Ms Chakar - Sept 2011

Which table is bigger?

How do you know?

Old woman or young woman?

Traditional TOK diagram• The course is centered on your questioning and reflection of yourself and what you know as the knower.

• You could receive knowledge through sense perception, affected perhaps by a spiritual emotional dimension, labeled emotion.

• Knowledge could then be formulated and expressed through language.

• Then shaped by attempts, through reason, to seek order and clarity.

AOK: What do you know?

WOK: How do you know it?

Ms Chakar - Sept 2011

Introduction to IB• A challenging programme that meets the needs of

highly motivated students.

• The Diploma Programme requires you to choose six subjects, one subject from each of the six subject groups.

• Some will be explored broadly (SL). Some will be explored in depth(HL).

• In addition to the six subjects, successful DP students need to meet three additional requirements.

1. Theory of knowledge (TOK)

2. Extended essay of some 4,000 words.

3. Participation in the creativity, action, service (CAS). Ms Chakar - Sept 2011

Introduction to TOK• The TOK course, a flagship element in the

Diploma Programme, encourages critical thinking about knowledge itself, to try to help you make sense of what you encounter.

• Its core content is questions like these:

knowledge?

Flagship:1. (Transport / Nautical Terms) the most important ship belonging to a shipping company.2. (Business / Marketing) a single item from a related group considered as the most important. Ms Chakar - Sept 2011

What is knowledge?

How do you get knowledge?

Why should we do TOK?

Ms Chakar - Sept 2011

• This course encourages you to think critically about the subjects you are studying rather than passively accepting what you are taught.

• TOK is designed to help you to reflect on and further develop the thinking skills you have acquired in your other classes.

• We will look at ways we might look for an answer to questions and certain problems that arise.

What makes TOK unique?• You have at least 16 years of life experience and

more than 10 years of formal education behind you.

• You have gathered a large amount of knowledge, beliefs and opinions from academic disciplines and your lives outside the classroom.

• In TOK you have the opportunity to step back from this relentless acquisition of new knowledge, in order to consider knowledge issues.

Ms Chakar - Sept 2011

The main questions in TOK

•What do you know?• How do you know it?• Is it likely to be true or

not?

Ms Chakar - Sept 2011

How much of what you know is true?

• “The Internet will never take off.”– Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft (1988)

• “I think there will be a world market for five computers.”– Thomas Watson, founder of IBM (1958)

• “The atom bomb will never go off and I speak as an expert.”– Admiral W. Leahy, advisor to the US President (1945)

Experts can get it wrong, so why not you?Which of these quotes is true?

Grade 12 Formal Assessment

CAT1 CAT2 CAT3 CAT4Spot the KI: 50% Short presentations: 50% Term 1: 35%Journal 25% Journal 25% Journal 50% Term 1 + 2: 35%

Class discussion 25% Class discussion 25% Class discussion 50% Presentation 30%

Ms Chakar - Sept 2011

EIS TOK Journal Assessment Form

Grade Descriptor

7 • Learning journal contains notes and original ideas.• There is a strong feeling of personal voice.• There is reflection regarding justification of one’s ideas.• Ideas have been recorded consistently.

6 • Learning journal contains notes and original ideas.• There is a feeling of personal voice.• There is some reflection regarding justification of one’s ideas.• Ideas have been recorded consistently.

5 • Learning journal contains notes and original ideas.• There is some feel of personal voice.• Ideas have been recorded consistently.

4 • Learning journal contains notes and some original ideas.• Ideas have been recorded fairly consistently.

3 Learning journal contains notes and some own ideas but these have not been recorded consistently.

2 Learning journal contains some inconsistent notes.

1 Level 2 was not achieved

There is also a class discussion assessment form

Elements of TOKTerm 1

1. Knowledge issues, knowers and knowing

• What is knowledge?• What is a belief? • What is truth?• Levels of knowledge

2. Ways of Knowing (WOK)

• Perception• Reason• Emotion• Language

Term 23. Areas of Knowledge

(AOK)

• Mathematics• Natural sciences• Social sciences• History • Arts• Ethics• Religion

Term 3Presentations

• Rehearsal presentation• Final presentations

Ms Chakar - Sept 2011

Emotions• They may provide us with the energy to pursue

knowledge, but it is far from clear that they are infallible guides to the truth.

• TOK is concerned with how you believe something rather than what you believe.

• Whatever you believe, you should, for example, try to support your belief with evidence and be able to consider and respond to criticisms of your views.

infallible : incapable of making an error, reliable, dependent Ms Chakar - Sept 2011

TOK

Knowledge issues,

knowers and knowing

WOKWays of knowing

AOKAreas of Knowing

Presentations

• Perception• Reason• Emotion • Language

• Mathematics• Natural

sciences• Social

sciences• History • Arts• Ethics• Religion

• What is knowledge?• What is a belief? • What is truth?• Levels of knowledge

• Rehearsal presentation

• Final presentations

Ms Chakar - Sept 2011

Further reading• Website: IBO – International

Baccalaureate Organisation• http://xmltwo.ibo.org/dp2006-03/dp_

x_tokxx_guu_0603_1_e/5

• Book: Theory of knowledge for IB Diploma – Richard van de Lagemaat