Snapshot of an IB Diploma Programme Class
IB Diploma Programme courses are unique. They are unique because they emphasize depth over breadth, they focus on how varying perspectives shape the way we engage with content, and they assess student knowledge in ways that are authentic to the discipline they are studying.
Below is a snapshot of what contributes to the unique nature of the Diploma Programme courses.
Most courses are two years in length.
Gives students the opportunity to engage in material at a greater depth with more emphasis on student-centered inquiry. For example...
Courses are assessed by the IBO in multiple ways that reflect authentic understanding and practice.
Each course assessment is designed to allow the students to demonstrate mastery of understanding of the material, as well as the ability to engage the discipline as a practitioner of the craft. The assessments reflect an expectation that IB History students will practicing historians, that IB Chemistry students will be practicing chemists, that IB Film students will be film makers and film critics, IB Math students will be mathematicians. Examples of this expectation include:
Focused on teaching skills of analysis and evaluation.
IB exams require written responses to such questions as essays, data-response, case studies, etc. Such questions require that students construct arguments supported by relevant evidence to make their case. There is minimal use of multiple-choice in IB assessment (limited to Paper 1 of lab science courses). Some examples of past questions that reflect this expectation include:
Emphasize writing in most disciplines.
Internal and external assessments require that students write research and response papers throughout the programme.
“At Higher Level students are required to submit two written tasks, each 800–1,000 words in length.” (IBO Language and Literature Guide)
Year 1 of the course looks at more of textual mimircy that reveals understand of language used for a certain topic. For example, one student wrote a diary entry that focused on how gender is portrayed in different cultures, and her purpose was to reflect on the diary author's opinion (textual mimircy) about the differing societal norms pertaining to gender and how the norms create an image of a culture or group.
Unique Course Options
The IB Diploma Programme offers courses unique to the DP. Those courses include:
Below is a snapshot of what contributes to the unique nature of the Diploma Programme courses.
Most courses are two years in length.
Gives students the opportunity to engage in material at a greater depth with more emphasis on student-centered inquiry. For example...
- In 20th Century Topics, the second year of IB History, spends the entire year on only the 20th century up to approximately the mid 1970s, giving students more time to engage with specific events at an evaluative level, including the study of historiography.
- In the IB Sciences, students construct their own experiments to study different topics specific to that science. For example in IB Biology, students design their own mesocosm experiments, focusing on the interactions between organisms and maintaining sustainability. The students collect data over a 2-3 week period and then analyze their systems to see how successful they were or look at changes that can be made to help with their sustainability and relate this to real world environmental ecosystems.
Courses are assessed by the IBO in multiple ways that reflect authentic understanding and practice.
Each course assessment is designed to allow the students to demonstrate mastery of understanding of the material, as well as the ability to engage the discipline as a practitioner of the craft. The assessments reflect an expectation that IB History students will practicing historians, that IB Chemistry students will be practicing chemists, that IB Film students will be film makers and film critics, IB Math students will be mathematicians. Examples of this expectation include:
- Oral recordings in Language Acquisition
- Research papers in History
- Laboratory work in the Sciences
- Recordings of original performances and productions in the Arts
- Investigations in Mathematics
Focused on teaching skills of analysis and evaluation.
IB exams require written responses to such questions as essays, data-response, case studies, etc. Such questions require that students construct arguments supported by relevant evidence to make their case. There is minimal use of multiple-choice in IB assessment (limited to Paper 1 of lab science courses). Some examples of past questions that reflect this expectation include:
- “Assess the contribution of economic instability and lack of a united opposition to the rise to power of two leaders of single-party states, each chosen from a different region.” (IB History)
- "Zambia’s government currently relies heavily on mining for the country’s income, but wants to diversify its income stream. Two options that may contribute to sustainable development in addition to mining are 1) Forestry plantations and 2) Ecotourism. Evaluate these alternative options in terms of their benefit to the environment and human societies." (IB Environmental Systems and Societies)
- Using specific and clearly identified ethnographic illustrations, discuss the effect of migration on either ethnic relations or inequality AND discuss the use of new technologies in relation to one of the following movements: a) indigenous, b) social, c) revitalization. (IB Social and Cultural Anthropology)
Emphasize writing in most disciplines.
Internal and external assessments require that students write research and response papers throughout the programme.
“At Higher Level students are required to submit two written tasks, each 800–1,000 words in length.” (IBO Language and Literature Guide)
Year 1 of the course looks at more of textual mimircy that reveals understand of language used for a certain topic. For example, one student wrote a diary entry that focused on how gender is portrayed in different cultures, and her purpose was to reflect on the diary author's opinion (textual mimircy) about the differing societal norms pertaining to gender and how the norms create an image of a culture or group.
Unique Course Options
The IB Diploma Programme offers courses unique to the DP. Those courses include:
- Theory of Knowledge
- World Religions
- Social and Cultural Anthropology
- Film