Tag Archives: Rubrics

12/11/14

The IB Handbook of Procedures

During class today, we collaborated together in our subject area groups and went through the different sections of the IB Handbook of Procedures for 2014. The purpose of the activity was so that we could become familiarized with how the IB Diploma Programme functions. Isobel also mentioned that we may be asked certain questions during interviews such as what conditions need to be met in order for students to receive their diplomas. Although, admittedly, most of us in the class were confused as to why we were spending time in the class doing this exercise.

I think it would be more useful if I were to read through the handbook by myself one day; it was hard to understand some of the points people were presenting about what they had read in the handbook because there are still a lot of terms that we are unfamiliar with (e.g. “school based curriculum” came up several times in my group’s sections and we were unable to quite understand what it meant until we did some research). However, the questions that Isobel asked all seemed to be quite relevant, and it would definitely be helpful to have more sessions in the future where we can learn more about the program after we’ve had a chance to learn some teaching strategies and had time go through some of the details about IB on our own.

 

The following are some notes that I took during this activity on section A11 of the handbook, which is all about the reporting of results:

A11.1 The Schedule

  • Established schedules every May and November for issue of results data, as well as times when enquiries are allowed

 

A11.2 Issue of Results to Schools

  • IB marks released on IBIS (IB Information System) July and January 5th to IB coordinators
  • stats on global and school results available a few days later (9th)
  • IB coordinators are the intermediary between IB candidates and the IBO; the IBO does not directly issue marks to or discusses marks with candidates and their parents

 

A11.3 Issue of Results to Candidates

  • IB marks available on https://candidates.ibo.org to IB candidates on July and January 5th
  • PINS for accessing website only issued once, and should only be used by the candidate, they are not to be given to universities or admissions centres

 

A11.4 Candidates and the IB Alumni Network

  • alumni of the IB programme can register at https://candidates.ibo.org, using their personal code and PIN
  • receive newsletters and invitations to conferences, and can provide feedback to improve the programme

 

A11.5 Issue of Results to Universities and Admissions Centres

  • the IBIS can send a candidate’s results directly to universities and admissions centres in both electronic and paper format
  • a candidate can request for results to be sent to 6 institutions (however, of these, only one can be in Canada and one in the US)
  • transcripts for anticipated candidates who do not continue on to complete the DP can also be request by an IB coordinator

 

A11.6 Early Session Entries

  • when a candidate completes all session components six months prior to a subject not currently available in their diploma session, the results will be issued but no certification will be rewarded until the next session

 

A11.7 The Interpretation of Results

  • if a candidate retakes a subject/level, only the highest grade contributes to their diploma
  • diploma will not be rewarded if a candidate’s results contain a requirement code
  • candidates cannot change their combination of subjects in order to receive their diploma (i.e. cannot switch an additional subject for one of the 7 that contribute to their diploma)

A11.7.1 Diploma Awarded

  • all conditions of “General regulations: Diploma Programme” met

A11.7.2 Bilingual Diploma Awarded

  • awarded if the candidate fulfills one or both of the following conditions:
  • scores greater than a 3 in two languages from group 1
  • scores greater than a 3 in their group 1 language and greater than a 3 in a group 3 or 4 subject that is not taken in their group 1 language

A11.7.3 Diploma Not Awarded (Letters given rather than a score)

  • “P” indicates the IB Assessment Centre does not have sufficient information to issue a grade
  • “N” indicates that no grades have been issued for the following reasons:
  • withdrawal from exam
  • absence from one or all of the exams
  • failure to meet one or more exam requirements
  • breach of regulations (letter will be sent to IB coordinator with details)

 

A11.8 Diploma Requirement Codes

  • diploma will not be rewarded if a candidate’s results contain a requirement code (i.e. indicate what requirements for the diploma have not been met)

 

A11.9 Candidates Affected By Special Circumstances

A11.9.1 Candidates with Learning Support Requirements

  • candidates eligible for inclusive assessment arrangements (e.g. learning difficulties, emotional or behavioural difficulties, physical, sensory or medical conditions, or mental health problems) can have reasonable accommodation authorized

A11.9.2 Candidates Affected By Temporary Circumstances

  • any circumstances during the two year programme or the examination period that could negatively affect the student’s performance will not be recorded in the candidate’s documents

 

A11.10 Candidates Suspected of Academic Misconduct

  • an “N” will appear on the IBIS, but will not be recorded in the candidate’s document that is sent to universities and admissions centres (this information is regarded as confidential)

 

10/25/14

IB Biology Seminar

For the Oct.24th professional development day, as well as today, those of us in the IB cohort attended workshops hosted by experienced IB educators in our specific subject areas.

Those of us in biology attended a workshop led by Catherine Daniel, a biology teacher from Stratford Hall. During the two day-session, we covered many different areas of the IB biology curriculum, as well as different resources that we can use for teaching. It was a productive two days, and I learned a lot about how the IB programme is structured and how it has and continues to evolve.

The following are some notes that I took during the session, and some photos of what we worked on.

  • IBEN = IB educator network
    • Available to educators after working for 2 years
    • evaluate programs for different schools
    • work in curriculum development
    • working towards improving the entire program / teacher support
  • Question bank = collection of old papers & questions
    • set up by topics à choose to use on own exams
    • different types of questions available
    • mark schemes/answers given for questions
  • Mark Distribution
    • IA = 20% (usually in 2nd year)
    • 3 papers = 80% (distribution dependent on SL or HL)
      • paper 1 = multiple choice
      • paper 2 = data analysis and long answer
      • paper 3 = option
  • Internal Assessment
    • rubrics for marking just updated
    • let students know that for collecting sufficient relevant data, they need 5×5 in order to use trend lines or calculate standard deviation
    • if students are doing a bar graph, they need 2×10 in order to perform a t-test and get a p-value
    • do not mark higher than a student should be getting (moderators will mark them down and the students will be harmed in the end)
  • Teaching Hours
    • have to allocate limited hours to specific areas (i.e. try to spend time on ‘practical scheme of work’)
    • flexibility with order of teaching material
    • possibility to have students pick their own option for self-study
      • although some students really need that guidance for material
    • an option is to do the SL and HL topics together to save time
    • important to check in with students about their stress levels and time management
  • PSOW (practical scheme of work) à method of keeping track of the lab work that students are doing
    • D = design
    • DCP = data collection and processing
    • CE = conclusion and evaluation
    • 7 mandatory prescribed practicals that students will have to cover
      • students develop method that will allow them to meet these practicals
      • can have students focus on one aspect of a lab report that covers the prescribed practical (finishing an entire lab may take too much time)
    • recording
      • what was done (title and brief introduction), date and how long it took
      •  “handbook of procedures for the Diplomma Programme” gives information about everything the teacher needs to do for PSOW
  • how to prepare students for writing papers
    • mock exams
    • teaching students how to read the questions properly
    • process of elimination
      • some answers are just worded differently

 

  • school-specific issues
    • what equipment and resources are available at the school? (will they help with meeting the lab requirements?)
    • discussions about controversial topics (e.g. evolution)
      • use questioning; bring in resources such as articles

Photo 2014-10-25, 2 50 38 PM Photo 2014-10-25, 2 50 57 PM Photo 2014-10-25, 2 51 23 PM Photo 2014-10-25, 2 51 28 PM  Photo 2014-10-25, 2 51 37 PM Photo 2014-10-25, 2 50 35 PM

Photo 2014-10-25, 2 52 02 PM Photo 2014-10-25, 2 52 06 PM

 

 

09/4/14

“Preparing a Cup of Tea”

I have to admit that I was very narrow-minded about today’s in-class group activity, and this is something I really need to work on. We were given the task of teaching students “how to prepare a cup of tea”, and to create a rubric to assess the learning of the students. I, along with my group members, was completely unsuccessful at seeing the big picture. We forgot that we were supposed to be promoting inquiry, and instead focused on just instructing.

We were too focused on how to tell the students how to make tea, so that we did not stop to think about how we could gain the curiosity and attention of the students. It was disappointing to realize towards the end of the activity that we failed to remind ourselves of the importance of inquiry and engagement.

This was a mistake on our part, but that’s what being in this program is all about; this is the time that we make mistakes and learn from them. This was a sort of awakening for all of us, and I hope that for the remainder of this upcoming year, we will all remind ourselves of the importance of inquiry in education. As one of my instructors has said, “teaching is not telling, and learning is not listening”. I will definitely be reminding myself of this more often from now on, and think of creative ways to make teaching more engaging.