FAQs

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

EXTENDED ESSAYS

When will Extended Essays begin and end?

• You will choose your topic during the first semester of junior year, and you will turn in the FINAL copy of it in September of your senior year.

Will you help us pick EE topics and how much help will we get after that?

• Yes.  We will help guide you in choosing a good topic, and you will be placed with a mentor who will give you feedback throughout the process.  

How accurate are the predicted grades we get from our mentors on the EE?

• • That largely depends on your mentor and the person who will grade the EE. They are usually pretty similar but not always. A more important question is "how do I get a good grade?" The answer to that is relatively simple: work hard.

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ASSESSMENTS

Will the IA and EA be hard?

• Yes. Don't worry, I will prepare you.

How are topics chosen for IA/EA?

• The IA is a presentation that will be done in class. You will choose a Real Life Situation (RLS) and construct a knowledge question from that. There is more information (coming soon) on the Assessments page of this website.

• The EA is an essay that will be written out of class and sent off to be graded by the IB. You will be given a choice of six different topics in October of your senior year.

Will we do a practice IA and EA?

• Yes. You will practice both.

How does a TOK essay differ from a lit or history essay?

• Mostly just in the topic. Literary essays tend to focus on the analysis of specific texts; history essays typically cover a specific event or time period. A TOK essay is a combination of explanatory, persuasive, and analytical writing that explores a very broad topic involving the nature of knowledge.

GENERAL IB STUFF

Why doesn’t DC offer more IB classes (engineering, architecture)?

• • Short answer: budget.  Teachers are expensive.

Is there a TOK exam? What is the passing score on the final?

• No. Unlike other IB courses, there is no culminating exam. The EA and IA are the only scores that count towards the IB diploma. There will, of course, be "final exams" that will count 20% of your grade in the course.

Who is going to talk to us about CAS and stuff?

• • Mrs. Ellis will handle this in TAP.

What percent of students pass the TOK final to get the diploma?

• • There is no TOK final. The final assessment in the course is a combination of EA and IA.

Is this just one course for 11th and 12th grade?

• Yes. You will receive credit for each year on your transcript, but it is a 2-year course as far as IB is concerned.

Why does everything IB requires revolve around writing?

• Because other forms of assessment are typically less reflective of your true skills and knowledge.

Is there a required number of HL points for the diploma, or do I just need 24 points total?

• Yes, 12 of your 24 points must come from HL classes.

GRADING

What type of tests will we have? How many tests?  Essay or multiple choice?

• Most of your assessments will be written though I may occasionally give multiple choice quizzes over reading passages or notes. There will be multiple assessments for each unit, but I do not have a specific number in mind.

• Relax...TOK is not about memorizing facts or formulas or vocabulary; it's about being able to think critically and explain your answers.

Will there be major essays (other than the EE and EA)?

• Yes, but not too many.

How are we going to be tested if there are no right answers?

• Be careful; I never said there are no right answers. Sometimes, it's not about looking for a "right" answer, it's about looking for a "good" answer. Sometimes there is more than one right answer.

Will we do lots of public speaking (i.e. presentations)?

• Yes, both formal presentations and informal discussions.

How will journals work?

• Sporadically. They are formative assessments designed to help you practice writing about complex issues. You will not need any special notebook because I will take them up and grade them as we go.

CLASSROOM STUFF

Is your teaching style more lecture or discussion or combination?

• Both. Plus we will have lots of other activities that other courses don't have time to offer.

Small group or whole group discussions?

• Both.

Socratic seminars?

• Probably.

Will we study philosophy (Socrates, Plato, etc.)?

• Yes, but it will only be a small part of the overall curriculum.

Is this a form of sociology or psychology?

• Sort of. Those subjects are included, but there is much more.

Will this class connect to other subjects?

• Absolutely. You should also begin to notice how other subjects are also related to each other. The study of knowledge will definitely affect they way you see all subjects.

How do you plan on preparing us for the upcoming EAs, finals, and other essays?

• The same way you prepare for anything: practice. Lots of practice. However, this is not primarily a writing class, so I will not have time for regular, intensive work with grammar or mechanics. Instead, I can help with the more difficult skills of organization and editing.

What are the total outcomes for this course?

• Here is the short version: to learn how to think critically about what we know, how we know it, and what we should do with it.

How much writing will we do?

• Lots. Some formal, some informal, some in class, some out of class.

How is the class going to be fun?

• It all depends on you. We will have the freedom to do a lot of different activities that are both informative and entertaining. To be clear, there will be some traditional lecture/notes/teacher-oriented instruction; it just won't be every day.

Will we talk about current issues?

• Yes, often.

Will we discuss our opinions?

• Yes, and everyone will be expected to share at least some.

If we don’t see things differently by the end of the year, is that wrong?

• Wrong is a harsh word, but I really hope that you are able to see some things a little differently. It's not about changing what you think; it's about giving you the skills to think better.

Do you offer tutoring?

• Not at any regular time, but if you ever need me, let me know.

What are some books we might read?

• I doubt there will be many full-length works, but we will look at a wide variety of texts.

Will we have debates in this class?  What topics? How will they be graded?

• Formal debates are generally not useful in TOK, but we will have many discussions of differing opinions.

Is there any specific topic that will be harder for us to grasp than others?

• Maybe not a certain topic, but for many people, the hardest thing to accept is that it's okay to ask questions. I would almost say it's a responsibility.

Workload outside of class?

• Low to moderate. You have a lot to do in your other classes, and this course is a supplement. Ideally, taking TOK will help you do better in your other classes.

Will this course cover all religions?

• No, because there are hundreds of them. We will certainly address some of them as they relate to ethics, but there won't be an exhaustive unit on the history or theology of religion.

Will we go in-depth about the big bang theory?

• Yes, as far as I am able to do so. It's an important scientific principal that underlies most of what we know about physics, chemistry, etc. The controversy surrounding it usually stems from religious objections, but there are also doubts among scientists about its certainty. Still, it remains the best explanation for the way the universe operates based on what we have observed.

What interactive learning things will we do?

• Not sure what interactive means, but we will use movies, magazines, Internet sites, personality quizzes, logic puzzles, board games, nature walks, art projects, scientific experiments, scavenger hunts, and other things I haven't thought of yet.

BELIEFS

Will this course challenge my belief system in a good or bad way?

• I don't think challenging beliefs is necessarily good or bad. You should definitely be open to thinking about your beliefs and finding ways to explain why you believe them. It's sort of up to you to determine how much you allow your own ideas to be challenged. If you are absolutely certain of what you believe, then there is little this class can do to you.

Will this class change my views on religion/question my religion?

• No class (or person) can change your beliefs; only you can do that. However, the nature of the course is about asking questions and learning how to find answers, so you may very well question your religious beliefs in the same way you may question others.

Why do scientists debate religion when there are so many different ones?

• In my experience, most scientists don't debate religions. They either discount them entirely or just ignore them.

Why is it important to ask why we know what we know if just just makes us doubt everything?

• The goal is not to doubt everything. The goal is to figure what things are worth examining and ask questions without being afraid of the answers.

Why should we go through a course that has us doubt everything we know, when none of us were here at the beginning of time to know the truth?

• For the same reason that detectives investigate crime scenes. They weren't there when the crime was committed, but they are trained to look for clues that lead them to make informed conclusions. Are they wrong sometimes? Sure, but they would never be right if they didn't investigate to begin with.

MISCELLANEOUS

Is there a difference between Knowledge and knowledge?

• I don't think so. We may be able to say that some kinds of knowledge are more important than others (like knowing how to eat and what things are dangerous), but to say that there is some great Knowledge out there that has more cosmic significance than just plain knowledge is probably overstating it. This is really just a matter of opinion, I think.

Why is dress code geared more towards the girls than the guys?

• Two reasons. One, because girls have a much wider variety of clothing options, so there have to be more rules to account for those things. Two, because society has stricter rules about modesty for women. Sorry, that may not be the answer you wanted, but that seems to be the case.

If actions speak louder than words, then why is the pen mightier than the sword?

• Great question. The sword, taken literally, is a single weapon that may harm a few dozen or a few hundred people in its lifetime. The pen, taken figuratively, is a weapon that could cost the lives of millions. The Crusades, the Revolutionary War, the Holocaust--all caused by written words.

Can someone be born evil?

• I don't know, but evil people have to be born like everyone else. We will talk about this though we may never agree on an answer.

If everything is based on perception, how do we know if reality is real or it’s just in our minds?

• You've seen The Matrix too many times. Seriously, we don't know. It's a great question that deserves some examination; however, at a certain point we do just have to accept that, at least on some level, we exist and this is real. Still, it's interesting to note that when we are dreaming, we are usually certain that it's real until we wake up. What are we going to do if we suddenly "wake up" from reality?

What does it mean to doubt and how can one be certain in his beliefs?

• To doubt is simply to consider the truthiness* of an idea. One can be certain in his beliefs only as far as he has considered the possibility that he may be wrong. It's all about evidence: the more you have, the more certainty you are entitled to. (*I did not make up the word "truthiness." Stephen Colbert did.)

What is life?

• Go ask your biology teacher.

GENERAL TOK QUESTIONS

How is TOK related to everyday life?

• Everything you do or think involves knowledge. You can never escape the realm of TOK because the Areas of Knowledge and the Ways of Knowing pretty much cover everything about the human experience.

How will this class help bring things we learned in school together?

• Ideally, this class will help you see that the underlying substance of all school subjects is knowledge. This means that all subjects are necessarily connected to one another even if it is not obvious how. TOK is designed to teach you how to think, and that is a skill that transfers to every subject.

If I like questioning things….will I like this class?

• Yes! Unless I completely blow it...

How do we know what knowledge really is? What does it mean? How do you know that you know something?

• I see what you did there. Stay tuned; we will discuss this all year long.

Are arguments encouraged in TOK? I am unsure if I should express my doubts about what others are saying.

• It depends on what you mean by "argument." If you mean the expression of differing opinions in a respectful way, then absolutely yes. If you mean yelling at other people because they are all stupid and you are right, then no. There will be lots of disagreements, but I will not allow any verbal (or physical) abuse between students.

CONCERNS

Time. I won’t have enough time to do everything.

• One of the hardest truths to face about life is that you actually have plenty of time. The problem is that you are wasting a lot of it. To be honest, I don't manage time well either, but it's a skill that you must start developing now. Ask people for help, get a planner, invest more time in sleep, dump your worthless friends. There are lots of things you can do.

Some discussion topics may be sensitive subjects for people and they may not be calm and respectful.

• Yes, there are many sensitive subjects, but there are ways to discuss them with patience and tolerance. I will handle the bullies.

I might not be smart enough to do well.

• Maybe, but you'll find that two things are going to be FAR more important than just intelligence: be open-minded and be willing to work hard. You will be fine.