Orientation activity

I’ll be running a kitsch jewellery making activity during orientation. We’ll probably make some resin jewellery with bottle caps, stencil badges, iron-on transfer badges, fabric badges, etc. BYO images and designs (or email them to yourself). I’d love to give acrylic jewellery a go but the laser seems a little extreme. See full post for videos.

Sociology: community articles

Keep up to date with articles relating to VCE Sociology Unit 3 Outcome 1 ‘Community and society’. The list below will be continually updated and may be be referred to in class.

Sociology: aus culture articles

Keep up to date with articles relating to VCE Sociology Unit 3 Outcome 2 ‘Australian cultural communities’. The list below will be continually updated and may be be referred to in class.

Sociology: citizenship articles

Keep up to date with articles relating to VCE Sociology Unit 4 Outcome 1 ‘Citizenship’. The list below will be continually updated and may be be referred to in class.

Sociology: future directions articles

Keep up to date with articles relating to VCE Sociology Unit 4 Outcome 2 ‘Future directions in Australian society’. The list below will be continually updated and may be be referred to in class.

Sociology excursions 2010

Sociology explores contemporary issues in Australian society, so getting out into the community is an important aspect of the course. In addition to key DVDs for each area of study, there will also be an excursion each term. Detailed information will be provided in 2010.

Psychology holiday homework

Watch the DVD series ‘The Human Body‘. You can buy it if you want, but it should be available at your local library. The first area of study in Unit 3 is the Brain and Nervous System, so watching the DVD will give you a head start. If you’re really keen, you might want to check out Anatomy for Beginners.
In the past, students have experienced difficulty with research methods. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you read Chapter 1 of the Grivas, Down and Carter (2004) textbook. One of your SACs in Unit 3 will be using your knowledge of research methods to write an Empirical Research Activity (ERA). An ERA guideline can be downloaded here.
Next year you’ll be using Quia for your Psychology homework. You’ll get your username and password next year.

If you weren’t able to make it to transition day, the experiment we conducted was Stroop’s automatic vs controlled processing, and you can find the notes here.

Introduction to brain and nervous system

The following topics will be covered:
* Cerebral cortex
* Cortical lobes
* Hemispheric specialisation
* Brain research methods
* Ethical principles
* Nervous system
* Arousal
* Stress

Check out the following videos:

Introduction to visual perception

The following topics will be covered:
* Visual perceptual system
* Thresholds
* Gestalt principles
* Depth principles
* Perceptual constancies
* Perceptual set
* Visual illusions

Check out the following videos:

Introduction to states of consciousness

The following topics will be covered:
* Consciousness
* Characteristics of normal waking consciousness
* Characteristics of altered states of consciousness
* Measuring physiological responses
* Methods used to study sleep
* Stages of sleep
* Sleep deprivation
* Sleep phenomena
* Sleep disorders

Check out the following videos: