arise from the artworks they view and discuss, or those evolving from the practice of the artist. Unit 3 commences with students researching the practice of a selected artist as the starting point to develop a finished artwork. The finished artwork will contribute to the Body of Work developed over Units 3 and 4.

In Unit 3, the Interpretive Lenses are used in Making and Responding throughout the students’ art practice. Students apply the Interpretive Lenses to researched artworks and in their reflective analysis and evaluation of their use of the Creative Practice. They use critical and creative thinking skills to explore and develop ideas, and experiment with materials, techniques and processes.

Unit 4: Interpreting, Resolving and Presenting Artworks and the Creative Practice

In Unit 4 students continue to develop their art practice through Project-based and Inquiry learning as their research and exploration continues to support the development of their Body of Work. Throughout their research students study the practices of selected historical and contemporary artists to inform their own art practice. They use the Interpretive Lenses to analyse, compare and interpret the meanings and messages of artworks produced by the artists they study. Students also apply the Interpretive Lenses throughout the Creative Practice to resolve and refine their Body of Work. 

Students continue to build upon the ideas begun in Unit 3 and present a critique of their use of the Creative Practice. They reflect on the feedback from their critique to further refine and resolve a Body of Work that demonstrates their use of the Creative Practice and the realisation of their personal ideas. The students present their Body of Work to an audience accompanied by documentation of their use of the Creative Practice.

In Unit 4, Areas of Study 1 and 2 are taught concurrently. The critique in Area of Study 1 takes place before the resolution and presentation of the Body of Work. Documentation of the Creative Practice is carried throughout Areas of Study 1 and 2 in the refinement, resolution and presentation of the student’s Body of Work.

The students’ use of the Creative Practice involves both Making and Responding and is underpinned by the Interpretive Lenses. Students use the Interpretive Lenses to analyse and interpret the meanings and messages of artworks created by the artists they study and to investigate the practices used to create them.

Applied together, these Interpretive Lenses enable students to appreciate how an artwork may contain different aspects and layers of meaning and to acknowledge the validity of diverse interpretations. Students view a range of artworks in different contexts and interpret the ideas and meanings communicated in the artworks.

Assessment 

Satisfactory Completion

The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on the teacher’s decision that the student has demonstrated achievement of the set of outcomes specified for the unit.

Demonstration  -  - of achievement of outcomes and satisfactory completion of a unit are determined by evidence gained through the assessment of a range of learning activities and tasks.

Levels of Achievement 

Units 1 and 2

Procedures for the assessment of levels of achievement in Units 1 and 2 are a matter for school decision.

Units 3 and 4

The VCAA specifies the assessment procedures for students undertaking scored assessment in Units 3 and 4. Designated assessment tasks are provided in the details for each unit in VCE study designs. The student’s level of achievement in Units 3 and 4 will be determined by School-assessed Coursework (SAC) and a School-assessed Task (SAT) as specified in the VCE study design, and external assessment (examination).

Percentage contributions to the study score are as follows:

Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework:  10 %

Units 3 and 4 School-assessed Task:  60 %

End-of-year examination: 30 %

Drama 

Units 1 - 4   2019 - 2024

Scope of Study

VCE Drama focuses on the creation and performance of characters and stories that communicate ideas, meaning and messages. Students use creative processes, a range of stimulus material and play-making techniques to develop and present devised work. Students learn about and draw on a range of performance styles relevant to practices of ritual and story-telling, contemporary drama practice and the work of significant drama practitioners.

Students explore characteristics of selected performance and apply and manipulate conventions, dramatic elements and production areas. They use performance skills and expressive skills to explore and develop role and character. The performances they create will go beyond the reality of life as it is lived and may pass comment on or respond to aspects of the real world. These performances can occur in any space.

Students also analyse the development of their own work and performances by other drama practitioners.

Rationale

In VCE Drama, students tell stories, explore ideas, make sense of their worlds and communicate meaning through the practice of performance-making. The study of drama enables students’ individual and collective identities to be explored, expressed and validated. Students develop an ability to empathise through understanding and accepting diversity. Students draw from, and respond to, contexts and stories that reflect different cultures, genders, sexualities and abilities.

VCE Drama connects students to multiple traditions of drama practice across a range of social, historical and cultural contexts. Through the processes of devising and performing drama, students investigate self and others by exploring and responding to the contexts, the narratives and the stories that shape their worlds.

The study of drama introduces students to theories and processes for the creative development of new work and allows them to develop skills as creative and critical thinkers. Students develop an appreciation of drama as an art form through their work as solo and ensemble performers, and engagement with professional contemporary drama practice. They develop skills of communication, criticism, aesthetic understanding and aesthetic control.

VCE Drama equips students with knowledge, skills and confidence to communicate as individuals and collaboratively in a broad range of social, cultural and work-related contexts. The study of drama may provide pathways to training and tertiary study in acting, dramaturgy, theatre-making, script writing, communication and drama criticism.

Structure

The study is made up of four units:

Unit 1: Introducing performance styles 

Unit 2: Australian identity

Unit 3: Devised ensemble performance 

Unit 4: Devised solo performance

Entry

There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1, 2 and 3. Students must undertake Unit 3 and Unit 4 as a sequence. Units 1 to 4 are designed to a standard equivalent to the final two years of secondary education. All VCE studies are benchmarked against comparable national and international curriculum. In Drama, scheduled instruction can include classroom instruction, production work and attendance at theatre performances.

Unit 1: Introducing Performance Styles

In this unit students study three or more performance styles from a range of social, historical and cultural contexts. They examine drama traditions of ritual and storytelling to devise performances that go beyond re-creation and/or representation of real life as it is lived.

This unit focuses on creating, presenting and analysing a devised solo and/or ensemble performance that includes real or imagined characters and is based on stimulus material that reflects personal, cultural and/or community experiences and stories. This unit also involves analysis of a student’s own performance work and a work by professional drama performers.

Students apply play-making techniques to shape and give meaning to their performance. They manipulate expressive and performance skills in the creation and presentation of characters and develop awareness and understanding of how characters are portrayed in a range of performance styles. They document the processes they use as they explore a range of stimulus material, and experiment with production areas, dramatic elements, conventions and performance styles.

In this unit the terms character, performance, story and style may be understood as one or more characters, performances, stories or styles.

Unit 2: Australian Identity

In this unit students study aspects of Australian identity evident in contemporary drama practice. This may also involve exploring the work of selected drama practitioners and associated performance styles. This unit focuses on the use and documentation of the processes involved in constructing a devised solo or ensemble performance. Students create, present and analyse a performance based on a person, an event, an issue, a place, an artwork, a text and/or an icon from a contemporary or historical Australian context.

In creating the performance, students use stimulus material that allows them to explore an aspect or aspects of Australian identity. They examine selected performance styles and explore the associated conventions. Students further develop their knowledge of the conventions of transformation of character, time and place, the application of symbol, and how these conventions may be manipulated to create meaning in performance and the use of dramatic elements and production areas.

Students analyse their own performance work as well as undertaking an analysis of a performance of an Australian work, where possible, by professional actors.

An Australian work might:

• be written, adapted or devised by Australian writers or theatre-makers
• reflect aspects of Australian identity, for example the voice of Australia’s first peoples, the Celtic perspective, the twentieth or twenty-first century migrant experience, the refugee experience,  urban and rural perspectives.

Across this unit, students study performance styles from a range of historical and/or social and/or cultural contexts. In this unit the terms character, performance, story and style may be understood as one or more characters, performances, stories or styles.

Unit 3: Devised Ensemble Performance

In this unit students explore the work of drama practitioners and draw on contemporary practice as they devise ensemble performance work. Students explore performance styles and associated conventions from a diverse range of contemporary and/or traditional contexts. They work collaboratively to devise, develop and present an ensemble performance. Students create work that reflects a specific performance style or one that draws on multiple performance styles and is therefore eclectic in nature.

They use play-making techniques to extract dramatic potential from stimulus material, then apply and manipulate conventions, dramatic elements, expressive skills, performance skills and production areas. Throughout development of the work they experiment with transformation of character, time and place, and application of symbol.

Students devise and shape their work to communicate meaning or to have a specific impact on their audience. In addition, students document and evaluate stages involved in the creation, development and presentation of the ensemble performance.

Students analyse and evaluate a professional drama performance selected from the prescribed VCE Drama Unit 3 Playlist published annually on the VCAA website. In this unit the terms character, performance, story and style can be understood as one or more characters, performances, stories or styles.

Unit 4: Devised Solo Performance

This unit focuses on the development and the presentation of devised solo performances. Students explore contemporary practice and works that are eclectic in nature; that is, they draw on a range of performance styles and associated conventions from a diverse range of contemporary and traditional contexts. Students develop skills in extracting dramatic potential from stimulus material and use play- making techniques to develop and present a short solo performance.

They experiment with application of symbol and transformation of character, time and place. They apply conventions, dramatic elements, expressive skills, performance skills and performance styles to shape and give meaning to their work. Students further develop and refine these skills as they create a performance in response to a prescribed structure.

They consider the use of production areas to enhance their performance and the application of symbol and transformations. Students document and evaluate the stages involved in the creation, development and presentation of their solo performance. 

Students are encouraged to attend performances that incorporate a range of performance styles to support their work in this unit.

Assessment

Satisfactory Completion

The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on the teacher’s decision that the student has demonstrated achievement of the set of outcomes specified for the unit. Demonstration of achievement of outcomes and satisfactory completion of a unit are determined by evidence gained through the assessment of a range of learning activities and tasks.

Levels of Achievement

Units 1 and 2 Procedures for the assessment of levels of achievement in Units 1 and 2 are a matter for school decision. 

Units 3 and 4 The VCAA specifies the assessment procedures for students undertaking scored assessment in Units 3 and 4. Designated assessment tasks are provided in the details for each unit in VCE study designs.

The student’s level of achievement in Units 3 and 4 will be determined by School-assessed Coursework (SAC) as specified in the VCE study design, and external assessment.

Percentage contributions to the study score in VCE Drama are as follows:

Units 3 and 4 School-assessed Coursework: 40 %

Performance examination: 35%

End-of-year examination: 25%

Media

Units 1 - 4    2024 - 2028

Scope of Study

The media is ubiquitous. Media is deeply embedded within life and culture at a local, national and global level. It entertains, teaches, informs and shapes audiences’ perception of their lives and the world in which they live.

Stories in all their forms are at the heart of the media and its relationship with audiences. Through stories, narratives are constructed that engage, and are read by, audiences. Representations of ideas, realities and imagination are constructed and deconstructed, remixed and reimagined with ever-increasing technological sophistication, ease and speed to engage audiences.

The context of media shapes both production and the audiences’ reading. Contextual influences such as time, place, culture, societal attitudes and values may be reflected explicitly and implicitly in media products. Audiences also read and consume media through this contextual lens. The relationship between media and audience is complex. Students will interrogate notions of influence, power, audience, agency and the role that media plays in shaping views and values.

Developments in technologies have transformed media at a rapid pace. The interplay between print and broadcast media and multinational-networked database platforms has enabled creative communication opportunities and reworked notions of key media concepts including audiences, forms and products, storytelling, influence, institutions and industries.

Media audiences are no longer constrained by physical, social and political boundaries. Audiences are consumers, users, creative and participatory producers and product. This has created a dramatic increase in communicative, cultural and creative possibilities. The greater involvement of audiences has generated enormous changes in the media economy and issues of content control.

The growth of social media platforms means information is produced, distributed and consumed with increased immediacy, raising questions about accountability, regulation and influence. This growth has led to competition with traditional media forms and established media institutions. Traditional media continues to have power and influence, competing, cooperating and evolving alongside social media platforms. Through the study of Media, students gain a critical understanding of media and understand their role as both producers and consumers of media products.

Students examine how and why the media constructs and reflects reality, and how audiences engage with, consume, read, create and produce media products.

Rationale

This study provides students with the opportunity to examine the media in both historical and contemporary contexts while developing skills in media design and production in a range of media forms.

VCE Media provides students with the opportunity to analyse media concepts, forms and products in an informed and critical way. Students consider narratives, technologies and processes from various perspectives, including an analysis of structure and features. They examine debates about the role of the media in contributing to and influencing society. Students integrate these aspects of the study through the individual design and production of their media representations, narratives and products.

VCE Media supports students to develop and refine their planning and analytical skills, and their critical and creative thinking and expression, and to strengthen their communication skills and technical knowledge. 

Students gain knowledge and skills in planning and expression that are valuable for participation in, and contribution to, contemporary society. This study leads to pathways for further theoretical and/or practical study at tertiary level or in vocational education and training settings, including screen and media, marketing and advertising, games and interactive media, communication and writing, graphic and communication design, photography and animation.

Structure

The study is made up of four units.

Unit 1: Media forms, representations and Australian stories 

Unit 2: Narrative across media forms

Unit 3: Media narratives and pre-production

Unit 4: Media production; agency and control in and of the media

Entry

There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1, 2 and 3. Students must undertake Unit 3 and Unit 4 as a sequence. Units 1 to 4 are designed to a standard equivalent to the final two years of secondary education. All VCE studies are benchmarked against comparable national and international curriculum.

Duration

Each unit involves at least 50 hours of scheduled classroom instruction.

Safety & Wellbeing

It is the responsibility of the school to ensure that duty of care is exercised in relation to the health and safety of all students undertaking the study. This duty of care extends to activities undertaken outside the classroom such as visits to screenings, productions, exhibitions, studios and external workshops.

Ideas and topics selected by students as subject matter and themes for their productions should be appropriate for the age and development of the students and reflect current community standards and expectations. Teachers should be aware of the sensitive issues that might arise in relation to the choice of theme or subject matter for study. 

The following strategies may assist teachers when selecting themes for study or when assisting students in developing their media productions.

• Familiarise yourself with the student’s choice of texts, products or subject matter, with particular attention to any issues that may arise surrounding personal, cultural, school and community standards.
• Read any information you can about the media production chosen for study, such as the creator’s intention or exploration of ideas and subject matter.
• Identify any issues that may require additional resourcing, such as different perspectives on controversial historical, social, cultural or political themes.
• Discuss aspects that may be challenging for students with the school leadership and colleagues at your school.

The Victorian Department of Education (DET) provides information about student wellbeing and duty of care, including:

• DET Student health and wellbeing advice
• DET Duty of Care policy
• DET Teaching and learning resources – Selecting appropriate materials.

This study may involve the handling of potentially hazardous substances and/or the use of potentially hazardous equipment. Students must be made aware of, and practise, the safe and appropriate use of the materials, techniques and processes they use, in respect to both themselves and the environment. Teachers and students should observe appropriate safety precautions when undertaking practical activities. It is the responsibility of schools to ensure that they comply with health and safety requirements.

Unit 1: Media Forms, Representations and Australian Stories

The relationship between audiences and the media is evolving. Audiences engage with media products in many ways. They share a common language with media producers and construct meanings from the representations within a media product.

In this unit, students develop an understanding of audiences and the core concepts underpinning the construction of representations and meaning in different media forms. They explore media codes and conventions and the construction of meaning in media products.

Students analyse how representations, narratives and media codes and conventions contribute to the construction of the media realities that audiences read and engage with. Students gain an understanding of audiences as producers and consumers of media products. Through analysing the structure of narratives, students consider the impact of media creators and institutions on production.

Students work in a range of media forms and develop and produce representations to demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of each media form, and how they contribute to the communication of meaning.

Students develop an understanding of the features of Australian fictional and non-fictional narratives in different media forms. They develop research skills to investigate and analyse selected narratives, focusing on the media professionals’ influence on production genre and style. They experience the voices and stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creators to gain an understanding and appreciation of how their stories contribute to our cultural identity.

Unit 2: Narrative Across Media Forms

Fictional and non-fictional narratives are fundamental to the media and are found in all media forms. Media industries such as journalism and filmmaking are built upon the creation and distribution of narratives constructed in the form of a series of interconnected images and/or sounds and/or words, using media codes and conventions.

 New media forms and technologies enable participants to design, create and distribute narratives in hybrid forms such as collaborative and user-generated content, which challenges the traditional understanding of narrative form and content. Narratives in new media forms have generated new modes of audience engagement, consumption and reception.

In this unit, students further develop an understanding of the concept of narrative in media products and forms in different contexts. Narratives in both traditional and newer forms include film, television, digital streamed productions, audio news, print, photography, games and interactive digital forms. 

Students analyse the influence of developments in media technologies on individuals and society; design, production and distribution of narratives in the media; and audience engagement, consumption and reception.

Students undertake production activities to design and create narratives that demonstrate an awareness of the structures and media codes and conventions appropriate to corresponding media forms.

Unit 3: Media Narratives. Contexts and Pre-production

In this unit, students explore stories that circulate in society through a close analysis of a media narrative. 

Narratives are defined as the depiction of a chain of events in a cause-and-effect relationship occurring in physical and/or virtual space and time in fictional and non-fictional media products. Students consider the use of codes and narrative conventions to structure meaning and explore the role these play in media narratives. 

Through the close analysis of a media narrative, students develop media language and terminology and a deeper understanding of how codes and narrative conventions are combined in a narrative. 

They study how social, historical, institutional, culture, economic and political contexts may influence the construction of media narratives and audience readings. 

Through the study of a media narrative, students explore specific codes and narrative conventions and begin the process of research to support their understanding of how they can adopt and employ these techniques in their own works. 

They investigate a media form that aligns with their interests and intent, developing an understanding of the codes and narrative conventions appropriate to audience engagement, consumption and reception within the selected media form. 

Students use the pre-production stage of the media production process to design the production of a media product for a specified audience. They explore and experiment with media technologies to develop skills in their selected media form, and reflect on and document their progress. 

Students undertake pre-production planning appropriate to their selected media form and develop written and visual planning documents to support the production and post-production of a media product in Unit 4.

Unit 4: Media Production; Agency and Control in and of the Media

In this unit students focus on the production and post-production stages of the media production process, bringing the pre-production plans created in Unit 3 to their realisation. 

Students refine their media production in response to feedback and through personal reflection, documenting the iterations of their production as they work towards completion.

The context in which media products are produced, distributed and consumed is an essential framework through which audiences view and read media products. Social, historical, institutional, cultural, economic and political contexts can be seen through explicit or implied views and values conveyed within media products. 

The media disseminate these views and values within a society and, as a result, can play a key role in influencing, reinforcing or challenging the cultural norms. 

In this unit, students view a range of media products that demonstrate a range of values and views, and they analyse the role that media products and their creators play within the contexts of their time and place of production.

Students explore the relationship between the media and audiences, focusing on the opportunities and challenges afforded by current developments in the media industry. 

They consider the nature of communication between the media and audiences, explore the capacity of the media to be used by governments, institutions and audiences, and analyse the role of the Australian government in regulating the media.

Assessment

Satisfactory Completion

The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on whether the student has demonstrated the set of outcomes specified for the unit. This decision will be based on the teacher’s assessment of the student’s performance on assessment tasks designated for the unit.

Levels of Achievement 

Units 1 and 2

Procedures for the assessment of levels of achievement in Units 1 and 2 are a matter for school decision.

Units 3 and 4

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority will supervise the assessment of all students undertaking Units 3 and 4 in School-assessed Coursework and an end of year exam.

Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework: 10%

Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework: 10%

Unit 3 & 4 School-assessed Task: 40% 

End-of-year examination: 40%

Music Performance

Units 1- 4      2023 - 2027

Scope of Study

VCE Music is based on active engagement in all aspects of music. Students develop and refine musicianship skills and knowledge and develop a critical awareness of their relationship with music as listeners, performers, creators and music makers. 

Students explore, reflect on and respond to the music they listen to, create and perform. They analyse and evaluate live and recorded performances, and learn to incorporate, adapt and interpret musical practices from diverse cultures, times and locations into their own learning about music as both a social and cultural practice. 

Students study and practise ways of effectively communicating and expressing musical ideas to an audience as performers and composers and respond to musical works as an audience. The developed knowledge and skills provide a practical foundation for students to compose, arrange, interpret, reimagine, improvise, recreate and critique music in an informed manner. 

Rationale

In this study students are offered a range of Music is uniquely an aural art form and its essential nature is abstract. It is a complex socio-cultural phenomenon that exists distinctively in every culture and is a basic expression and reflection of human experience. It allows for the expression of the intellect, imagination and emotion, and the exploration of values, and fosters an understanding of continuity and change. 

Active participation in music develops musicianship through creating, performing, responding and analysing, and fosters an understanding of other times, places, cultures and contexts. Students develop ideas about the ways in which music can interact with other art forms, technology and design, and other fields of endeavour.

Music learning has a significant impact on the cognitive, affective, motor, social, cultural and personal competencies of students. It supports and encourages flexible cognitive and behavioural skills, and creativity, which are further enhanced by the non-verbal communication methods found in musical socialisation. 

Students learn to pose and solve problems, work independently and in collaboration, and create and convey meaning from various viewpoints. The nature of music study allows students to develop their capacity to manage their own learning, work together with others, and engage in activity that reflects the real-world practice of performers, composers and audiences, working towards the development of a personal voice.

Through performance, students sing and play music, demonstrating their knowledge and practical music skills through refining solo and/or ensemble performances. Students realise music ideas through the demonstration and interpretation of music elements and concepts to convey meaning and/or emotion to an audience. 

Through creating, students explore the manipulation of sound, producing new music works and arrangements. Using the music elements and concepts, students apply their knowledge and understanding of compositional devices to their own creations and the works of others.

Through responding and analysing, students investigate and explain the use of music elements, concepts and compositional devices, and respond to music from a variety of contexts, styles and genres. They develop knowledge and skills in identifying and understanding how music is organised, how effect is created and how influences and cultural contexts are manifested in works.

VCE Music equips students with personal and musical knowledge and skills that enable them to focus on their musicianship in particular areas and follow pathways into tertiary music study or further training in a broad spectrum of music related careers. VCE Music also offers students opportunities for personal development and encourages them to make an ongoing contribution to the culture of their community through participation in life-long music making.

Structure

The study is made up of ten units. Each unit deals with specific content contained in areas of study and is designed to enable students to achieve a set of outcomes for that unit. Each outcome is described in terms of key knowledge and key skills.

The study structure is:

Entry

There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1, 2 and 3. Students must undertake Unit 3 and Unit 4 as a sequence. 

Units 1 to 4 are designed to a standard equivalent to the final two years of secondary education. All VCE studies are benchmarked against comparable national and international curriculum.

Music Unit 1

Organisation in Music

In this unit students explore and develop their understanding of how music is organised. By performing, creating, analysing and responding to music works that exhibit different approaches, students explore and develop their understanding of the possibilities of musical organisation. 

They prepare and perform ensemble and/or solo musical works to develop technical control, expression and stylistic understanding on their chosen instrument/sound source. At least two works should be associated with their study of approaches to music organisation. 

They create (arrange, compose or improvise) short music exercises that reflect their understanding of the organisation of music and the processes they have studied.

They develop knowledge of music language concepts as they analyse and respond to a range of music, becoming familiar with the ways music creators treat elements of music and concepts and use compositional devices to create works that communicate their ideas.

Music Unit 2 

Effect in Music

In this unit, students focus on the way music can be used to create an intended effect. By performing, analysing and responding to music works/examples that create different effects, students explore and develop their understanding of the possibilities of how effect can be created. Through creating their own music, they reflect this exploration and understanding.

Students prepare and perform ensemble and/or solo musical works to develop technical control, expression and stylistic understanding using their chosen instrument/sound source. They should perform at least one work to convey a specified effect and demonstrate this in performance.

They create (arrange, compose or improvise) short music exercises that reflect their understanding of the organisation of music and the processes they have studied.

As they analyse and respond to a wide range of music, they become familiar with the ways music creators treat elements and concepts of music and use compositional devices to create works that communicate their ideas. They continue to develop their understanding of common musical language concepts by identifying, recreating and notating these concepts. 

Music Enquiry Units 3 & 4

This study offers pathways for students whose main interest is a combination of performing, composing/arranging and investigating music through music making, analysing and responding in relation to their particular interests. It recognises that music is frequently a collaborative art where students work with others, and at other times individually. 

Music making is a collective and integrated experience. It involves composing, arranging, interpreting, reimagining, improvising, recreating, performing and critiquing music in an informed manner. All these activities involve active engagement in imaginative music making, responding and remaking. Students perform and compose/arrange music to demonstrate musical influences of an existing style and/or performer in relation to their own works and the works of others.

Students develop aural skills by responding to music from a range of sources across time and place, comparing their music characteristics. They analyse music works and/or styles and explore how they have influenced subsequent music makers, including students’ own works. 

They develop an understanding of how the treatment of music elements, concepts and compositional devices in one work and/or style can be identified and explained in the works of others, leading to a reflection on their own music making.

Unit 3 - Influence in Music

In this unit, through music making and responding, students focus on connections between music created in different times and/or places and the influence(s) of one on the other. Their music making involves the integrated music experiences of performing, creating and responding. 

They compose, arrange, interpret, reimagine, improvise, recreate, perform and critique music in a scaffolded manner that will lead to their project in Unit 4, where students become increasingly autonomous and self-directed and less dependent on teacher direction and support.

Students perform music to demonstrate musical approaches influenced by an existing style and/or performer and create/arrange short music works that include identifiable influences from an existing work/performer/style and are able to explain these influences.

Students develop aural skills by responding to and analysing music from a range of sources across time and place, comparing their music characteristics. They analyse a music work and/or style and explore how it has influenced subsequent music creators.

They develop an understanding of how the treatment of music elements, concepts and compositional devices in one work and/or style can be identified and explained in the works of others.

Unit 4 – Project

In this unit, students deepen their understanding of the influence of music by considering it at a personal level. They move from considering and reflecting on the influences in the works of others to applying new understandings of influence in their own music making. They are increasingly able to deliberate on and articulate their thinking and choices.

Their music making continues to focus on integrated music experiences and they become increasingly autonomous and self-directed after the modelling they experienced in Unit 3.

Students perform music to demonstrate musical influences of an existing style and/or performer on their own works, and they create/arrange short music works that include identifiable influences from an existing work/performer/style, which they are able to explain.

Students develop aural skills by responding to music from a range of sources across time and place, comparing their music characteristics. 

They analyse music works and/or styles and explore how they have influenced their own music making. They develop an understanding of how the treatment of music elements, concepts and compositional devices in one work and/or style can be identified and explained in their own works.

Students choose their own Area of Investigation. This may be:

• a style
• a performer
• a creator
• a musical genre.

Students analyse at least two works from their chosen Area of Investigation. They discuss how the treatment of music elements, concepts and compositional devices in these works influence their own musical output. They describe the connections between these works and their own music making.

They perform on their chosen instrument. The works performed will come from their chosen area of investigation. They create/arrange a music work. The work should demonstrate direct connections to the chosen Area of Investigation.

Students continue to respond to a wide variety of music excerpts from a range of different music traditions, times and locations. In their responses, they continue to develop skills in identifying and describing similarities and differences between musical approaches.

Music Contemporary Performance Units 3 & 4

This study offers pathways for students whose performance practice includes embellishment and/or improvisation, uses collaborative and aural practices in learning, often takes recordings as a primary text, and projects a personal voice. Students study the work of other performers and analyse their approaches to interpretation and how personal voice can be developed through reimagining existing music works. They refine selected strategies to enhance their own approach to performance. 

Students identify technical, expressive and stylistic challenges relevant to works they are preparing for performance and endeavour to address these challenges. They listen and respond to a wide range of music by a variety of performers in contemporary styles. They also study music language concepts such as scales, harmony and rhythmic materials that relate to contemporary music.

Students may present with any instrument or combination of instruments which will be suitable to convey understanding of the key knowledge and application of key skills for Outcome 1, with styles including (but not limited to) rock, pop, jazz, EDM, country, funk and R&B.

Students prepare a program for assessment in a live performance. 

They may be assessed as primarily a member of a group or as a solo performer. All performances must include at least one ensemble work with another live musician and an original work created by an Australian artist since 1990. All performances must include a personally reimagined version of an existing work. Original works may also be included in the program. 

Students submit a program list along with a Performer’s Statement of Intent. Part of the statement should include information about their reimagined piece and explain how the existing work has been manipulated. This must be accompanied by an authentication document. 

As part of their preparation, students are able to present performances of both ensemble and solo music works and take opportunities to perform in both familiar and unfamiliar venues and spaces. 

Across Units 3 and 4 all students select works of their own choice for performance that allow them to meet examination requirements and conditions as described in the performance examination specifications.

Unit 3

In this unit students begin developing the program they will present in Unit 4. Students should refer to the examination specifications to make sure that the works selected allow them to best meet the requirements and conditions of this task. They use music analysis skills to refine strategies for developing their performances. 

Students analyse interpretation in a wide range of recorded music, responding to and analysing music elements, concepts, compositional devices and music language. Students also learn how to recognise and recreate music language concepts such as scales, melodies, chords, harmony and rhythmic materials that relate to contemporary music. 

Unit 4

Students continue to work towards building a performance program they will present at their end-of-year examination in line with their Statement of Intent. The program will contain at least one performance that is a reimagined version of an existing work and an original work created by an Australian artist since 1990.

Students continue to study the work of other performers and their approaches to interpretation and personal voice in performing music works. They refine selected strategies to optimise their own approach to performance.

Students further develop strategies to address the technical, expressive and stylistic challenges relevant to works they are preparing for performance.

Students listen and respond to a further range of recorded music by a variety of performers in contemporary styles. They continue to study music language concepts that relate to contemporary music.

Music Repertoire Performance Units 3 & 4

This study is designed for students whose musical interests are grounded in the recreation and interpretation of notated musical works, and who wish to gain and share knowledge of musical styles and performance practices. Students may present on any instrument for which there is an established repertoire of notated works. They work towards a recital program that demonstrates highly developed technical skills and stylistic refinement as both a soloist and as an ensemble member. They develop the capacity for critical evaluations of their performances and those of others, and an ability to articulate their performance decisions with musical evidence and independence of thought.

Students identify technical, expressive and stylistic challenges relevant to works they are preparing for performance and endeavour to address these challenges. They listen and respond to a wide range of music by a variety of performers and study music language concepts such as scales, harmony and rhythmic materials.

The works selected for assessment must have sufficient range to convey understanding of the key knowledge and application of the key skills for Outcome 1. Music styles in this study may include (but are not limited to) early music, baroque, classical, romantic, 20th and 21st century art music styles, musical theatre, and classical music's outside the Western tradition (for example, Indian, Chinese).

The most significant task in Music Repertoire Performance is the preparation of a recital program of up to 20 minutes’ duration. Students may present primarily as a soloist or as an ensemble musician. However, students must present at least one ensemble work (that is, a performance with at least one other live musician) as part of their final program and include at least one work created since 1990 by an Australian composer. 

Programs may also consist entirely of ensemble works, with one or more students being assessed. One work in the final program must be selected from the separately published Prescribed List. An application process will apply for instruments without a list. Students must also bring copies of their works to the performance examination.

Unit 3

In this unit students begin developing the recital program they will present in Unit 4. This preparation includes consideration of the historical performance practices and interpretative traditions that inform the styles represented in their programs.

Students use music analysis skills to refine strategies for developing their performances. They analyse technical, expressive and stylistic challenges relevant to the works they are preparing for performance and present these strategies for assessment at a school-based discussion. 

Students analyse interpretation in a wide range of recorded music, responding to and analysing musical elements, concepts and compositional devices. They develop their ability to identify, recreate and notate music language concepts such as scales, melodies, chords, harmony and rhythmic materials that relate to the works studied. 

Unit 4

In this unit students continue to develop the performance program established in Unit 3 for their end-of-year practical examination. This preparation includes consideration of the historical performance practices and interpretative traditions that inform the styles represented in their programs. 

Students use music analysis skills to refine strategies for further developing and presenting their final recital. They analyse technical, expressive and stylistic challenges relevant to the works they are preparing for performance and present these strategies for assessment at a school-based viva voce. 

Students analyse interpretation in a wide range of music, responding to and analysing musical elements, concepts, compositional devices and music language. Students also learn how to recognise and notate music language concepts such as scales, melodies, chords, harmony and rhythmic materials that relate to the works studied. 

Music Composition Units 3 & 4

This study allows students to explore the organisation of sound in music to create expressive outcomes. Through critical listening, analysis and composition in notated and/or digital media, students develop understanding of the ways music is organised, created and performed in a range of styles and traditions. 

Study of music works in diverse styles and traditions involves aural and visual analysis and consideration of the organisation of each work. Students’ analysis and knowledge of how composers use ideas, stimuli and creative processes becomes a starting point for creating their own music.

Across both units students:

• Create their own music in recorded and/or notated form, in both short exercise and extended composition formats.
• Undertake focused aural and/or visual analysis of selected works, thereby uncovering music characteristics of these works and their associated styles. Students study the ways composers/creators may have developed music ideas within the work, deepening their understanding of the ways in which sound can be organised in music. Students apply these skills in Unit 4 in an aural and/or visual analysis of their own creative work.
• Listen and respond to a wide variety of music excerpts in familiar and unfamiliar styles. They develop skills in aural analysis as they focus on the ways in which elements of music are treated and compositional devices are used to elicit responses.

Unit 3

In this unit students explore music works in a range of styles and genres to develop an understanding of the diverse practices of music creators working in different times, places and stylistic traditions. They expand their knowledge of the ways composers/music creators manipulate elements of music and concepts and use compositional devices to develop music works and elicit responses. Students apply this knowledge as they develop skills in making critical responses to music excerpts.

Students develop knowledge about the music characteristics and style of two selected works or collections of minor works, one of which must be a work created by an Australian composer since 1990.

Students explore the creative process through composing brief creative exercises in response to their understanding of the music characteristics and the creative processes evident in the works selected for study. They also devise a folio brief in preparation for an extended composition, or collection of short pieces, to be created in Unit 4.

Unit 4

In this unit students consolidate their understanding of the diversity of music styles in different times, places and stylistic traditions. They expand their knowledge of the ways music elements, concepts and compositional devices are manipulated to create style, structure music works and elicit subjective responses. 

Students apply this knowledge to formulate and present critical responses to music excerpts.

They document their own creative processes while creating an original work, or group of works, and present an analysis of the final outcome in terms of unity, diversity and coherence.

Assessment

Satisfactory Completion

The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on the teacher’s decision that the student has demonstrated achievement of the set of outcomes specified for the unit. Demonstration of achievement of outcomes and satisfactory completion of a unit are determined by evidence gained through the assessment of a range of learning activities and tasks. 

Levels of Achievement 

Units 1 and 2

Procedures for the assessment of levels of achievement in Units 1 and 2 are a matter for school decision.

Units 3 and 4

The student’s level of achievement in Units 3 and 4 will be determined by School-assessed Coursework (SAC) and an externally-assessed task (EAT), as specified in the VCE study design, and external assessment.

Percentage contributions to the study score in VCE Music are as follows:

Music Inquiry

Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework: 30%

Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework: 5%

Unit 4 Externally-assessed Task: 50% 

end-of-year examination: 15% 

Music Contemporary Performance

Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework: 20%

Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework: 10%

Unit 4 Performance examination: 50%

end-of-year aural & written examination: 20%

Music Repertoire Performance

Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework: 20%

Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework: 10%

Unit 4 Performance examination: 50%

End-of-year aural & written examination: 20 %

Music composition

Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework: 20%

Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework: 10%

Unit 4 Externally-assessed Task: 50%

End-of-year aural & written examination: 20%

Visual Communication Design

Units 1 - 4    2024 - 2028

Scope of Study

Visual Communication Design is distinct in its study of visual language and the role it plays in communicating ideas, solving problems and influencing behaviours. Students learn how to manipulate type and imagery when designing for specific contexts, purposes and audiences. 

They choose and combine manual and digital methods, media and materials with design elements and principles. In doing so, students learn how aesthetic considerations contribute to the effective communication and resolution of design ideas, and how an understanding of visual language, its role and potential is the foundation of effective design practice.

Students explore how designers visually communicate concepts when designing messages, objects, environments and interactive experiences. They work both together and independently to find and address design problems, making improvements to services, systems, spaces and places experienced by stakeholders, both in person and online. 

Students employ a design process together with convergent and divergent thinking strategies to discover, define, develop and deliver design solutions. Drawings are used to visually represent relationships, ideas and appearances, while models and prototypes are produced for the purposes of testing and presentation. Students participate in critiques, both delivering and receiving constructive feedback and expanding their design terminology.

During this study, students consider various factors that impact design decisions, including conceptions of good design, aesthetic impact, and economic, technological, environmental, cultural and social influences. Students also consider how best to accommodate the varied needs of people and our planet, both now and in the future, using human-centred design principles, together with ethical, legal, sustainable and culturally appropriate design practices. 

Students learn about the relationships between design, place and time, acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander design knowledges, histories, traditions and practices.

Rationale

The complex demands of 21st-century living have broadened the scope of the designer’s work, and the potential of design to solve ill-defined problems is recognised across sectors including business, industry and education. In response, VCE Visual Communication Design moves beyond practices focusing largely on appearance and function, and views the work of designers as part of larger systems and services addressing problems in sustainable and strategic ways. 

Contemporary designers understand that visual communication is viewed in increasingly fluid and rapidly changing contexts, and that today’s consumers are often co-creators of content and form. In response, they engage deeply with human-centred research practices to uncover problems, opportunities and emerging trends, while empathising with stakeholders’ needs, desires, behaviours and attitudes.

The study of VCE Visual Communication Design, therefore, seeks to cultivate future-ready designers who have a critical and reflective eye, a refined aesthetic sensibility, and who are equipped with the skills, knowledge and mindsets necessary to address the problems of life. Through exposure to the cultures and traditions of design practice, students learn how designers visually communicate ideas and information when designing for people, communities and societies. 

They develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions required of a multidisciplinary designer who is a reflective, responsible and empathetic practitioner equipped with agency and initiative.

Unit 1: Finding, reframing and resolving design problems

Unit 2: Design contexts and connections

Unit 3: Visual communication in design practices

Unit 4: Delivering design solutions 

Unit 1: Finding, reframing and resolving design problems

This unit focuses on using visual language to communicate messages, ideas and concepts. This involves acquiring and applying design thinking skills as well as drawing skills to create messages, ideas and concepts, both visible and tangible. Students practise their ability to draw what they observe, and they use visualisation drawing methods to explore their own ideas and concepts. Students develop an understanding of the importance of presentation drawings to clearly communicate their final visual communications.

Through experimentation and exploration of the relationship between design elements and design principles, students develop an understanding of how they affect the visual message, and the way information and ideas are read and perceived. Students review the contextual background of visual communication through an investigation of design styles. This research introduces students to the broader context of the place and purpose of design. 

Students are introduced to the importance of copyright and intellectual property and the conventions for acknowledging sources of inspiration.

In this unit students are introduced to four stages of the design process: research, generation of ideas, development of concepts and refinement of visual communications.

Unit 2: Applications of Visual Communication within Design Fields

This unit focuses on the application of visual communication design knowledge, design thinking and drawing methods to create visual communications to meet specific purposes in designated design fields. Students use presentation drawing methods that incorporate the use of technical drawing conventions to communicate information and ideas associated with the environmental or industrial fields of design. 

They also investigate how typography and imagery are used in these fields as well as the communication field of design. They apply design thinking skills when exploring ways in which images and type can be manipulated to communicate ideas and concepts in different ways in the communication design field. 

Students develop an understanding of the design process as a means of organising their thinking about approaches to solving design problems and presenting ideas. In response to a brief, students engage in the stages of research, generation of ideas and development and refinement of concepts to create visual communications.

Unit 3: Visual Communication Design Practices

In this unit students gain an understanding of the process designers employ to structure their thinking and communicate ideas with clients, target audiences, other designers and specialists. Through practical investigation and analysis of existing visual communications, students gain insight into how the selection of methods, media and materials, and the application of design elements and design principles, can create effective visual communications for specific audiences and purposes. They investigate and experiment with the use of manual and digital methods, media and materials to make informed decisions when selecting suitable approaches for the development of their own design ideas and concepts.

Students use their research and analysis of the process of visual communication designers to support the development of their own designs. They establish a brief for a client and apply design thinking through the design process. They identify and describe a client, two distinctly different needs of that client, and the purpose, target audience, context and constraints relevant to each need.

Design from a variety of historical and contemporary design fields is considered by students to provide directions, themes or starting points for investigation and inspiration for their own work. Students use observational and visualisation drawings to generate a wide range of design ideas and apply design thinking strategies to organise and evaluate their ideas. The brief and research underpin the developmental and refinement work undertaken in Unit 4.

Unit 4: Visual Communication Design Development, Evaluation and Presentation

The focus of this unit is on the development of design concepts and two final presentations of visual communications to meet the requirements of the brief. This involves applying the design process twice to meet each of the stated communication needs.

Having completed their brief and generated ideas in Unit 3, students continue the design process by developing and refining concepts for each communication need stated in the brief. They utilise a range of digital and manual two- and three-dimensional methods, media and materials. They investigate how the application of design elements and design principles creates different communication messages and conveys ideas to the target audience.

As students revisit stages to undertake further research or idea generation when developing and presenting their design solutions, they develop an understanding of the iterative nature of the design process. Ongoing reflection and evaluation of design solutions against the brief assists students with keeping their endeavours focused.

Assessment

Satisfactory Completion

The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on whether the student has demonstrated the set of outcomes specified for the unit. 

Levels of Achievement 

Units 1 & 2

All assessments at Units 1 and 2 are school based. 

Units 3 & 4

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority will supervise the assessment of all students undertaking Units 3 and 4 in School-assessed Coursework and an end of year exam.

Percentage contributions to the study score are as follows:

Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework: 20 %

Units 3 and 4 School-assessed Task: 50 %

End-of-year examination: 30%