Theory of Knowledge Handbook

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction to Course and Key Ideas ………………………………………………….3
  2. Knowing and the Knower ……………………………………………………………....3
  3. Justifications of Knowledge Claims ………………………………………………...4
  1. Aims and Objectives …………………………………………………………………………....5
  1. Assessment ………………………………………………………………………………………….6
  1. Summative Internal Assessment- The TOK Presentation ………………....6
  2. General Description …………………………………………………………….6
  3. Assessment Criteria ………………………………………………………...... 7
  1. Summative External Assessment-The TOK Essay ……………………………9
  2. General Description …………………………………………………………….9
  3. Assessment Criteria …………………………………………………………….9
  1. Diploma Point Matrix and Other Assessments ……………………………….10
  1. Course Outline ……………………………………………………………………………………11
  1. Year 12 ………………………………………………………………………………………..11
  1. Year 13 ………………………………………………………………………………………..12
  1. Resources …………………………………………………………………………………………..12

Introduction:

Knowers and Knowing

People know many things: when they are hot, or tired; they know how to count and add, or speak a language; they know when they are angry or happy; they know how to make fire; they know that the sun will set and (hopefully) rise. In becoming educated, people encounter and come to know facts and theories from many fields.

Nature of Knowing

The word 'know' does not translate easily into all languages. Various languages classify the concepts associated with 'to know how to', ‘to know that’ or ‘to have heard that’ in different ways. In English, French, Spanish or Chinese, for example, the relationship between the different ways of expressing 'know' can affect the way we understand what it means to know something.

Knowers and Sources ofKnowledge

Questions to be addressed:

How do we gain knowledge and from what sources?

How do sources vary according to our own age, education or cultural background?

How does personal experience change our formation of knowledge claims?

To what extent does personal or ideological bias influence our knowledge claims?

Is knowledge an internal or external construct?

Is reality invented or discovered?

Is knowledge even a 'thing' that resides somewhere?

Justification of Knowledge Claims

/ What is the difference between 'I am certain' and 'It is certain'?
Is conviction sufficient for a knowledge claim to be validated?
What are the implications of accepting passionate, personal belief as knowledge?
How are knowledge claims justified?
Are the following types of justification all equally convincing: intuition, perception, evidence, reasoning, memory, authority, group consensus, and divine revelation?
Why should time be taken to assess critically the nature of knowledge claims?

Although students are free to choose subjects throughout the Diploma Programme, they must all study the Theory of Knowledge. TOK does not operate at higher and standard level. All students study TOK in the same depth and for the same number of hours.

TOK is compulsory for all students because it is the point at which students are invited to draw links between different areas of knowledge. One purpose of TOK is to enable students to step outside of the pigeon-hole understanding that so many of us have of academic disciplines. By inviting students to explore the relation between mathematics and musical harmony, the role of art in defining history, or the correlation between abstraction in art and physics, we enable them to see the extent to which academic borders only serve to define different approaches to similar knowledge questions, thus enriching their understanding of each of the various approaches.

Aims

The aims of the IB Theory of Knowledge (TOK) programme at Dulwich School are to engage students in reflecting on, and in the questioning of, the bases of knowledge, so that they are able to:

evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of personal and cultural perspectives

realise why critical examination of knowledge claims is important

develop a capacity to critically evaluate beliefs and knowledge claims

make connections between various disciplines’ knowledge claims

become aware of the interpretative nature of knowledge

become aware of potential personal and ideological biases

consider that knowledge places responsibilities on the knower

realise the need for rigour in formulating knowledge claims,

develop an understanding of the need for intellectual honesty.

Objectives

Having followed the TOK course, candidates should be able to:

demonstrate an understanding of the strengths and limitations of the various Ways of Knowing and of the methodologies of different Areas of Knowledge

demonstrate a capacity to reason critically

make connections between Ways of Knowing and Areas of Knowledge

make connections between personal experience and different Ways of Knowing and Areas of Knowledge

demonstrate an understanding of knowledge at work in the world

identify values underlying judgments and knowledge claims pertinent to local and global issues

demonstrate an understanding that personal views, judgments and beliefs may influence their own knowledge claims and those of others

use oral and written language to formulate and communicate ideas clearly.

TOK Assessment

TOK Presentation

To be completed in the beginning of Year 13. Students will attempt two presentations and will be given the opportunity to select which score they would like to submit to the IBO.

  • Internally assessed (20 points)
  • Students may do the presentation individually or in pairs
  • 10 minutes for individual presentations and 20 minutes for presentations done in pairs

Examples of TOK presentation topics:

  • What is the relationship between the natural sciences and social responsibility? Choose a single recent scientific and/or technological development as a focus and consider its ethical implications. Who bears the moral responsibility for directing or limiting development of such knowledge, and on what basis can that responsibility be justified?
  • Does history tell us the truth? Choose any single historical incident and use it to explore the nature and complexities of historical truth. In what ways is this exploration of the past relevant to an understanding of the present? Is there any contemporary incident which it illuminates?
  • How do the human sciences help us to understand many of the misunderstandings and frictions which frequently arise between groups of people? Identify a contemporary problem involving the interaction of groups (for example, ethnic, racial, socioeconomic, or religious groups) and consider the knowledge given by psychology, anthropology and economics. In what ways can these disciplines illuminate the causes and the characteristics of the problem? In what ways might they also be relevant to possible solutions? Are there other disciplines which would increase our understanding of the particular issue?
  • How do we know whether we are acting in a 'good' or 'moral' way? Select any original ethical issue and examine it from two or more possible ethical viewpoints. The purpose is to seek the differing grounds on which claims to justifying moral behaviour may be made, not to prove that one way is the 'right' way. Link your topic to any two other Areas or Ways of Knowledge that are NOT ethical but may influence ethical decisions.
  • Can purposely misleading the public be justified, as sometimes occurs in politics or advertising? Consider cases of intentional misinformation, or cases of the use of fallacious arguments, in these and other Areas of Knowledge such as science, the arts, or history
  • Identify an issue of interest in your local area, or of global significance, which introduces a conflict of concepts and values. Examine the facts, language, statistics, and images used by at least two sides in the conflict in their representation of the issue. In the process, identify assumptions, justifications, values, and emotions which diverge. To what extent can you find valid arguments?
  • Select one new development in knowledge and consider its effect on the discipline within which it has developed, and its challenge to different Areas of Knowledge.

Assessment Criteria

A: Identification of knowledge issue
  • Did the presentation identify a relevant knowledge issue involved, implicit or embedded in a real-life situation?

Achievement level / Descriptor
0 / Level 1 was not achieved.
1–2 / The presentation referred to a knowledge issue but it was irrelevant to the real-life situation under consideration.
3–4 / The presentation identified a knowledge issue that was in some ways relevant to the real-life situation under consideration.
5 / The presentation identified a knowledge issue that was clearly relevant to the real-life situation under consideration.
B: Treatment of knowledge issues
  • Did the presentation show a good understanding of knowledge issues, in the context of the real-life situation?

Achievement level / Descriptor
0 / Level 1 was not achieved.
1–2 / The presentation showed some understanding of knowledge issues.
3–4 / The presentation showed an adequate understanding of knowledge issues.
5 / The presentation showed a good understanding of knowledge issues.
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 / Descriptor
0 / Level 1 was not achieved.
1–2 / The presentation, in its use of arguments and examples or otherwise, showed limited personal involvement and did not demonstrate the significance of the topic.
3–4 / The presentation, in its use of arguments and examples or otherwise, showed some personal involvement and adequately demonstrated the significance of the topic.
5 / 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.
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?

Achievement level / Descriptor
0 / Level 1 was not achieved.
1–2 / The presentation explored at least two different perspectives to some extent.
3–4 / The presentation gave a satisfactory account of how the question could be approached from different perspectives, and began to explore their similarities and differences.
5 / The presentation gave a clear account of how the question could be approached from different perspectives and considered their implications in related areas.

The TOK Presentation

Component Grade Boundaries

Mark / 19-20 / 16-17 / 13-15 / 9-12 / 0-8
Range: / A / B / C / D / E

TOK Essay – completed in year 13

  • Externally assessed (40 points)
  • Student chooses from a list of 10 prescribed titles and writes a 1200–1600 word response to it. Once completed the students will submit their essay electronically to the IBO.

Theory of knowledge prescribed titles

November 2011 and May 2012 Instructions to candidates

(Will Update Once the Nov 2012 and May 2013 Titles are published by IBO)

  1. Knowledge is generated through the interaction of critical and creative thinking. Evaluate this statement in two areas of knowledge.
  2. Compare and contrast knowledge which can be expressed in words/symbols with knowledge that cannot be expressed in this way. Consider CAS and one or more areas of knowledge.
  3. Using history and at least one other area of knowledge, examine the claim that it is possible to attain knowledge despite problems of bias and selection.
  4. When should we discard explanations that are intuitively appealing?
  5. What is it about theories in the human sciences and natural sciences that makes them convincing?
  6. ‘It is more important to discover new ways of thinking about what is already known than to discover new data or facts’. To what extent would you agree with this claim?
  7. ‘The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know’. Evaluate this claim with reference to different areas of knowledge.
  8. Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of using faith as a basis for knowledge in religion and in one area of knowledge from the ToK diagram.
  9. As an IB student, how has your learning of literature and science contributed to your understanding of individuals and societies?
  10. ‘Through different methods of justification, we can reach conclusions in ethics that are as well- supported as those provided in mathematics.’ To what extent would you agree?

The TOK Essay Component Grade Boundaries

Mark / 31-40 / 25-30 / 20-24 / 14-19 / 0-13
Range: / A / B / C / D / E

The Overall Grade Component Grade Boundaries

Mark / 48-60 / 38-47 / 29-37 / 19-28 / 0-18
Range: / A / B / C / D / E
Description: / Work of an excellent standard / Work of a good standard / Work of a satisfactory standard / Work of a mediocre standard / Work of an elementary standard

The Diploma Points Matrix

The ultimate score available to Diploma students is forty-five points. Three of those points are established by combining the aggregate of each student’s grade for TOK and the Extended Essay. It is crucial for students to be fully aware that the three additional points, provided by this combination, often represents the difference between attending or not attending that student’s first choice university.

Theory of Knowledge
Excellent / Good / Satisfactory / Mediocre / Elementary / Not Submitted
A / B / C / D / E
Extended Essay . / Excellent / 3 / 3 / 2 / 2 / 1 / N
A
Good / 3 / 2 / 1 / 1 / 0 / N
B
Satisfactory / 2 / 1 / 1 / 0 / 0 / N
C
Mediocre / 2 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 0 / N
D
Elementary / 1 / 0 / 0 / 0 / Failing condition / N
E
Not Submitted / N / N / N / N / N / N

TOK and the Extended Essay

A student who, for example, writes a satisfactory extended essay and whose performance in TOK is judged to be good will be awarded 1 point, while a student who writes a mediocre extended essay and whose performance in theory of knowledge is judged to be excellent will be awarded 2 points. A student who fails to submit a TOK essay, or who fails to make a presentation, will be awarded N for TOK, will score no points, and will not be awarded a diploma.

Performance in both TOK and the extended essay of an elementary standard is a failing condition for the award of the diploma.

Other Internal Assessments

Other internal assessments are conducted over the course of the programme, which are the basis for the report grades. As well as providing students with an understanding of their progress, these tasks also provide students with opportunities to experiment with preliminary versions of the final TOK presentation and TOK essay, as well as the criteria that will be used to evaluate each of these tasks.

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Course Outline (Updated February 2012)

At DCS the TOK programme is organized thematically rather than didactically moving though each Way of Knowing and Area of Knowledge. The rationale is that by combining WOK and AOK into thematic units students can better understand connections between and common knowledge issues that arise across the different elements of the IB hexagon.

The course is structured, delivered and supported by the TOK Subject Guide available on the Online Curriculum Center and the Dulwich College Shanghai Theory of Knowledge wiki: (See for details on the below)

Year 12 Units to be Covered

Term 1

What is Knowledge, who is the “Knower” and why are we here?

How do we interpret knowledge? Reason vs. Emotion

OR

How do we define and understand our world? Perception and Language

Term 2

How do we define and understand our world? Perception and Language

OR

How do we interpret knowledge? Reason vs. Emotion

To what extent do we need to provide tangible justification to support our knowledge claims? Evaluating the use of evidence in Natural Sciences, Human Sciences and History

OR

How does the way we approach our search for knowledge impact the claims we can make? Comparing and contrasting the methodologies of the Arts, Mathematics and Ethics

Term 3

To what extent do we need to provide tangible justification to support our knowledge claims? Evaluating the use of evidence in Natural Sciences, Human Sciences and History

OR

How does the way we approach our search for knowledge impact the claims we can make? Comparing and contrasting the methodologies of the Arts, Mathematics and Ethics

Are different views of knowledge possible? (All AOK)

Year 13 Units to be Covered

Term 1

How do we talk about what we know? (TOK Presentation)

How do we write about what we know (TOK Essay)

Term 2 (If necessary)

How do we write about what we know? (TOK Essay)

Resources

The primary source for resources will be the Dulwich College Shanghai Theory of Knowledge wiki: but there are other resources such as videos that will be accessed through Dulwich TV and/or the College’s internal server.

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