About vcehistory.info
vcehistory.info began in June 2003 as a 'hobby' website for assisting, promoting and improving the study of History. vcehistory.info initially specialised in the American Revolution, with information and resources on the Russian Revolution (November 2003) and the French Revolution (July 2004) added later. A section on the Chinese Revolution was completed in mid-2007. Since late 2004, vcehistory.info has recorded more than 140,000 hits from unique users. It has received mentions in several publications, including The Age, the Herald Sun and the Education Times. In early 2007, vcehistory.info became available for paid subscribers only. From 2008, vcehistory.info is available only to schools who purchase an annual subscription package.
Although this site is created and maintained by an experienced teacher-author, the advice and information it contains does not represent the official views or advice of any schools, organisations or government agencies. When in doubt about course information, assessment or procedures, bodies such as VCAA remain the determining authority. No liability is accepted by the creator of this website for editorial views, misleading advice or information, or poor individual results.
About the author
The
vcehistory.info website is written, designed and maintained by Steve Thompson,
senior History teacher at Westbourne Grammar School
in western Melbourne. In his eleventh year of teaching, Steve was previously a teacher
at Brauer College Warrnambool, St Joseph's College Mildura
and a number of secondary colleges in Manchester (UK). Prior to teaching he
worked as a
full-time and freelance journalist. As well as History, Steve has also taught Political Studies, English, Legal Studies and Psychology at VCE level.
In 2007, Steve is teaching VCE History (Revolutions) and VCE National Politics,
Year 10 History (the Holocaust and apartheid-era South Africa) and Year 8 Humanities
(Medieval Europe and Geography). He is also Debating co-ordinator at Westbourne
Grammar.
Steve is a graduate of La Trobe University, where he majored in History and Political Studies, and he is currently in the final stages of a Master of Letters degree. Steve is a former board member of the History Teachers' Association of Victoria, has delivered more than 40 student lectures and numerous teacher workshops and seminars for HTAV, HTAA and VCAA. He has also been an exam assessor for History (Revolutions).
Steve has published a number of student textbooks:
Revolution: America, a 116-page American Revolution textbook for History (Revolutions) students, published by HTAV in 2004.
Revolution: America - a Student Workbook, an companion activity book containing exam-style tasks for coursework or for practise. You can obtain this text and the one above from HTAV
The Leading Edge: Revolutions, another VCE History (Revolutions) textbook written specifically for exam preparation. It contains revision notes, two full practice exams, sample answers and tips for all four revolutions. Co-authored with Richard Malone and Natalie Oberman, it was published by Harcourt Education in September 2005 and can be ordered from their website
Humanities Dimensions, a VELS-based series of junior textbooks scheduled for publication by Pearson Education in early 2008. Steve is part of the four-author team working on two History texts which will be part of the Dimensions series