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THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE

 

The TOK course allows students to explore and reflect on the nature of knowledge and the process of knowing. It is a core element of the DP to which schools must devote at least 100 hours of class time.      

MAIN FOCUS

  • Knowledge Questions
  • Knowledge Claims 
  • Knowledge Questions : are questions about knowledge itself, such as "What counts as good evidence for a claim?" or ''Are some types of justification more reliable than others?" Since these are questions about knowledge itself, they draw on TOK concepts rather than subject­specific terminology. Knowledge questions are contestable, in the sense that the answer to them is not obvious and there may exist various reasonable approaches to an answer.
  • A Knowledge Claim:  is a statement in response to a knowledge question. For example, "The quality of evidence is determined by its consistency with previous knowledge" or "Justifications based on observation are more reliable than logical proofs''.

ELEMENTS OF TOK

KNOWLEDGE FRAMEWORK

In IB TOK, knowledge questions are broadly organized into four categories. You may think of· them as "groups" of knowledge questions. The categories, known as the knowledge framework,

Intro to TOK - Theory of Knowledge - WAB Learns at Western Academy of Beijing

THE THEMES

Apart from the five areas of knowledge, students in IB TOK are required to study three themes: the core theme and two of five optional themes. The core theme is "Knowledge and the knower". It is focused on personal knowledge. It is a reflection on yourself as a knower and thinker. The five optional themes are: 

 

 

AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE

Areas of knowledge

Shared knowledge may be further divided into areas of knowledge (AOKs). In IB TOK, we speak about five such areas:

Mathematics

The Natural Sciences

The Human Sciences

History

The Arts.

TOK CONCEPTS

ToK Concepts, including "truth".

TOK TERMINOLOGIES

  • ambiguity 
  • applications and usefulness 
  • acquisition of knowledge 
  • beliefs 
  • bias 
  • certainty and uncertainty 
  • classification or label 
  • communication 
  • communities 
  • constraints 
  • context 
  • culture 
  • current knowledge 
  • doubt 
  • ethics 
  • evidence 
  • experts 
  • explanation 
  • historical development 
  • ignorance 
  • imagination 
  • interaction 
  • interpretation 
  • justification 
  • knowledge 
  • unknowable
  • knowledge.
  • objectivity 
  • opinion 
  • ownership 
  • past knowledge 
  • personal experience 
  • perspective 
  • power 
  • production of knowledge

ASSESSMENT

TOK has two assessment components: a TOK exhibition (internal assessment) and a TOK essay (external assessment).
 

EXHIBITION


For the exhibition, you explore how TOK manifests in our world. There are 35 IA prompts (formulated as knowledge questions). You are required to select one of the 35 prompts and centre your exhibition around this prompt.
Your exhibition should comprise three objects (or images of objects) plus a written commentary on each object (a maximum of950 words for all three commentaries combined). In the commentary, you must identify the object and explain its real-world context and connection to the IA prompt. The exhibition is internally assessed and externally moderated. It is worth 35% of your marks.
 

ESSAY


For the essay, six months before the· submission deadline, the IB releases "prescribed essay titles''. You must choose one of these titles and write an individual essay (the word count limit is 1600 words). This is an external component marked by 1B examiners. It is responsible for 65% of your marks. The essay title will be formulated as a knowledge question. You are assessed on the quality of your argumentation, consideration of different points of view, and making links to areas of knowledge. 
 

 

IBDP CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

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Mila Chakrabarty
Contact:
The Cathedral & John Connon School,
6, P.T. Marg,
Fort, Mumbai