Anyone who wants to perform well in their TOK presentation will take time to identify a real life situation and use it as the basis for their knowledge issue(s). Students are advised to pay careful attention to the assessment criteria.
An important point to note is that students must complete a presentation planning document and a presentation marking form (see relevant pages for more details)
The following information is taken from http://occ.ibo.org
The TOK presentation requires students to identify and explore the knowledge issues raised by a substantive real-life situation that is of interest to them. Aided by their teachers students can select the situation they will tackle from a more limited domain of personal, school, or community relevance, or from a wider one of national, international or global scope. It is important that the situation that is selected is sufficiently circumscribed, so as to allow an effective treatment of knowledge issues. For this reason, it is wise to avoid topics so unfamiliar to the class that a great deal of explanation is needed before the underlying knowledge issues can be appreciated and explored.
Presentations may take many forms, such as lectures, skits, simulations, games, dramatized readings, interviews or debates. Students may use supporting material such as videos, MS PowerPoint presentations, overhead projections, posters, questionnaires, recordings of songs or interviews, costumes, or props. Under no circumstances, however, should the presentation be simply an essay read aloud to the class.
Each presentation will have two stages:
• an introduction, briefly describing the real-life situation and linking it to one or more relevant knowledge issue
• a treatment of the knowledge issue(s) that explores their nature and responses to them, and shows how these relate to the chosen situation. A good presentation will demonstrate the presenter’s personal involvement in the topic and show both why the topic is important and how it relates to other areas (see assessment criteria for more details).
Approximately 10 minutes per presenter should be allowed, up to a maximum in most cases of 30 minutes per group. Presentations should be scheduled to allow time for class discussion afterwards. Interaction and audience participation are allowed during the presentation, not just in follow-up discussion, but there must be an identifiable substantial input from the presenter(s) that is assessable.
Although the IB allows a maximum of five people per presentation group, this is in reality too big for an effective presentation.
Assessment Criteria
There are four criteria each worth 5 marks.
Criterion A: Identification of knowledge issue
• Did the presentation identify a relevant knowledge issue involved, implicit or embedded in a real-life
situation?
Achievement Level: 0
Descriptor: Level 1 was not achieved
Achievement Level: 1-2
Descriptor: The presentation referred to a knowledge issue but it was irrelevant to the real-life situation under consideration.
Achievement Level: 3-4
Descriptor: The presentation identified a knowledge issue that was in some ways relevant to the real-life situation under consideration.
Achievement Level: 5
Descriptor: The presentation identified a knowledge issue that was clearly relevant to the real-life situation under consideration.
Criterion B: Treatment of Knowledge Issue
• Did the presentation show a good understanding of knowledge issues, in the context of the real-life situation?
Achievement Level: 0
Descriptor: Level 1 was not achieved.
Achievement Level: 1-2
Descriptor: The presentation showed some understanding of knowledge issues.
Achievement Level: 3-4
Descriptor: The presentation showed adequate knowledge of knowledge issues.
Achievement Level: 5
Descriptor: The presentation showed a good knowledge of knowledge issues.
Criterion C: Knower's Perspective
• Did the presentation, particularly in the use of arguments and examples, show an individual approach
and demonstrate the significance of the topic?
Achievement Level: 0
Descriptor: Level 1 was not achieved.
Achievement Level: 1-2
Descriptor: The presentation, in its use of arguments and examples or otherwise, showed limited personal involvement and did not demonstrate the significance of the topic.
Achievement Level: 3-4
Descriptor: The presentation, in its use of arguments and examples or otherwise, showed some personal involvement and adequately demonstrated the significance of the topic.
Achievement Level: 5
Descriptor: The presentation, in its distinctively personal use of arguments and examples or otherwise, showed clear personal involvement and fully demonstrated the significance of the topic.
Criterion D: Connections
• Did the presentation give a balanced account of how the topic could be approached from different perspectives?
• Did the presentation show how the positions taken on the knowledge issues would have implications in related areas?
• In awarding the higher achievement levels, the emphasis should be more on the quality of the consideration of connections than on the quantity of connections mentioned.
Achievement Level: 0
Descriptor: Level 1 was not achieved.
Achievement Level: 1-2
Descriptor: The presentation explored at least two different perspectives to some extent.
Achievement Level: 3-4
Descriptor: The presentation gave a satisfactory account of how the question could be approached from different perspectives, and began to explore their similarities and differences.
Achievement Level: 5
Descriptor: The presentation gave a clear account of how the question could be approached from different perspectives and considered their implications in related areas.
Grade Boundaries May 2011
Grade: E D C B A
Mark Range: 0-8 9-12 13-15 16-18 19-20
An important point to note is that students must complete a presentation planning document and a presentation marking form (see relevant pages for more details)
The following information is taken from http://occ.ibo.org
The TOK presentation requires students to identify and explore the knowledge issues raised by a substantive real-life situation that is of interest to them. Aided by their teachers students can select the situation they will tackle from a more limited domain of personal, school, or community relevance, or from a wider one of national, international or global scope. It is important that the situation that is selected is sufficiently circumscribed, so as to allow an effective treatment of knowledge issues. For this reason, it is wise to avoid topics so unfamiliar to the class that a great deal of explanation is needed before the underlying knowledge issues can be appreciated and explored.
Presentations may take many forms, such as lectures, skits, simulations, games, dramatized readings, interviews or debates. Students may use supporting material such as videos, MS PowerPoint presentations, overhead projections, posters, questionnaires, recordings of songs or interviews, costumes, or props. Under no circumstances, however, should the presentation be simply an essay read aloud to the class.
Each presentation will have two stages:
• an introduction, briefly describing the real-life situation and linking it to one or more relevant knowledge issue
• a treatment of the knowledge issue(s) that explores their nature and responses to them, and shows how these relate to the chosen situation. A good presentation will demonstrate the presenter’s personal involvement in the topic and show both why the topic is important and how it relates to other areas (see assessment criteria for more details).
Approximately 10 minutes per presenter should be allowed, up to a maximum in most cases of 30 minutes per group. Presentations should be scheduled to allow time for class discussion afterwards. Interaction and audience participation are allowed during the presentation, not just in follow-up discussion, but there must be an identifiable substantial input from the presenter(s) that is assessable.
Although the IB allows a maximum of five people per presentation group, this is in reality too big for an effective presentation.
Assessment Criteria
There are four criteria each worth 5 marks.
Criterion A: Identification of knowledge issue
• Did the presentation identify a relevant knowledge issue involved, implicit or embedded in a real-life
situation?
Achievement Level: 0
Descriptor: Level 1 was not achieved
Achievement Level: 1-2
Descriptor: The presentation referred to a knowledge issue but it was irrelevant to the real-life situation under consideration.
Achievement Level: 3-4
Descriptor: The presentation identified a knowledge issue that was in some ways relevant to the real-life situation under consideration.
Achievement Level: 5
Descriptor: The presentation identified a knowledge issue that was clearly relevant to the real-life situation under consideration.
Criterion B: Treatment of Knowledge Issue
• Did the presentation show a good understanding of knowledge issues, in the context of the real-life situation?
Achievement Level: 0
Descriptor: Level 1 was not achieved.
Achievement Level: 1-2
Descriptor: The presentation showed some understanding of knowledge issues.
Achievement Level: 3-4
Descriptor: The presentation showed adequate knowledge of knowledge issues.
Achievement Level: 5
Descriptor: The presentation showed a good knowledge of knowledge issues.
Criterion C: Knower's Perspective
• Did the presentation, particularly in the use of arguments and examples, show an individual approach
and demonstrate the significance of the topic?
Achievement Level: 0
Descriptor: Level 1 was not achieved.
Achievement Level: 1-2
Descriptor: The presentation, in its use of arguments and examples or otherwise, showed limited personal involvement and did not demonstrate the significance of the topic.
Achievement Level: 3-4
Descriptor: The presentation, in its use of arguments and examples or otherwise, showed some personal involvement and adequately demonstrated the significance of the topic.
Achievement Level: 5
Descriptor: The presentation, in its distinctively personal use of arguments and examples or otherwise, showed clear personal involvement and fully demonstrated the significance of the topic.
Criterion D: Connections
• Did the presentation give a balanced account of how the topic could be approached from different perspectives?
• Did the presentation show how the positions taken on the knowledge issues would have implications in related areas?
• In awarding the higher achievement levels, the emphasis should be more on the quality of the consideration of connections than on the quantity of connections mentioned.
Achievement Level: 0
Descriptor: Level 1 was not achieved.
Achievement Level: 1-2
Descriptor: The presentation explored at least two different perspectives to some extent.
Achievement Level: 3-4
Descriptor: The presentation gave a satisfactory account of how the question could be approached from different perspectives, and began to explore their similarities and differences.
Achievement Level: 5
Descriptor: The presentation gave a clear account of how the question could be approached from different perspectives and considered their implications in related areas.
Grade Boundaries May 2011
Grade: E D C B A
Mark Range: 0-8 9-12 13-15 16-18 19-20