KNOWLEDGE QUESTIONS MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND

TOK Practice Presentation Launch Day

ethics

the arts

human sciences

Yesterday, we talked about the connections, similarities and differences between AOKs.

natural sciencesmathematics

historyreligious knowledge

systems

indigenous knowledge systems

What are the some of the ways we can examine each field?

AOK Recall

• We examined AOKs, by how knowledge is……learned…produced…evaluated …applied

• Each AOK can also be examined by why it is an important and worthy of study, and how it developed through history.

TOK at Conception

• There are important reasons why we talk about AOKs in TOK.

• Alec Peterson, the “pioneer of TOK and one of the founding fathers of the IB” has said that TOK was designed to combat some common problems in secondary education.

TOK Was Born to Fight1. The failure explicitly acknowledge the

many forms that learning and knowledge can take.

2. The tendency for students to study their different subjects as if they were completely separate and never going to touch.

3. The opportunity to understand the virtues and limitations of their education to date and to relate it to ordinary experience.

Alec Peterson

What matters is not the absorption and regurgitation

of facts, but the development of powers of

the mind or ways of thinking that can be applied to new facts and new situations as

they arise. Thus the definition of an

educated person is someone who knows how to apply

knowledge of many kinds to novel situations for which there are no ready-made

answers.Theory of Knowledge (Pearson Baccalaureate), 2014

Remember this metaphor of knowledge as a map?What do you think about it now?Is this metaphor closer to our approach in TOK? How do people think within your favourite subject or discipline? What metaphor would they use for knowledge?

What are the benefits and drawbacks of categorising our knowledge in this way?

Take a look at the following KQs and see if you can come up their common denominator.

To what extent is disagreement a vital

part of scientific methods?

How important is the role of imagination in

the production of knowledge?

What counts as evidence, and to what extent does this vary

across areas of knowledge?

Is artistic knowledge a form of knowledge that

cannot be expressed in any

way?

A Knowledge Question…

Asks directly about the nature of knowledge.

Usually is not a “yes” or “no” answer, and is open to the extent that different answers could plausibly be offered.

Is framed using the kind of vocabulary and concepts that relate directly to the TOK course.

Simply Put

Knowledge Question

About Knowledge

Open Question

General

News Article: “The debt crisis has not stopped Puerto Ricans from shopping. Since 2006, personal consumption has increased 2% while real GNP has fallen by 12%. The public sector is bloated and underfunded by inefficient tax collection.”

James Dalziel, Stuart Jones, IBO 2007

News Article: “A number of Chinese teachers have pointed out errors in Chinese history books. They say that students are not encouraged to distinguish between historical fact and fiction and lose the ability to look for and identify mistakes.”

News Article: “Drinking coffee doubles the chance of developing throat cancer.”

Reminder Re: Real Life Situation

• Your RLS could be:• A local controversy whose origins are a

knowledge question• A controversial issue within an area of

knowledge• A controversial personal issue: such as

the basis for decision-making• A controversial issue of global

significance

Reminder Re: Real Life Situation

• Your RLS must be:• An actual situation taken from current

events, one’s personal life, or even encountered in movies, television or literature. It is NOT a general topic.

• Narrow enough to be explored within the time allowed for the presentation (10 minutes/presenter).

Let’s experiment with some Knowledge Questions based on…

HW: TOK Presentation Planner

• Over the next week, begin looking for some interesting RLS that you could potentially use. Practice writing more KQ and once you’ve decided on your topic, fill in the planner.

• This planner is due in a week, on Tuesday, December 2nd.

• Meanwhile, don’t forget to make your post on our TOK website and make comments.

Good luck!