CompSci//Media Arts - The Big Project: The IA

IB CS DP IA

Everyone loves Acronyms

Seniors should probably start their IA's if they haven't already... Juniors getting an idea of what the IB DP CS IA is about is probably a good idea.

About the IB DP CS IA:

The internal assessment is an integral part of the course and is compulsory for both SL and HL students. It enables students to demonstrate the application of their skills and knowledge, and to pursue their personal interests, without the time limitations and other constraints that are associated with written examinations. The focus of the computer science solution is on providing either an original solution or modifying an existing one for a client.

IB states you should spend about 30 hours of time on your IA for IB DP CS, with the general description as "Practical application of skills through the development of a product and associated documentation."

GENERAL OVERVIEW

The computer science internal assessment focuses on the balance between the level of algorithmic thinking and problem-solving required to develop a product within the framework of the design cycle.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

There are 5 Criteria for the IB DP CS IA:

A: Planning
B: Solution Overview
C: Development
D: Functionality
E: Evaluation

Criteria A, B and E are process-orientated and examine how the internal assessment task was carried out and allow common assessment criteria to be applied to different types of product from the different options. Criterion C is a holistic assessment of the final product and assesses the student’s understanding of the concepts involved in its development. Criterion D is a holistic assessment of the functionality and future extensibility of the product.

A work-in-progress draft of Criteria A will be due at the end of the 9 weeks.

Which criteria sounds the most concerning to you? Why?

Which criteria sounds the least concerning to you? Why?

Choice of Client and/or Adviser

The choice of a suitable client and/or adviser is a major contributing factor to the final success of the solution. It is recommended that the client is either a teacher within the school, a friend or member of the family. If the student is the client, similar considerations should be undertaken in choosing the adviser. Further information is available in the “Choice of topic” section of the Computer science guide.

Selecting a topic for the solution

It is important that students,
with the teacher’s guidance,
choose an issue that:

engages their interest
meets the criteria for assessment
involves a client and/or adviser who is accessible and can provide feedback within the required time frame
is realistic in terms of resources, their technical ability and the time frame for completion.

Examples of scenarios from within the school could include the following.

The computer science student (client) wishes to develop further (improve an existing product) his website, which provides an online forum for the development of web pages using PHP. A possible solution is to develop additional web pages with the network manager acting as an adviser.
A computer science student has been asked by the economics teacher (client) to develop a spreadsheet (original product) that is able to process a set of examination results to see if the mistakes in the questions have had a significant effect on the students’ marks.
A computer science student has been asked by the geography teacher (client) to develop a modeling package (new product) to determine whether four colors are sufficient to color the states in any given country.

Examples of scenarios from outside of the school could include:

A manager of a local football team (client) requires a method of keeping accurate records of players’ details, attendance at training sessions and performance throughout the season (problem). A possible solution is to develop a bespoke relational database.

Come up with four possible clients, and a potential thing you could create for each of them?

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