The IB TOK Presentation in a Nutshell

General information

An integral part of the TOK course is your presentation. It contributes 20 of the 60 marks available in the overall assessment of TOK. The essay is worth 40 marks. You'll give the presentation in the Spring Term of your second year.

The basic aim of the presentation is to identify and explore the knowledge issues raised by a substantive real-life situation that is of interest to you. Knowledge issues address how or whether we can have knowledge in certain areas or of particular claims and examines the connections between both ways of knowing and areas of knowledge.

Your starting point for the presentation is a real life situation or contemporary issue. You may select the situation you will tackle from a more limited domain of personal, school, or community relevance, or from a wider one of national, international or global scope.

It is important to bear in mind that given the time constraints of a presentation your topic needs to be clearly identified and focused. The situation selected is needs to be sufficiently circumscribed to allow an effective treatment of knowledge issues. You should ensure that the topic allows the underlying knowledge issues to be appreciated and explored.

Presentations may take many forms, such as lectures, skits, simulations, games, dramatized readings, interviews or debates. You may use supporting material such as videos, MS PowerPoint presentations, overhead projections, posters, questionnaires, recordings of songs or interviews, costumes, or props. You should avoid simply bringing in an essay and reading it out.

Each presentation will have two stages:

• an introduction, briefly describing the real-life situation and linking it to one or more relevant knowledge issue
• a treatment of the knowledge issue(s) that explores their nature and responses to them, and shows how these relate to the chosen situation.
• A good presentation will demonstrate the presenter's personal involvement in the topic and show both why the topic is important and how it relates to other areas.
• You may give the presentation on your own or in groups up to a maximum of five. If you wish to present in a group of more than three, then you'll need to convince me this is a good idea. Approximately 10 minutes per presenter is allowed, up to a maximum in most cases of 30 minutes per group.

Assessment

The presentation is marked in accordance with the following criteria.

Identification of knowledge issue (5 marks)

• Did the presentation identify a relevant knowledge issue involved, implicit or embedded in a real-life situation

Treatment of knowledge issues (5 marks)

• Did the presentation show a good understanding of knowledge issues, in the context of the real-life situation?

Knower's perspective (5 marks)

• Did the presentation, particularly in the use of arguments and examples, show an individual approach and demonstrate the significance of the topic?

Connections (5 marks)

• Did the presentation give a balanced account of how the topic could be approached from different perspectives?
• Did the presentation show how the positions taken on the knowledge issues would have implications in related areas?

N.B. emphasis is on the quality of the consideration of connections than on the quantity of connections mentioned.

Prior to the presentation you shall need to submit a presentation planning document (A4 max). This describes your planning for the presentation, which must include the knowledge issue that will be the focus of your presentation a summary in note form (for example, a bulleted list) of the way you plan to deal with knowledge issues during your presentation.

After the presentation you will need to assign yourself a mark. Each presenter should give themselves an achievement level for each of the four assessment criteria. Presenters should briefly justify the level they have given.

When's It Happening?

The presentations will take place in sessions in late March 2011. We will post the dates here in February 2011.

Sample Titles

Here follow some actual titles of TOK presentations from 2007 onwards

2007

1. On knowing when one is an adult.
2. Art and objective knowledge.
3. Ethical implications of genetic testing.
4. Are dreams a source of knowledge?
5. On the nature of our knowledge of the world.
6. Humour - knowing what's funny.
7. The purpose of knowledge.
8. Kantian ethics and knowing what's right in business and medicine.
9. Knowledge of Mathematics and Music.
10. On self-identity.
11. Can religion be taken too far?
12. Objective knowledge and music.

2009

1. Is it possible to tell reality from a dream?
2. Can there be one world government?
3. Can we know when it is right to intervene in another country?
4. Is it ever morally permissible to transgress moral boundaries?
5. Is there any truth in the stars (astrology)?
6. The role of free will and determinism in the interpretation of quantum physics.
7. The positives and negatives of bilingualism.
8. The perception of fashion and the behaviour of the crowd.
9. The importance of mathematics in the explanation of the natural world.
10. Is it ever right to pursue conflict in God's name?
11. Is it reasonable to believe in young earth creationism?
12. What is love?
13. What is the value of studying history?
14. Can it ever be right to execute someone from another culture?
15. Is the relationship between normal/abnormal, sane/insane irreversible?
16. What is the relationship between music and mathematics?
17. Can we justify total war?
18. Dos the end justify the means?
19. The Iraq war: can we justify killing other human beings?
20. Is there any justification for female genital mutiliation ('female circumcision')?
21. Would one global language help or hinder the acquisition of knowledge?
22. How can we distinguish freedom fighters and terrorists?
23. Is democracy the best political system for allowing the acquisition of knowledge?
24. What are the problems of language in obtaining knowledge?
25. Alternative medicines: medicine at all?
26. The value of art and subjectivity.

2010

1. Can music be considered a language?
2. How do stereotypes affect our lives?
3. Is history taught in an effective way?
4. How does proof relate to science?
5. How does proof relate to science?
6. Do secondary schools meet the needs of their students?
7. Should we trust scientists?
8. What makes an artwork a masterpiece?
9. Is translation possible?
10. Can we trust eye-witness testimony?
11. Has art been devalued and should art education be compulsory?
12. What is the value of popular music?
13. To what extent is the humanistic perspective a valid source of knowledge in psychology?
14. The nature of love.
15. Do objective, universal morals exist?
16. Do fantasy novels have any value?
17. How has bad science been sued to justify prejudicial attitudes towards races?
18. Why be a vegetarian?
19. Should shock tactics be used in sexual health adverts as part of the war against STI's?
20. Can we define abnormality?
21. What is happiness?
22. Can language be used as a propaganda tool?
23. Does it matter than species become extinct?

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