§-Physical Education syllabus
VIC · VCAA← Physical Education
Physical Education syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the VIC Physical Education syllabus, with a focused answer for each. Click any dot point for a worked explainer, past exam questions and links to related points.
Unit 1: The Human Body in Motion
Module overview →Unit 2: Physical Activity, Sport and Society
Module overview →Unit 3: Movement Skills and Energy for Physical Activity
Module overview →How does the body produce energy?
Acute physiological responses to exercise across the cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular systems, including the mechanisms that drive each response and how the response scales with exercise intensity and duration
How are movement skills improved through biomechanical analysis?
Apply biomechanical principles (Newton's laws, levers, projectile motion, fluid mechanics) to analyse human movement skills and identify how technique changes can improve performance
How does the body produce energy?
The three energy systems (ATP-PC, anaerobic glycolysis, aerobic) - characteristics of each, the interplay during physical activity, fuels used, by-products and fatigue mechanisms
How are movement skills improved?
Practice methods and schedules (massed, distributed, blocked, random, whole, part, variable) and the design of practice that matches the learner's stage of skill acquisition, the skill classification, and the goal of the practice session
How are movement skills improved?
Stages of skill acquisition (cognitive, associative, autonomous), feedback (intrinsic, extrinsic, knowledge of performance, knowledge of results, concurrent, delayed), and practice (massed, distributed, whole, part) - characteristics, application, and adaptation across the stages
How are movement skills improved?
Classification of movement skills along the open-closed, gross-fine, discrete-serial-continuous and fundamental-sport-specific continua, and how classification informs the way a coach designs feedback and practice for a named skill
Unit 4: Training to improve physical performance and health
Module overview →How do chronic adaptations to training enhance performance, and how do we evaluate training program effectiveness?
Investigate chronic physiological adaptations to training across cardiovascular, respiratory, muscular and metabolic systems, and apply evaluation methods to judge program effectiveness against measurable performance outcomes
How do integrated movement experiences synthesise skill acquisition, biomechanics, energy systems and training?
Integrate theory and practice through a chosen movement experience, using primary data to demonstrate the interrelationships between skill acquisition, biomechanics, energy production and training, and the impacts on performance
How is training implemented effectively to improve fitness?
Recovery strategies (active recovery, passive recovery, hydration, nutrition, sleep, cold water immersion, compression, massage), the physiological basis for each, and how a coach selects recovery strategies appropriate to the energy systems used and the demands of the training session
How is training implemented effectively to improve fitness?
Training methods (continuous, fartlek, interval, high-intensity interval training, resistance, plyometric, flexibility and circuit), the fitness component each method targets, the protocol for prescribing each, and the situations in which each method is appropriate
What are the foundations of an effective training program?
Principles of training: frequency, intensity, time, type (FITT), progressive overload, specificity, individuality, reversibility, variety, training thresholds, maintenance, periodisation
