Essential checklist for TOK essays

Not that you can't just read the Marking Criteria and get an A; but for those who are finding it hard to mold a top-scoring essay or as a timely reminder to tick the boxes once you're finished:

1. [Criterion A] Have you identified the knowledge issues implied in the title?


2. Have you used a variety of Ways of Knowing and Areas of Knowledge?


3. Have you tried to link on WoK and AoK? Take 2 examples of each.


4. Stay on topic, address the question posed.


5. [Criterion B] Have you drawn on your personal experience? Have you used examples from your own life? A personal voice is very important in TOK essays. Need to be able to identify knowledge issues arisen from your surrounding IB studies. There’s nothing wrong with looking at staid and often-used examples as they can be the best to demonstrate what you are trying to convey. But there needs to be balance with personal examples. Try not to make up examples as they will sound fake. Don’t use trivial examples.


6. Have you made reference to at least two perspectives? Perspectives from different areas of knowledge, different ways of knowing... Philosophical perspectives, cultural perspectives, societal perspectives.


7. [Criterion C] Have you provided evidence for your claims? Back it up with examples/ research… Where did you get your ideas from? Show that your arguments have a basis.


8. Have you examined counterclaims? Think of your essay as a dialogue. Be very aware of how someone who views this differently would attack your argument. (Eg. Sense perception – illusions, phantom pains; how people who don’t have senses experience the world differently to us, they have helped us survive for so long)


9. [Criterion D] Generally like any essay – intro, body, conclusion, claims, counterclaims – make it clear how you are progressing within the essay.

10.  Have you referenced your examples according to an established format?

11.  Bibliography is consistent (Harvard style, MLA)

 

Hope this helps!

Theory of Knowledge - Emotions

An Introduction

Did you know?

• The word ‘emotion’ and ‘motivation’ both derive from the Latin word ‘movere’ meaning ‘to move’


• Relationship between emotion & cognition – what we know, think, believe, desire & value –still under debate


• Emotions responses related to sense perceptions, internal states, thoughts or beliefs about things or people, real or imagined

Emotional Intelligence

• Subject of research on brain & learning


• Understanding our own emotions called ‘intrapersonal intelligence’


• Howard Gardner: linguistic, spacial, logical-mathmatical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, musical


• Some ways of identifying emotions include language, sense perception & reasoning.  These provide interconnected ways of associating emotions we experience.

Emotional Education

• Can emotional intelligence be measured or taught?


• Consider the ambiguity of language & interpretation of culture in this


• Current Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, teaches that humans should strive for happiness.  He says the route to this is through loving kindness to others.

 

‘I believe that happiness can be achieved through training the mind…When I say ‘training the mind’ in this context I am not referring to the ‘mind’ merely as one’s cognitive ability or intellect . Rather, I’m using the term in the sense of the Tibetan word Sem, which has a much broader meaning, closer to ‘psyche’ or ‘spirit’; it includes intellect and feeling, heart and mind. By bringing about a certain inner discipline, we can undergo a transformation of our attitude or entire outlook and approach to living’

 

Road blocks:

• Think about what empathy involves.  Jesus Christ taught about loving a neighbour as thyself & similar religious teachings emphasize the relationship between oneself & others.  There are difficulties in genuinely ‘standing in the shoes of others’


• Make a list of what limits us imagining the experiences of someone else

 

PARADOX?: Should our first step in cultural awareness be to realise that people everywhere are just like you and the second step, without denying the first, to realise that they are not.

 

Emotions & IB Subjects:

• What is the role of emotional response, imaginative engagement & empathy in treating the literature of language A1?


• What is their role in your Group 2 subject?


• In your Group 3 subject, are they part of the human subject matter being studied or part of the human method of study?


• In science and maths, have you entered and ‘emotion – free’ zone? Consider the creation and communication of knowledge in these subjects


• In Group 6, what is the role of emotion as subject  matter or method?

Things to consider:

•Blends of emotions

•Is "tired" an emotion?

•What is included and what is excluded in the definition?

•The speed of change of emotions

•The distinction between moods and emotions

•The difficulty of naming emotions

•Variability in the degree to which people are self-aware

•Inclination to hide or show emotions depending on the culture, social context, and personality

•Social context and personality

•Social constraints on saying what you think someone else is feeling

•Difficulty of knowing someone else's feelings

•Use of other ways of knowing to identify emotion (language for naming, sense perception in observation of physical clues to emotion)

•Definitions of "knowing" involving "knowing someone" or "knowing that someone is sad" (with a foretaste of language and link with discussion on what "knowledge" is and how named in different languages), and so on....

•Consider Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence (including intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence)

•Do your own Emotional Intelligence tests (beware!) i.e. how do we know emotions and  how we know through our emotions. [Link: The 7 Forms of Emotional Intelligence]

 

Sample Questions

• ‘Emotion shapes thought, influences behavior and affects the way humans pursue knowledge’


• ‘Emotions can be classified as good or bad.  There can be correct or appropriate emotional responses’


• ‘Analyse how emotion affects our ability to make judgements’


• ‘A person’s personal point of view should be considered an asset in the pursuit of knowledge, not an obstacle to be overcome’.

Back to main TOK page

The 7 Forms of Emotional Intelligence

The 7 Forms of Emotional Intelligence-

•Linguistic intelligence ("word smart"):

•Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")

•Spatial intelligence ("picture smart")

• Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart")

•Musical intelligence ("music smart")

•Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart")

•Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart")

•Naturalist intelligence ("nature smart")

Back to main TOK Emotions page

TOK: Areas of Knowledge - Mathematics

7 Key Terms

• Deductive reasoning – general to particular


• Inductive reasoning – particular general


• Paradigm – a set of interrelated ideas for making sense of one or more aspects of reality e.g. Euclid Paradigm


• Axioms – starting points or basic assumptions. In Mathematics axioms are like a premise.


• Theorems – in mathematics theorems are like a conclusion.


• Proof – a theorem is shown to follow logically from an axiom.


• Conjecture – is a hypothesis that seems to work but has not shown to be necessarily true.

The Logic of 1 + 1 = 2

• 
  

  One apple plus one apple equals two apples.

  
  
  


• 
  

  Add one lamb to a cage containing one tiger.  How many animals will be in the cage the next day?

  
  
  


• 
  

  Join one crowd of people with another crowd of people.  How many crowds?

  
  
  


• 
  

  Where else does 1+1 make more than 2?

  
  
  


• 
  

   

  
  
  
  —Does teaching maths with apples make maths an empirical subject?
  
   
  
  

Linking Questions:

• If we grow up speaking Chinese, English seems hard and vice versa.  Is this the same for number systems?


• Does base 10 make a cultural difference – how might an alien culture be different?


• How might artists or writers be influenced by the universal acceptance of base 10?


• Would a change in number base affect scientific discoveries?

 

• Back to main TOK page

How do we count?

Off-Site Links:

• 'The Story of One' - Highly entertaining documentary

TOK: Areas of Knowledge - The Arts

What is art?

There are 3 theories made to define whether something is a piece of art:

1. Intentions of the artist


2. Quality of the work


3. Response of spectators

Intention Theory:

• Art must be intentional.


• Why is a sunset not art?


• Art is a combination of beauty and aesthetics that requires a response.

Criticisms of the theory:

• Intending something to be art does not mean it is art.


• Something intended as art may not be popular and something not intended as art may be treated as such.

Example - You could refer to Tracy Emin's piece of art, 'My Bed'

Quality of Work Theory:

• Closely linked to skill


• Technically competent


• Should be made by someone with talent or training (think, Renaissance artists)

Criticisms:

• May have technical competence but lack originality [Link: Fighting Forgery in the Art World]


• Forgeries require technical ability


• 
  
  May have originality but lack skill

1.Can something be a great piece of art if it is disturbing or ugly?

2.Why is an exact copy of a painting worth far less than the original? Can this difference be justified, or is it an irrational prejudice?

Response of Spectator Theory:

 

• The general public or experts?


• Changes of response over time

Do you think expert opinion is more problematic in the arts or in sciences?

Other view of what art is:

• Art as an expression of emotion


• Art imitates the world


• Art teaches us what is right


• Art offers us an insight into the human condition

"To what extent do the arts help us see the world with new eyes?"

3 Opinions:

"In my opinion, art may not so much as help us see the world with completely new eyes, but rather, that art draws our attention to specific moments, scenes or details. Japanese prints focuses on simple shapes reflecting nature, while impressionism on the over play of the light, and the impression you are left with.  All art, whether music, writing or visual, draws us to specific points which the artist intended us to see."

"I believe that it does to a large extent. A piece of art usually has a meaning or has some significance to the artist. Since everyone has different perspectives on the world, art is a form of impression regarding these perspectives. For example, Monet’s Water Lilies allows me to see how light can greatly alter the way a scene may look; the soft, undetailed way he paints captures the essence rather than the details. In many ways, this grasps the emotions of an artist better than if all the details were revealed, as the focus of the artwork becomes what captured the artist the most, and left the deepest impression. Contrary to what some people believe, I feel that even minimalistic paintings, though seemingly aimless, may trigger an emotion. For example, I considered the paintings of Theo van Doesburg, founder of the De Stijl movement.  The simple shapes used, such as rectangles, reflect the simplicity and harmony of life. The lack of colour, usually using only the black, white and the primary colours, also show that we should stick to the basics to minimize the number of problems in our lives."

"

I believe that the purpose of art is to help us see the world with new eyes. When you are viewing a piece of art, you are viewing something in the perspective of

somebody else, which is not your perspective, or your eyes, therefore it is through new eyes that you percieve the world. Even realistic pieces would still be an

interpretation from the artist, therefore it is seeing a world through new eyes, the artist's. Of course, this interpretation is not just stuck to art such as

paintings or sculptures, but performing arts, because you see a completely different world, through the eyes of the script writer or screen writer, etc.

I believe that the purpose of art is to help us see the world with new eyes. When you are viewing a piece of art, you are viewing something in the perspective of somebody else, which is not your perspective, or your eyes, therefore it is through new eyes that you percieve the world. Even realistic pieces would still be an interpretation from the artist, therefore it is seeing a world through new eyes, the artist's. Of course, this interpretation is not just stuck to art such as paintings or sculptures, but performing arts, because you see a completely different world, through the eyes of the script writer or screen writer, etc."

"Art is a lie that brings us closer to the truth" - Pablo Picasso

Analysis of Art

A piece of art can usually be effectively analysed in terms of: content, composition, process, personal opinion. The ways of knowing can also aid the analysis process (sense perception, reasonong, emotion and language).

Examples of Art Analysis with a TOK focus:

• Water Lilies - Monet


• Galaxy - Jackson Pollock

Back to main TOK page

Off-site Links:

• Art personality test

Knowledge Claims Exercise

Look at the following knowledge claims:

“Everyone who went on the school SCUBA Trip last year had a fantastic time.”



Now look at the following ways of justifying this claim.  Which are most/least valid?  Explain why!

• It said so in the Yearbook.

• The person who ran the trip told me.

• I spoke to a student who was on the trip and she told me.

• It must have been good because more people want to go this year.

“Morning Break starts at 9.45”

Now look at the following ways of justifying this claim.  Which are most/least valid?  Explain why!

• It says so in the diary.

• My Tutor told me.

• The chimes for short break always goes at 9.45.

• Periods 1 and 2 begin at 8.30 and last for 75 minutes, so this break must begin at 9.45

“Senior School students are allowed to dye their hair.”



Now look at the following ways of justifying this claim.  Which are most/least valid?  Explain why!

• The Head of the Senior School told me.

• It says so in the Senior School Dress Code.

• There are lots of students in the Senior School with dyed hair, so you must be allowed to.

• I dyed my hair and I didn’t get into trouble.

“IB Diploma students study 6 subjects as well as completing CAS, ToK and the Extended Essay.”



Now look at the following ways of justifying this claim.  Which are most/least valid?  Explain why!

• It says so in the Senior School Curriculum brochure.

• That’s what my sister did when she was in the Senior School.

• My timetable and plan of the year have all these things listed on them.

• The IB website tells me that these are the requirements needed to pass the IB Diploma.

Back to main TOK page

Theory of Knowledge - The Basics

The Basics

Theory of Knowledge examines what knowledge is and how it is justified. There are a few basic concepts that you should all be familiar with.

The map is not the territory

Knowledge is commonly compared to a map. It describes the world without being the world. Consider the different types maps: map, satellite, terrain, google earth. Each describes the school in a different way, but none of them communicates your actual experience of the place itself. Some of them enhance your experience (the terrain map gives height above sea level), others simulate (google earth) but none of them is identical.

Concepts for assessment

For the purposes of assessment it is important to understand the following ideas:

Knowledge claims

A knowledge claim is any statement that asserts something about the world. Another way of looking at it is to say that we make knowledge claims every time we claim to know something or act upon such knowledge.

For example, if I cook a dish, I am acting upon my knowledge of the recipe or cooking in general. There will be several knowledge claims I act upon, including my knowledge that the application of heat to meat will enhance its flavour.

Because TOK is about thinking critically about knowledge, we need to make knowledge claims explicit. That is why, even when we are dealing with real life situations where people are acting upon implicit knowledge, we identify clearly the knowledge claims they appear to be acting upon.

Real life situations

Real life situations and the bread and butter of TOK - they are the examples we analyse. Any example that comes from real life (i.e. is not a hypothetical situation) can be examined, although for the purposes of assessment, the more concrete the example, the better.

That means that we can examine global warming as a real life situation, but it would be better to examine actual articles or other sources about global warming.

Knowledge Issues

Knowledge issues are instances of ambiguity in knowledge or specific knowledge claims. For the purposes of assessment, they are usually phrased as questions. See attachment below, Understanding Knowledge Issues for examples.

• Back to main TOK page