IB Mathematics: Application and Interpretation

NEW COURSE STARTING 2019, FIRST EXAMINATION 2021

The Mathematics: Application and Interpretation course focuses on important interconnected mathematical topics. The course is taught over 5 hours a fortnight throughout years 12 and 13 and is suitable for students achieving a grade 5 + at GCSE and wish to continue their mathematical studies into sixth form.

This course recognises the increasing role that mathematics and technology play in a diverse range of fields in a data-rich world. As such, it emphasises the meaning of mathematics in context by focusing on topics that are often used as applications or in mathematical modelling. To give this understanding a firm base, this course also includes topics that are traditionally part of a pre-university mathematics course such as calculus and statistics.

The use of technology is an integral part of DP mathematics courses. Developing an appreciation of how developments in technology and mathematics have influenced each other is one of the aims of the courses and using technology accurately, appropriately and efficiently both to explore new ideas and to solve problems is one of the assessment objectives. Learning how to use different forms of technology is an important skill in mathematics and time has been allowed in each topic of the syllabus and through the “toolkit” in order to do this.

As in most other subjects within the diploma programme the SL course is a subset of the HL course. As SL becomes a subset of HL this means that HL students can complete the SL course with the HL elements being an addition. This will increase the accessibility of the HL courses by encouraging strong SL students to consider taking mathematics at HL.

How will the courses be assessed? SL students will complete two externally assessed written papers and the internal assessment, HL students will complete three externally assessed written papers and the internal assessment.