bbbay\" post_id=\"2127490\" time=\"1705707757\" user_id=\"175278:

Hmm…. I know quite a bit about programming but am a noob in language. Is there any book you can recommend that teaches how to construct a structured yet inspired response with words?

I think it's just technique. Before writing, you need a design document: what are the specs needed, what is the context of the design, what modifications do you need for the reader to understand your text, what is the expected flow of the output. That's a basic framework. You will also need formatting guidelines: how many words in what font size, how should data/quotations be represented and presented, etc. It's like the engineering/architecture mix, but with words.

You build what you need (function) and infuse it with your personal style (form). For Group 1, you need to sell your product verbally too.

For some forms it is easier to see the coding analogy. For example, in plays, your Dramatis Personae is basically a declaration of the 'library' available (each person in the play has set behaviours and outputs, which are implicit so you have to do some digging, just as you wouldn't use a library function without understanding it first). The interaction and arrangement of these functions is what gives the story, and occasionally the playwright (the programmer) adds comments and bridging between them. Good programmers make the plot complex but logical.

manorway\" post_id=\"2127485\" time=\"1705681860\" user_id=\"9303:

If school knows who should NOT be grading or supervising, does this mean that teacher will NOT be teaching that subject anymore? Are there TOK teachers who teach but don't supervise/grade?

Aha, I cannot answer those questions: I cannot say yes or no with certainty.

manorway\" post_id=\"2127484\" time=\"1705681593\" user_id=\"9303:

But that info is only useful to the school to appraise the teacher's ability and for the kids involved, it is all too late.

What can students do to help themselves, especially when the students have time and ahead of schedule in submitting drafts? When the supervising teachers deem the submission is good enough to get an A, obviously most students will NOT question its credibility.

The best piece of advice is for the students to read ALL the subject guides. Every IB subject has its own guide, with all the details of what needs to be covered and what the exam/assessment process is. They are very detailed guides. Then students should make sure the teachers have a plan for teaching the material, and are able to give proper guidance and explanations where necessary.

ChiefKiasu\" post_id=\"2127473\" time=\"1705668144\" user_id=\"3:

Chemistry and History?! Wow! That's pretty diverse What's your degree in the university? Bachelor of Science or Arts?

I'm a BSc (double chemistry major). But I got converted via an MEd to a PhD mainly in history. That's just the near end of my story though; I was mainly an Arts student before I did pure sciences in JC.

manorway\" post_id=\"2127467\" time=\"1705660490\" user_id=\"9303:

Always love reading your posts. Love to pick your brain on the following:

For Langlit, I understand it is challenging to get a 7, but there must be cases of that. Not helpful when ACSI teacher tells students it is IMPOSSIBLE to get 7 instead of sharing HOW to work towards a 7. I find it hard to accept that those scoring 6 should NOT aim for 7, especially if Langlit is their forte. Is it possible to get hold of work that received a 7 grade from anywhere so students can do their own critical study? Please share your tips for students who are consistently getting a 6.

Would you say that a student who excels in Langlit and History would find TOK easier too?

Will you PLEASE share how TOK lessons are conducted in ACSI and how do students know if they are thriving in TOK? Basically, what red flags should we be looking for? How can students help themselves? Thanks so much.

It is about as challenging to get a 7 for Lit or Lang/Lit as it is to get a 7 for computer science. I'm qualified to teach both, so I can tell you that the coding structure in CS is similar to the structure of a well-written book, poem or play. It's just a bit of mental gymnastics to draw the appropriate analogy. The problem is most lit teachers are not historians or programmers, so they miss out on how to construct a structured yet inspired response.

To excel in TOK... well, it's the other way round. A student who excels in TOK will likely excel in any subject, since knowing why and how you know something is half the battle for any discipline.

I suspect (for professional reasons I won't say more) that most TOK teachers are overspecialised—they are philosophy teachers, or lit teachers, or mathematics teachers, but don't have the broad experience of different methodologies and ways of thinking in several disciplines. A red flag that's quite red to me is when students say that they don't know anything about Subject X, or that they don't know what's going on in TOK class. So students are mostly left to discover things for themselves without the guidance and mentorship required. Students can help themselves by reading widely and discussing what they read with a group of similarly dedicated schoolmates.

manorway\" post_id=\"2127464\" time=\"1705659174\" user_id=\"9303:

What could have gone wrong?

Occasionally teachers are bad at using the rubric. We once had a teacher whose correlation score was negative. The correlation scores (teacher predicted vs actual) are actually given to the principal, so we can see who shouldn't be grading or supervising a given subject. In fact, the information given to students when the results come out is extensive, you even know individual scores for each paper taken.

phtthp\" post_id=\"2127452\" time=\"1705643283\" user_id=\"35251:

For TOK (Theory of Knowledge), how to score bonus 1 point?
Is it your TOK must get grade A or B, then can score 1 bonus point ?

Because

when Principal flashed onto overhead projector, saw a student got \"C\" grade for TOK, end up got ... zero bonus point, for TOK.

AA/AB = 3
AC/AD/BB/BC = 2
BD/CC = 1
CD/DD = 0
If you get an E (Fail) in either one, you fail the diploma.

phtthp\" post_id=\"2127439\" time=\"1705640831\" user_id=\"35251:

I think for Sciences like HL Higher
level (Physics / Chem / Bio), most IB students : in general, no issue with Sciences.

I could be wrong.
But I think Group 1 (English Literature) is also not easy, involving deep analysis. But, I feel that often, the studients' main challenge lie in

TOK (Theory of knowledge)

And in

EE (Extended Essay), because lots of writing, very time consuming.

Don't mind I ask.
Why or in what way, is TOK challenging ?
Is it because

is like ... Philosophy thinking,

OR

is it because lack of time to finish writing up TOK report or
something else, instead ?

For EE (Extended Essay):
what's the common struggle, that many students often encountered with ?

Thank you, for your kind sharing.

Good questions!

I teach English, History and Chemistry, so I am in a 'blessed' situation to comment across disciplines.

The common factor for students is that they don't read and write as much as they used to, so subjects with little narrative analysis are 'easy', and they are encouraged to major in those. With the use of AI (mostly accurate if trained well in convergent tight-logic disciplines, same for sources like Wikipedia; bad elsewhere), students are crippling their natural brain talent even more. It's not natural to read and write, those are learned skills and need practice.

Therefore, English (language or literature), and 'Arts/Humanities' subjects like History, are easy once humans learn to analyse human activity, emotion, and thought. This ought to be natural, since we do it everyday! But we are learning to be more 'robotic' as the subliminal message is that only 'sure' answers are worth having, 'complicated' answers are 'too cheem' and not worth the time. Once this hurdle is overcome, it is easier to score for English, you should get at least a 6.

TOK suffers because the young people prefer canned examples and thoughts. They no longer take the time to even read the very illuminating TOK Guide, in which many questions (mostly complex) are raised about the core concept, \"How do you know what you know?\" It is not really deep philosophy; it is the foundation of giving answers to any subject's questions. If you say, \"The post-WW1 economy drove the Germans to war in the period 1929-1939,\" you need to see what the evidence and logic are. Same if you say, \"Dylan Thomas's poetry is about the superluminal connection between man and his world.\" It's just the vocabulary that's different from, \"Show that the proposed mechanism of this reaction is plausible based on the data provided.\"

It is not difficult because of the actual product required (a triptych presentation under 1000 words, internal marking; an essay under 1600 words, external marking). It is difficult because to make good product, the student has to show thinking that is coherent and addresses the chosen topic—in a very short form relative to the complexity of the topic. I've taught TOK for almost 20 years now.

EE doesn't suffer so much because it is essentially the construction of a research project and the writing up of the experiment/research and findings. An orderly mind is all you need, and even if you have negative findings (e.g. your experimental findings showed exactly the opposition conclusion) and are able to explain why this is so, you can get an A. The main struggle is time trouble, a lot of students have bad time management when planning projects! I have supervised EEs in History, English, Econs and Chemistry.

(Sorry ah, not intending to 'hao lian', but sometimes need to explain why I talk so much, then people will understand. )

Estéema\" post_id=\"2126293\" time=\"1704263597\" user_id=\"66413:

2023 ACSI IB Results

Total Candidates : 441
Total Passes : 100%
Ave Total Points Score : 40.8
Ave Subj Grade : 6.34
% with 40 abv points : 73.5%
% with 40 abv points : 50.3%

Those are reasonably good post-Covid results. Tracking the distribution of scores over the years, it should really be better though. Group 1 is still an area of relative weakness; average for the 342 students doing SL Lit or Lang/Lit was 5.42; for chemistry HL (the best Group 4 subject, with 341 students) it was 6.82.

I think some of the critical pieces of data to look at would be the number of Theory of Knowledge (TOK) students getting an A, and the number of Extended Essay (EE) students who also get an A, and the overlap. I've phrased it that way because the former is a smaller number than the latter—the 2023 batch got 51 As for TOK and 144 As for EE, so TOK is the limiting factor.

The https://ibo.org/about-the-ib/what-it-means-to-be-an-ib-student/recognizing-student-achievement/about-assessment/dp-passing-criteria/ awards three bonus points for AA, AB, or BA in those two core elements. Post-Covid standards mean it will likely be harder to score, and indeed this has been the case.

phtthp\" post_id=\"2127409\" time=\"1705611101\" user_id=\"35251:

Out of Total 441 candidates,
what's the percentage or roughly,

1) how many students are from IB, entered ACSI since Secondary 1, after their PSLE ?
And
2) how many are JAE students, entered ACSI after their O-level in Year 5 ?

The total inflow from ACS(I) Y1-4 is a bit difficult to estimate since students change path and some come in later, but it is about 300+ with some variance, given a IB cohort of 450 students or so. Some of the remaining places are earmarked for MGS IP students. This leaves maybe 60(?) students from all over the place. I no longer have access to official data at a micro level.

The original plan was to reserve about 2/3 of the places for ACS(I) IP — so when we started at ≈360 (graduated 356 in the first year) about 240 were from ACS(I) IP or O-levels. In the first couple of years we accepted a fair number from other IP schools, but people weren't happy with that and the option was suppressed.

Generally, popular programmes tend to expand wildly. Original school size for ACS(I) was 1200 (S1-4), original IB cohort was supposed to be 120. Less than a year before implementation we were told to jack it up to 360. You can imagine the chaos. I believe further changes will come down the road.