Approximately 8 hours of teaching time will be allocated to the exhibition task. The exhibition process follows these three steps as defined in the IB TOK Guide:

1. Students begin their exhibition by selecting one IA prompt and three objects, or images of objects, that show how this question manifests in the world around us.

Students must select one IA prompt as the basis for their exhibition. All three objects must be linked to the same prompt.

To help them approach this task effectively, students are encouraged to root their exhibition in one of the TOK themes—either the core theme or one of the optional themes. This can help to provide an accessible starting point for students and can provide a focus to help students narrow down their choice of potential objects.

Within the teaching time allocated to undertaking this task, teachers should ensure that they include time to explain the requirements of the task and ensure that students are familiar with the assessment instrument.

2. Students should produce a single file containing their TOK exhibition. This must include:

   • a title clearly indicating their selected IA prompt

   • images of their three objects

   • a typed commentary on each object that identifies each object and its specific real-world context, justifies each object’s inclusion in the exhibition and links to the IA prompt (maximum 950 words)

   • appropriate citations and references.

Teachers are permitted to provide feedback on one draft of this work. They should provide oral or written advice on how the work could be improved, but should not edit the draft.

Once complete, this file is submitted to the TOK teacher to be marked. Samples of student work are then submitted to the IB for moderation.

3. Teachers are required to provide all students with an opportunity for their completed exhibitions to be showcased and exhibited to an audience. As this does not form part of the formal assessment task, teachers have a great deal of flexibility as to how they choose to hold these exhibitions—as in the following examples.

   • A class of TOK students could hold an exhibition within one of their regular TOK classes.

   • Two classes of TOK students in the same school, or different schools, could host exhibitions for each other.

   • A class of TOK students could host an exhibition for younger students in the school.

   • A school could host a TOK exhibition for parents and other members of the school community.

   • Students could display their TOK exhibitions in a “virtual exhibition” (by using an online virtual gallery space)

   • A school could host a combined event celebrating the PYP exhibition, MYP personal project and the TOK exhibition.

The IB publishes the essay titles six months before the submission deadline in senior year. Approximately 10 hours of class time will be dedicated to the TOK essay, and students will have ample time outside of class to complete the essay.

The teacher supports the students through a minimum of 3 required one-on-one interactions, detailed as follows in the IB TOK Guide:

1. Discuss the list of prescribed titles with the student.

   • The student should discuss the prescribed titles with the teacher. The final choice of title remains with the student, who should develop their own thinking and ideas.

2. Discuss the student’s initial exploration of their selected title (for example, an essay plan).

   • After choosing the title and developing their initial ideas in relation to it, the student must discuss their initial work/explorations with the teacher by sharing them in written form. For example, this could take the form of a set of notes and ideas that could then be turned into a more formal essay plan following the discussion with the teacher.

3. Comment on one draft of the student’s essay.

   • After this, the student is permitted to present one full draft of the essay to the teacher. The teacher should provide oral or written advice on how the work could be improved. This advice may take the form of written comments of a global nature, but teachers are not permitted to mark or edit this draft. While the student may seek further advice from the teacher, for example, on the appropriateness of a particular example or on the clarity of a section of writing, no further written advice on drafts is permitted. The next version handed to the teacher must be the final version for submission.