Skip to Main Content

CAJCS TOK RESOURCE WEBSITE: TOK REFLECTIONS

Theory of knowledge - Planning and progress form

Theory of Knowledge Planning and Progress Form (TKPPF)

The TKPPF is a critical document in the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) assessment process. It serves as a reflective tool where students document the development of their TOK essay and exhibition, showing their engagement with the process.

  • Purpose:

    • To capture the planning, thinking, and decision-making process throughout the development of the TOK essay or exhibition.
    • To provide a reflective space for students to demonstrate how they refined their ideas and approached the knowledge question or themes they explored.

  • Structure:

    • Part 1: Initial interactions with your TOK teacher, where you outline early thoughts, possible approaches, and any questions or challenges you face.
    • Part 2: Reflecting on your progress after substantial work has been done on your essay or exhibition. This includes discussing how your ideas evolved, the feedback received, and the adjustments you made.
    • Part 3: A final reflection after completing your TOK essay or exhibition. This section allows you to reflect on the entire process, including insights gained, challenges overcome, and personal growth in terms of understanding knowledge and its implications.

  • Importance:

    • The TKPPF provides IB examiners with insight into your thought process and the depth of your engagement with TOK concepts.
    • It complements the final essay or exhibition, contributing to a more holistic view of your understanding and development of the task.

  • Submission:

    • The TKPPF must be completed and submitted along with your final TOK essay or exhibition.
    • While the form itself is not assessed, it supports the overall assessment of your work by demonstrating your engagement and reflective practice.

TKPPF SAMPLE A

TKPPF SAMPLE B

TOK FIRST INTERACTION

TOK FIRST INTERACTION QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS  

This is a 15-20 minute one-to-one meeting with your Teacher in which you’ll discuss the following things:

●       Which PT are you going to answer, and why?

●       What’s your interpretation of the PT and what it’s looking for?

●       What are the keywords and phrases that you’ll be clarifying in your introduction?

●       Which areas of knowledge are you considering using as the context for your essay?

●       What other ideas do you have for the essay (thinkers, concepts, examples, etc.) so far?

First Interaction Sample

From the 6 PTs given, I already knew which three I liked the most so with my teacher, we discussed these in the first interaction. My teacher asked me how the meaning of knowledge might change for each PT, and encouraged me to create my own definition of knowledge that could be applied to the PT that I ultimately chose to answer. At the end of the interaction, I had decided that I would do PT3. I already had an idea of what AOK I would prefer to do, which was History and Natural Sciences, so he suggested that I should research the development of knowledge over time within those AOKs, and apply the concept of ‘accuracy’ to this.

 

TOK SECOND INTERACTION

TOK SECOND INTERACTION QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS  

Your second TOK essay interaction will be another 15-20 minute meeting with your teacher, and it should happen after you’ve completed your first draft. This time you’ll go over the following:

●          What are your claims and perspectives?

●          What is the scope or outline of your Essay?

●          Which examples and thinkers will you use to support these?

●          What are the concepts you are going to integrate?

●          What problems have you encountered so far?

 

Second Interaction Sample

Before this interaction, I was struggling, because I could not find many RLSs that seemed to work well for the natural sciences. The only interesting RLS that I had found were related to physics, a discipline that I did not feel comfortable discussing. My teacher advised me to switch to an AOK that I was more confident about, so I decided to set part of my essay within the context of the arts. I also described the key RLS that I had found for History, which was related to virtual reality; my teacher advised me to consider different perspectives in more depth, as well as considering how to construct a counterclaim to the argument I had developed.

 

TOK THIRD INTERACTION

TOK THIRD INTERACTION QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS  

  • Discuss the meaning of all the teacher’s written comments on your draft
  • Talk about whether any of the arguments needed further clarification
  • Check the quality of your examples
  • Ensure that you’ve included an evaluation of different points of view, and considered implications
  • Go over final changes needed to ensure the ‘global impression’ of your essay (formatting, references, etc.)
  • Make sure your essay is insightful, convincing, accomplished, and lucid
  • Identify other changes needed to turn your draft into a clear, coherent, and critical exploration of the title

Third Interaction Sample

After having written the first draft of my essay I received my teacher’s feedback. He advised me to clarify my RLSs and describe them in more depth. This was difficult, because I did not want to make my essay 'unbalanced' and spend many words on describing RLSs, yet, I certainly did have to present them more clearly. He also suggested a few concepts to investigate such as procedural knowledge and the difference between information and knowledge. My conclusion was rushed and rather unclear, which is why he recommended that I should rewrite it. He also advised me that I should improve the citations.