An Enhanced Guide on the Difficulty of IB and Theory of Knowledge Essay
Students who enroll in the exam-based International Baccalaureate program must take six classes, compose a 4,000-word essay, and finish a Theory of Knowledge course.Students who want to study abroad are drawn to the program since each topic has a similar assessment that is given globally.
More than 170,000 students in at least 158 countries finished the IB Diploma Programme in 2020 alone, a significant amount that attests to the program's renown outside. But how difficult is the IB Programme?
How challenging is IB?
Compared to students who register in a traditional secondary diploma program, students in the International Baccalaureate program experience much higher stress. Even the dropout rate is as high as 50% due to the program's complexity.
In addition, a few students decide against continuing with the program after their first year and instead choose the traditional secondary diploma.
According to the research, it is impossible for students who are either academically underprepared or uninterested in studying challenging subjects to join the IB program due to its complexity.
Reasons Students Leave the IB Programme
The IB Programme dropout rate varies from school to school, although it is still around 50% on average.
Students leave the program because they believe it to be too challenging and demanding if anything. Not to mention that it is exhausting.
Only a few days into the program, some students decide to leave. Within the first year, at least 7 out of 15 participants left the program. After participating in the program for roughly a year and a half, some people give up. Patience, diligence, and discipline are necessary for program compliance.
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What Complicates the IB Programme?
The International Baccalaureate is a challenging program because you must complete eight topics, including the Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay.
These subjects are divided into 3 Higher Level and 3 Standard Level categories.
The HL subjects are often your favorites and will apply to whatever university courses you wish to enroll in. You won't need to spend a lot of time studying the SL subjects. All of these subjects need a lot of your time and effort, and if you don't do well in one or more of them, your grade will probably suffer. One of the reasons why the IB is such a challenging program, according to a debate in the student room, is the requirement to study a wide range of subjects.
How challenging is the IB program?
Knowing how challenging the IB program is can help you be more prepared if you decide to enroll.
This is what you need to know, then:
The IB Programme Is Hard.
Because IB students must take six subjects, the program is rigorous. These subjects should all be Higher Level, with the remaining three or four being Standard Level.
For your Higher Level, you'll need to conduct more research than you did for the Standard Level, therefore you must thoroughly explore the subjects in this area.
The IB Programme: Your First Versus. Second Year
The first year is brand-new, in every way. Your teacher ensures that you understand the IB program and that you are involved in all elements of it.
Even if you are confident that you are a top student, the second year will most likely be difficult.
Year 2 is demanding since you must do your CAS reflection, prepare for your final examinations, and submit numerous submissions. The second year will be demanding, so there will be no time for procrastination.
If you stray from your learning schedule even a little, finishing the IB Diploma Programme could be challenging.
The IB workload is enormous.
You can't take any chances with procrastination when you move from year one to year two of the IB program since the burden is unquestionably enormous.
- To finish your Theory of Knowledge assignment, allot roughly 20 hours.
- Your internal evaluation could take up to 30 hours.
- The CAS requires you to put in roughly 150 hours of study and work over two years.
- Putting together an extended essay won't be simple. At least 40 hours must be spent on research, writing, editing, and revising.
Theory of Knowledge: What is it?
In the course, Theory of Knowledge, IB students have a singular opportunity to investigate and consider what knowledge is.
ToK focuses on the investigation of how people acquire and claim their knowledge at its foundation. It carefully examines numerous paths to understanding and the many types of knowledge that exist.
Through a series of stimulating questions, the ToK curriculum invites students to evaluate their own ideological and personal convictions and cultivate a greater understanding of their presumptions.
What categories of knowledge are there in ToK?
In ToK, there are two categories of knowledge. There is a connection between these types of knowledge, which are both private and public.
1. Personal Experience
Personal knowledge is created through many modes of knowing and is heavily influenced by experiences.
Personal knowledge is essentially the culmination of first-hand encounters, interactions, and deeds related to a particular person's circumstances, such as their background, hobbies, and values.
When people are asked to demonstrate how to carry out a specific task or talent, personal knowledge—procedural knowledge—comes into play. Despite having a substantial linguistic component, sharing or communicating personal information might be complex. This is because it is difficult to impart to others.
2. Shared Intelligence
Shared knowledge is more than just the outcome of several people working together. It is very organized and systematic.
Individual contributions come together to form shared knowledge, with the potential for further alterations and improvements. In essence, it offers the chance to expand on current knowledge.
The nature of shared information is dynamic.
Therefore, depending on the rate of progress in research procedures, the results of experiments, or the appearance of breakthroughs in underlying theories, changes to shared knowledge can happen gradually and incrementally or abruptly and drastically.
What Has Changed in ToK?
The TOK Exhibition is covered in the new syllabus. The presentation, which had been a requirement of the course since 2015, was replaced by the exhibition.
This task was originally completed by the 2022 classes. But keep in mind that the goal of the display is still the same as the goal of the presentation.
IB students now have the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of using TOK thinking to real-life issues both inside and outside of the classroom.
The Theory of Knowledge Essay has not changed at this time. That indicates there are still 1,600 words in the assignment.
Students in the IB ToK course must evaluate claims of knowledge, and this process entails the creation of substantial knowledge questions, which form the core of the course.
The IB program is challenging. However, if you have the appropriate guide, it doesn't necessarily have to be difficult.
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