Group Three - The Humanities

What do we learn in Psychology?

IB Psychology is a fascinating course, which goes through a wide range of subject topics. It takes you through the 3 main approaches of psychology: biological, cognitive and sociological.

How do we learn?

Each of these approaches are very much integrated with each other, and the concepts are easy to understand . This class allows you to learn how to critically evaluate different types of studies and gives you a deeper and wider understanding of why we, as humans, behave the way that we do.

How are we assessed in this subject?

Compared to other psychology courses, the IB is slightly more theoretical. Many lessons are spent studying concepts and experiments through reading, and class discussion. However, this does not mean there is a lack of practicals like in Biology and Chemistry. Each student is required to complete an IA (Internal Assessment), where you plan and complete an experiment which replicates a well-known study that the class and teacher agree on. After you conduct the experiment, you write a report about the whole experience. This is internally marked by subject teachers and then externally moderated by IB examiners. Students are also assessed through the final IB exam at the end of IB3, which consists of a paper 1, and 2. HLstudents of psychology also face a paper 3. However we currently do not offer Psychology at HL. The three exams allow you to showcase your knowledge appropriately.

What is the workload in this subject?

Lastly, the workload. This subject is very memory dependent and reading in the prescribed book is mandatory in order to do well. It is also recommended to learn to take effective notes. The book has a lot of information and it is very important to learn what is important and what you do not need to know, as memorizing the entire book will be a waste of time. The teacher is also very helpful and explains what you need to do clearly to make the class and the workload easier on you.

Fun Facts:

• The course is only available at standard level (SL).
• The minimum prescribed number of hours is 150 for SL.
• Students are assessed both internally and externally.
• The course is a Group 3 subject