How to Outline a Theory of Knowledge Essay
I recommend that, before you start writing your essay, you prepare an outline. This will help you to clarify your ideas and keep you on track as you write.
You can prepare your outline by answering the following questions:
My KI is…
My short answer to the KI is…
My first perspective on the KI is…
My support and example are…
A counter claim to this perspective could be…
An example (or other evidence) for the counter claim could be…
My mini conclusion and link to the KI are…
My second perspective on the KI is…
My support and example are…
A counter claim to this perspective could be…
An example (or other evidence) for the counter claim could be…
My mini conclusion and link to the KI are…
My third perspective on the KI is…
My support and example are…
A counter claim to this perspective could be…
An example (or other evidence) for the counter claim could be…
My mini conclusion and link to the KI are…
My forth perspective on the KI is…
My support and example are…
A counter claim to this perspective could be…
An example (or other evidence) for the counter claim could be…
My mini conclusion and link to the KI are…
My overall conclusion is…
After you have completed your outline, you should keep referring back to it (and the marking criteria) as you write.
This kind of outline is more sufficient. It will help you organize your thoughts, even if you don’t have to stick to it religiously when you’re writing your real essay. (Here is some advice on structuring your real essay). However, if you’d like another, more in depth explanation of ToK Essay Outlining you can follow the one from ToKTalk, here: Starting and Planning the ToK Essay.
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The Top Ten Theory of Knowledge Essay Tips
Here are my top tips for getting to top marks on your Theory of Knowledge essay.
1 All ToK essays are cross-disciplinary; they are never just about one way of knowing (perception, language, reason, emotion) or one areas of knowledge (mathematics, natural sciences, human sciences, history, ethics, the arts). In general you’ll want to include at least 3. But be careful about which ways of knowing and/or you’re going to include. Review all of your notes to refresh your understanding and make sure you’re seeing the relevant connections and make sure (after you’ve done your research) that you have interesting points to make (claims and counter claims).
2 Make an outline first. The outline is your road map and it’s where you make a lot of your major decisions. It will also help you to develop an argument, with each paragraph building on the one before.
3 Research in a lot of different ways: websites, your class notes, talking with people (parents, classmates, your teachers). Find arguments which support both sides of (for and against) your thesis and examples that support your claims and counterclaims. As you develop insights you can use, make sure to record them.
4 Make sure you have clarified the scope of your essay. Make it clear, in your introduction, which AOI’s and/or AoK’s you’re using. And define your key terms carefully, in ways that are useful to your argument. Dictionary definitions rarely do this.
5 It’s easy to forget that ToK is about developing your ability to think for yourself. Give yourself some time away from your outline, to reflect before you begin your real essay. And then try to give yourself a few breaks from your essay as well, so you can come back to it with fresh eyes. It’s hard to see the weaknesses of your thinking while you’re busy trying to get it done (i.e. in a hurry). Come up with your own ideas.
6 Read at least 3 examples of excellent ToK Essays written by other people. Here is one.
7 Keep editing. Each of your paragraphs should show opposing viewpoints concisely. Compare two opposing ideas about how natural science might relate to your knowledge issue.
8 Use specific and qualified language. Rather than writing that “all science always provides useful insights,” instead say that, “chemistry often provides useful insights.” Words like often or sometimes (instead of always), might or could (instead of should) help to keep from overgeneralizing or saying more than you can actually support in your essay.
9 To prove your essay’s thesis you’ll need to rely on evidence. Various types of facts are fine (quotations, statistics, … In all things, avoid using clichés and common examples. If you can use examples that the marker hasn’t heard before this will show that you are thinking for yourself.
10 Read it out loud, after you have finished it. This will help you to find mistakes and areas that don’t flow as well as you thought.
Other Useful ToK Essay Articles
Six steps to writing a good TOK essay: A student guide by Colleen H. Parker at SPHS
Writing a TOK essay, by Richard van de Lagemaat
How to Write a Good TOK Essay, By Peg Robinson
This in link TheoryofKnowledgeStudent.com goes through a variety of examples of how to answer some of the questions from previous years.
Mr Hoyes’ Notes on The ToK Essay
How to Write a Good ToK Paper, from Collective Thinking
Writing a TOK Essay, from ‘Findings’ Part One, Two, Three, Four, and Five.
10 Tips on Writing a Good Theory of Knowledge Essay, from the American International School of Lusaka
Guide to writing the TOK Essay, from IBCram
Tips for writing a good ToK Essay by Ric Sims @ Nothing Nerdy
And consider some common problems, from ToK Talk
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How to Meet All of the Theory of Knowledge Essay Requirements
As you write (before and during your writing, and then again when you edit) touch base with the grading criteria. You can find that document here, a. Make sure you understand them and then make an effort to adjust your essay so they match the criteria.
ToK expert Richard van de Lagemaat has done a really great job of summarizing the criteria with this table:
and to remember these, he has also created a mnemonic, “the 4 C’s”: A, B, C, and D roughly stand for Content, Creativity, Critical thinking and Clarity. Let me expand on these:
CONTENT (A): Show thinking about the knowledge issues
CREATIVITY (B): Show individual/personal insights, that you can think for yourself
CRITICAL THINKING ©: Show thinking about arguments and counter-arguments, that you not only understand the theory involved, but also the weaknesses of these theories.
CLARITY (D): Show that you have done a great job editing your essay; you have structured it so well that it’s easy to understand and accurate
Keep these in your mind as you write.
You might also enjoy reading this “Tok Essay Marking Criteria Introduction” from ToK Talk
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The 99 Best Economics Resources
Essentials
You can download the new economics course guide here: 2013 Guide. And for those still on the old guide that one is here 2003 Guide.
The IB Course Companion is written specifically for this course. It is very readable and easy to understand.
The Economics for the IB Diploma book is also very good. It’s perhaps a little more comprehensive.
IB Economics Websites
Welker’s Wikinomics — A website created by an IB economics teacher containing useful IB lecture notes as well as a blog
Tutor2U — A resource for AS, A2 and IB economics revision
Biz/ed — A general resource for learning economics, listed by topic.
Essentials of Economics — Summaries, online quizes and case studies relating to the textbook “Essentials of Economics”
Economic Policy Debate — Is a place for online debates regarding current controversial ideas in economics. For IB Econ students, it’s a good place to review key concepts and evaluate.
Videos
Some really good video lessons from EconClassroom.com
Paj Holden’s YouTube page is also full of great IB Econ-specific videos
Econ Stories — A funny rap video showing the different economic philosophies of Keynes and Hayek
Podcasts
Planet Money. One of my favourite podcasts. They do a great job of making sense of complicated concepts. Very entertaining. (Just add it to your podcasts in iTunes). Highly recommended
The Economist Magazine — Editor’s Highlights. Useful if you don’t have time to read the Economist. Key sections of the weekly audio edition are read to you. (Just add it to your podcasts in iTunes).
Articles, Blogs and Blog Posts
Some student notes on the IB Economics course, by section. Not the best notes in the world, but useful for a quick review.
Paul Krugman’s Blog “The Conscience of a Liberal” — A blog written by the Nobel Laureate, from a Keynsian perspective. Definitely worth a read a read a few times a year.
Internal Assessment (IA)
A quick primer on the IB Economics IA. The basics. Worth reading to make sure you’re clear on the requirements. Highly recommended
Extended Essay (EE)
The 4 Questions You Need to Answer at the Start of Your Extended Essay process. Avoid common mistakes and set yourself up for a successful Extended Essay.
Extended Essays in Economics. Andrew McCarthy’s post on EE’s in Economics
An excellent example of an Economics Extended Essay, from a student in Hong Kong.
IB Economics Research Resources
Gapminder is a great source for statistics and videos explaining the state of the world. Highly recommended
The Economist — Arguably the most influential and important publication in the world
Asian Development Bank — Economics and statistics resources of the multilateral, Asian-oriented development finance institution that promotes economic and social progress
Bank of England — The website of the Bank of England, the UK’s Central Bank
CIA World Factbook — An online resource on the history, people, government, and economies of every country in the world.
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean — The UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Some very interesting real life examples.
Federal Reserve — The website of the US Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States
Goldman Sachs’ Global Economic Outlook — Global economic research put out by one of the leading investment banks, Goldman Sachs
International Monetary Fund — The website of the International Monetary Fund — the “central banker’s central bank”
UN human Development Reports — The website of the UN’s Development Program
World Bank — The website of the world bank, the world’s pre-eminent (and often controversial) development bank
World Trade Organization — The World Trade Organization’s website, containing a wealth of economics research and information
Useful Links and Videos by Topic
Unit 1
Video — An introduction to opportunity cost. (From Paj Holden)
Video — An explanation of the Production Possiblity Curve (aka the Production Possibility Frontier). From (Bryn Jones)
Video — Watch a quick clip on oil scarcity
Flash — An interactive lesson on types of economies. (Watch out though, they’ve done the spectrum diagram backwards to the way we do it). (From www.cba.edu.kw)
Video — A documentary on the financial crisis (From PBS). This isn’t something we have time to really go into during class. But if you’re interested in it, it’s a good case study.
Unit 2
2.1 Markets (Supply, Demand and Price Controls)
A video on Supply and Demand, here.
A supply and demand review lesson, here.
Flash — An interactive extension activity on demand. (From www.cba.edu.kw)
Flash — An interactive extension activity on supply. (From www.cba.edu.kw)
Video — Case study of the demand for oil increasing in China. Fairly in depth, but good if you have a few minutes. (From CBC News)
2.2 Elasticities
Video — Watch these two videos on PED this one and this one.
Video — Here’s another video on PES.
Flash — A self-directed lesson on Elasticity.
Video - Elasticity and total revenue. (From Bryn Jones)
Video — An explanation of cross price elasticity of demand (aka cross elasticity of demand, or XED). (From Phil Holden)
Text — Some good examples of elasticities (scroll down a bit) and an overview of elasticity in general.
2.3 Theory of the Firm
Video — An explanation of cost curves. (Phil Holden)
Flash — a quick overview of market types. (Turn down your speakers. This is loud for some reason).
Video — An explanation of monopolistic competition.
Video - Consumer and producer surplus. (from Bryn Jones)
Video - Economics and Diseconomics of Scale. A video that is a bit on the dull and slowside, but it’s a good review (or preview of the LRAC curve).
2.4 Market Failure
Video - A short clip on externalities, from the documentary, “The Corporation”.
Video - Positive and negative exernalities. (from Bryn Jones)
Video — Another take on diagraming negative externalities.
Unit 3
Introduction to Unit 3
Test — A very quick overview of the macroeconomic objectives and (some of) the major interventions available to governments. (From Economics Help).
Blog — A quick introduction into the differences between Macro and Micro. (From Jason Welker)
An hour long documentary about the Crash of 1929 and the similarities to the recession of 2008(From PBS).
3.1 Measuring National Income
Video — Stiglitz explaining the limits of GDP as a measure for economic achievement. It’s interesting to think about how we measure economic success (i.e very often simply as GDP growth) considerably influences us.
Video — A video on the circular flow of income (from Paj Holden, on YouTube) We’ll cover this in class, but if you’re keen to get ahead, or would like to review, this is a good one.
Application — Have some fun with this tool from Gapminder. See what you can learn about all the different indicators and how country’s have developed over time
3.2 Introduction to Development
Video — A quick lesson on the diffrences between GDP and GNP. (From Paj Holden)
3.3 Macroeconomic Models
Video– Here is a video we use in class, on the 5 essential diagrams for AS and AD. It’s very good.
3.4 Demand-Side and Supply-Side Policies
Flash Game — A monetary policy game where you use interest rates as a tool for controlling inflation. Pretty cool. –Look, I’m an Economics teacher, this is what excites me! ![]()
Video — A review of fiscal policy and the multiplier effect (from Paj Holden, on YouTube), incase you’d like to review this.
Flash — An interactive lesson on monetary policy. (From www.cba.edu.kw)
Video — The Philips Curve and NAIRU explained.
Video — A news program discussing how Australia is the first G20 country to raise interest rates following the recession. Just watch the few 5 minutes. (From PBS)
Video — A discussion of the current American fiscal deficit. Again, rather lengthy. You may simply want to watch the first 5 minutes to get a sense of the situation. (From Charlie Rose).
Video — Intro to Fiscal Policy. (From Bryn Jones)
Video — A couple of clips on Monetary policy here is Part 1 and here is Part 2. (From Bryn Jones).
3.5 Unemployment and Inflation
Flash — An interactive lesson on types of unemployment. (From www.cba.edu.kw)
Flash - An interactive graph, showing the differences in how different groups have been effected by the recession. (From the New York Times)
Video - Three reasons deflation is so bad for economies. (from Paj Holden)
Flash/Audio — A very good history of US government responses to recessions since the 1960s. Listen to the audio clips for each section, to hear how the government tried to balance inflation, fiscal responsibility and unemployment. (From the New York Times).
Unit 4
4.1 Reasons for Trade
Watch this about how the world is changing (from Shift Happens)
Read this: Is Globalization a Force for Evil in the World and answer the questions at the bottom.
Video — A review of the differences between comparative and absolute advantage.
Video - Milton Friedman on the wonders of the pencil (really it’s an explanation of the free market and the ideology that free trade promotes peace).
4.2 Free Trade and Protectionism
Flash — See some examples of protectionism here.
Flash — A great walk through a World Trade and Tarrifs Graph. (from cba.edu.kw)
Video — A very good discussion on protectionism at the moment (2009). (From Charlie Rose)
Video - How governments use tarrifs and quotas to restrict trade (From Bryn Jones)
4.4 World Trade Organization (WTO)
Video — From a few years ago, a WTO Ruling on Softwood Lumber exports from Canada to the US — Protectionism (From CBC).
Video — Some more history. Canadians protesting APEC in 1997. A good reminder of where our current protest movement comes from. (From CBC)
Video - Some insight into the anti-WTO movement. A bit lefty, but still pretty insightful. They make some good points. (From WTO Turn Around.org)
Video — WTO and the challenges of trade justice. (from Trade Aid)
4.5 Balance of Payments
On Balance of Payments, please read this.
Flash– An interactive lesson on Balance of Payments. (From cba.edu.kw)
Video - Current account deficits and exchange rates (the Marshall-Lerner condition). (From Phil Holden)
4.6 Exchange Rates
Flash — A basic introduction lesson on exchange rates. (From cba.edu.kw)
Site — See how the Big Mac Index looks after you factor in today’s exchange rates. (From oanda.com)
4.7 Balance of Payment Problems
4.8 Terms of Trade
Unit 5
5.1 Sources of Economic Growth and Development
Web page — A good explanation of the differences between LDCs and MDCs.
5.2 Consequences of Growth
5.3 Barriers to Economic Growth and Development
5.4 Growth and Development Strategies
5.5 Evaluation of Growth and Development Strategies
We’re not quite to 99 yet. If you know if any great resources to help your fellow IB Economics students, please either email me via the “contact” page or link to them in the comments.
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How to Structure a Theory of Knowledge Essay

Here is a rough outline of how you could structure your TOK essay. Feel free to modify this or take a completely different approach, as long as you are meeting the requirements of the rubric.
The following is the structure I suggest you try for your TOK essays. In the end you will be bringing your total word count (not including the bibliography) to just-under 1600 words (1200 words is the minimum).
If you are using this to prepare your real TOK essay, you will want to have an additional paragraph and more counter claims,
Firstly, extract a KI from the title. The KI is in the form of a question. At OFS we encourage you to begin the KI with words like:
To what extent…
How do we know that…
How reliable is…
How certain is…
These invite an open ended response, indicative of TOK thinking. In general, also make sure that your question is directly related to knowing. I can’t actually tell what your KI should be, but you are allowed to discuss this among yourselves.
I recommend that, before you start writing your essay, you prepare an outline for the essay. You can find specific, step-by-step details on how to outline your essay, here.
The Theory of Knowledge Essay Structure
Short intro of about 100 words. that states the KI and gives a short answer of your own (which you will defend in the body of your essay) and then makes clear the way you are going to explore and the KI and how you are going to develop your thesis (which ways of knowing and/or areas of knowledge you’re going to use).
The first paragraph of the body of the essay is about 350 words. It begins with a topic sentence that makes a claim (in TOK language) about the KI — first argument about the KI. The next 2–3 sentences explain the claim or argument. Then follows an example to clarify and support the claim. Next is a counter claim, with an example if word limits permit. The paragraph ends with a concluding sentence summing up the argument and linking it clearly to the KI.
The second paragraph of the body, again about 350 words, mimics the structure of the 1st paragraph. It offers a second claim in response to the KI, with the ensuing explanation, example, counterclaim (example) and conclusion that is linked to the KI
The third paragraph of the body, again about 350 words, mimics the structure of the 1st and 2nd paragraph. It offers a third claim in response to the KI, with the ensuing explanation, example, counterclaim (example) and conclusion that is linked to the KI
The forth paragraph of the body, again about 350 words, mimics the structure of the other body paragraphs. It offers a forth claim in response to the KI, with the ensuing explanation, example, counterclaim (example) and conclusion that is linked to the KI
The concluding paragraph, of about 100 words, briefly summarizes the argument, gives the thesis or concluding answer to the KI based on your body paragraph arguments and conclusions. Try to explain the main insight of your essay in a new way. Also sum up the consequences of the insight (i.e. for other Real Life Situations).
This will bring you right up to the 1600 word limit. Again, you can follow this formula or not. Ultimatley, you’ll want to also make sure you’re keeping in mind, the rubric requirements, your outline, and also following the essential Top Tips to ensure you are scoring your best.
And of course enjoy yourself. This is a real opportunity to take your thinking to the next level and prepare yourself for university.
(Thank you to Mr Hellner and Mr Ballard who came up with most of the ideas for this structure).
If you would like more information on how to structure your essay, here is another very good approach to structuring your ToK Essay from Mr Hoyes.
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How to Reflect on Community, Action and Service Activities
As you do your IB Community, Action and Service activities you’ll need to reflect on your learning. This serves as evidence of all that you have accomplished, but it also helps you to make sure you are learning as much as you can out of each activity.
Writing is like that. William Faulkner said, “I never know what I think about something until I read what I’ve written on it” and I agree. Writing forces us to focus on what’s actually going on, so it helps us to notice things.
So as you do your 150 hours of community, action and service activities you’ll want to make sure that you lock-in as much learning from those activities as you can. Think of this as a time to learn things about yourself: how you like to work, the ways you like to contribute to society, what your values are, what activities you enjoy and a time to learn about all the skills you’re going to need to develop that you haven’t yet.
For each of your big activities you’ll want to do 3 reflections.
If you aren’t sure what to write about, we recommend you answer the questions listed below. They are designed to help you to think critically about your experiences. But feel free to go beyond these questions. If you only try to tick the boxes you might miss out on some important learning.
So I recommend, touching on each of the recommended points (from A to N), but also feel free to go beyond these or to only focus on some of them if they help you to do a more useful reflection. (These were developed by Mrs Mares).
Reflection #1 Questions
Why have you chosen this activity? (A)
What do you hope to gain/ learn from this activity? (B)
What if anything about this activity makes you nervous or concerned? ©
What challenges do you expect from this activity? (D)
What are you most excited about? (E)
After your first few weeks, what are your first impressions? Concerns? (F)
Reflection #2 Questions
How is this activity going so far? (G)
What challenges have you faced? How did you/ do you plan to resolved these? (H)
What has been successful about this activity so far? (I)
What have you learned about yourself so far in terms of: working with others; things you do well, areas requiring improvement; commitment and perseverance; meeting deadlines; and developing leadership skills (J).
Reflection #3 Questions
Overall, was this activity a success? Why or Why not? (K)
What could have you done to make it more successful? (L)
What was the most significant thing you learned from this activity? (M)
Chose at least ONE of the learning outcomes (below) and reflection on them/it (N):
I have increased my awareness of my own strengths and weaknesses
I have undertaken new challenges
I have planned and initiated this activity
I have worked collaboratively with others
I have shown perseverance and commitment in my activities
I have engaged with issues of global importance
I have considered the ethical implications of my actions
I have developed new skills
Your FINAL CAS self evaluation
When you have finally completed all of your CAS activities for IB (in year 12) you will also want to reflect on all of your activities, as a whole, and what you have learned from CAS overall. We ask that your final reflection be at least 500 words. Take advantage of this. Use it as an opportunity to tie together and summarize all of your main insights. You will be able to use these insights in future job interview and in your college applications. You can use the following prompts to help you reflect:
Personal Achievements that you have developed through CAS. For example: meeting challenges, regular participation and commitment, awareness of personal limitations, progress in a new role, learning from experience, helping to solve problems
Personal Skills that you have developed through CAS. For example: thinking creatively, planning and organization, resource management, identifying success and failure
Personal Qualities that you have developed through CAS. For example: perseverance, self-confidence, humility, responsibility, commitment, punctuality
Interpersonal Qualities that you have developed through CAS. For example: adaptability, collaboration, empathy, respect
Awareness of Global Issues that you have developed through CAS. For example: ethical appreciation of humanitarian and environmental issues, action from a local, national, and international perspective
Final Learning Outcomes
It is very important that you cover all of the learning outcomes and show how you have met each of these. This is the main part of this summary. And (at OFS) we also ask you to fill in a another document, a checklist.
You do not need to reflect on every CAS activity, but rather cover important events and activities in each area of CAS (Community, Action and Service). You may want to think about and compare how you felt about at the beginning of your time doing CAS and how you feel about it now. Think about how CAS has changed you as a person. As with your college applications, be as specific as you can. What have you learned? What have others gained?
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How to Write Successful College Application Essays
Your college admission letter or essay is one of the most important documents you will ever write. I want to show you how to write yourself to the head of the pack.
To do that I need to first explain to you the concept of Stump Speeches, which are often used by politicians. Regardless of the question a politician is asked they will try to answer it in a way that lets them talk about a few areas where they are strong. One guy will always come back to talk about cutting taxes. Another will always come back to talking about economic growth because they know, from their research, that when they talk about these specific things, people like them more. I’m going to tell you what to say in your college admission letter (or college admission essay) so that the readers at Stanford or Yale will want to choose you over everyone else.
The people who are going to be reading your letter want to see that you tick certain boxes. So you need to think about these people as your market. You are trying to sell yourself to these essay readers at Harvard, Columbia or UC Berkley. So you’ll want to answer the essay question in a way that let’s you touch on the Four Traits every top college wants to see in their new students.
The good thing is that once you’ve developed your letter for one school you can use much of the same content as a Stump Speech, to use (slightly modified) for another college’s admission letter.
Below I describe the four traits (that the readers of your essay are generally looking for) and explain how you can show that you have these traits.
The four traits:
1Show them that you are hard working. Provide evidence of this. Hard working doesn’t just mean good grades. They want to see real evidence that you will stick with something even if you aren’t good at it at first. Try to tell a story to make it clear how hard working you are. You stuck with a hard subject until you mastered it. You did an overseas working holiday in Cambodia, where it was hard, but you worked through it.
2Show them that you know about their specific college. Tell them details about the college and even the specific program. This shows that you’ve done your homework about the place, which will make them think that:
a) You are the kind of student who does their homework.
b) You are taking the decision seriously, and
c) You appreciate and value the school. Everyone wants to be told that their university is great. I went to Queen’s University in Canada and I love hearing great things about it. By valuing the school you’re subtly telling them that you would fit in there. You are Queen’s University material.
Also (if this is true) you may want to convey the idea that you have been interested in this school for a long time. You have always admired professor so and so and the way he has used the study of whatever to help develop the such and such. All of this should be true, of course.
3Show evidence of contribution to the community. Show you have a conscience, that you care about other people. Universities really do care about this. They want to see themselves and their students as helping the world. So show them, using real-life examples, that you like to do your part to make a real difference.
4Finally, explain your vision for yourself in the future and how LSE or Princeton fits into that plan. Here is where you can really grab them. Even if you aren’t completely sure yourself yet about what you want to do in the future, you’ll still want to paint a picture for the reader of where you see yourself in 15 years. And again it should be clear why you need to take this specific program in order to achieve that vision. For example, you might say that, “My dream is to work for the World Trade Organization, helping raise the health standards of children in developing countries.” If you aren’t sure, pick something that you think you might like and go with that. You are allowed to change your mind later, but the reader of your essay will enjoy feeling like they are playing a part in making your dream come true (especially if this dream is about helping people).
Those are the four traits. However, I’d like to touch on two other things you should keep in mind.
How to Use Evidence to Strengthen Your Admission Essay
You notice that I keep using the term “evidence”. By evidence I mean specific details about what you did: locations, number of people involved, the amount of money you raised. Basically I’m saying provide details.
So don’t just say:
“I raised money for charity.”
Instead say, say,
“I worked in a team of 5 students to raise $800 for the Japanese Red Cross Society’s Tsunami Relief Campaign.”
Do you see how that second sentence is a million times better than the first one? Specificity and detail makes it much more compelling and convincing? Of course, as always, these things also need to be true as well.
How to Use Stories to Strengthen Your Admission Essay
Stories are brilliant ways of gripping your reader. You won’t have time to tell a whole story of course, but you can use the small version of a story, an anecdote, to reveal aspects of yourself. (The 20 second story explains how anecdotes make you and your message memorable). Stories are powerful. And they also work as evidence because it’s hard to tell a convincing story about yourself that isn’t true. Also people can relate to them, so they start to feel like they know you.
So they are a great tool that you should take advantage of. You might want to tell us, for example, about when one of your personal heroes did something that made a difference in your life and what this experience taught you. So try to tie-in a real life story of when you had an experience which helped you to develop the Four Traits.
**Update**
I just got this advice from a friend of mine, who is an Academic Advisor. It provides some more insight into how you should approach the UCAS essay (UK) and a US university application essay differently:
–The UCAS essay should focus on why you will be a good fit for that course (i.e. Economics, Biology, Medicine). So while mentioning ECAs or volunteer activities is great, using that as evidence for why you should be admitted to the course is important.
–In a US college essay, the questions they want you to answer can be a lot more “squishy”, something like “discuss a character from literature that has influenced you and why”. They may just want to know you can write and show are a creative thinker, even if you are applying to Engineering. So while evidence is important, how the evidence is used is crucial.
Also, as one interviewer from Oxbridge I heard speak said, UK universities often are looking for “pointy” students who are good at a particular thing and really want to study that subject, because they will be studying it intensively for three years. Whereas, the US, in particular smaller and more selective colleges, are looking for more well-rounded students who are a good “fit” for their campuses. So a student who gets in to Oxford may not necessarily be a good candidate for Yale or Stanford.
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How to Get Full Marks On Your Business Internal Assessment
I have found that the biggest challenge my students are having, in terms of scoring the top marks in the Business IA, is related to their use of analytical tools.
In general, you have a Research Question and you’re trying to arrive at your answer. A very common mistake is that students do a lot of analysis, but they don’t connect it properly to the Research Question (RQ) or to their Answer (Ans).
I have wracked my brain to make this more straightforward and I’ve come up with the following diagram, which you can follow to make your IA analysis a more straightforward process. If you follow it, it should raise your performance in several aspects of the IA Business rubric.
By this point, you have chosen an appropriate RQ. if you aren’t sure about that, I recommend reading this article first (and follow the ‘4 tests’ it advises to check your RQ). So now you know that you need to do a few things. You need to get an answer to your RQ, you need to do a lot of analysis and you need to do a lot of research. Where most people go wrong is connecting these things properly. For example, many students Answers (their Findings) are not clearly related to their analysis at all. There is no clear link between their analysis and their eventual Answer. By following the model I’m suggesting you won’t make this mistake.
There are also three aspects to an analysis
1Connect your analytical method (i.e. PEST, Decision Tree) to your RQ. Make it clear HOW this method is needed if you are to answer your question. Again some types of analysis will be more suitable for your specific RQ. You cannot simply do any old type of analysis. It is important that you do the right type of analysis, the analysis that answers your question.
2Perform the analysis correctly (and carefully), showing you know the purpose of it. Be very careful to do a correct job of using the model. Fill in all of the boxes (i.e. of your SWOT), or carefully do your NPV calculations, explaining your work as you go.
3Finally, after you have completed each method, comment on your findings in a way that relates directly to your Answer. Do briefly after each analysis (i.e. after your IRR calculation and after your Boston Matrix). You don’t need to tell us everything that you’ve just shown us. Just summarize the main findings which relate to your Answer. The idea is that, by the time we get to your actual final conclusion, your conclusion is actually obvious to the reader.
This makes for a good report, which would be more useful to your manager because you’ve shown the manager, step-by-step 1) Why this analysis is necessary, 2) What the analysis shows, and 3) How that analysis relates to what the Business should actually do. You have therefore made it easy to understand and more convincing.
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The Straight A Students Time Management Secret
This is your lucky day. You are finally going to find out the secret time-management weapon which has only been known to a few wildly successful students. Until now.
(WARNING: Do not read this unless you are prepared for incredible academic success! However, if ready to have your life completely changed, read on.)
I have had the pleasure of teaching students who have ended up going to Cambridge, to Oxford, to LSE, to Harvard and to a range of other Ivy League universities. They were not completely alike, but they did have one behavior in common. After working closely with these students I am convinced that it was this single secret-behavior that set them apart from the crowd. It actually made it easier for them to learn more efficiently, to understand concepts in a deeper way than their peers. In a way, these students had an unfair advantage. And that’s why I feel you should have it too.
But before I share it with you, let me explain how hard-working students commonly behave.
Often, we, as well-intentioned, hard-working students make a simple mistake. We know that we are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. We realize that we will need to spend hours at home preparing for our tests and (because we realize how important High School is to our future success) we put in this time without complaint. We have a space at home we each review the material our teachers have taught us. We make sure we understand everything our teachers have covered. Our study-spaces have pictures of us with our friends, which helps keep us motivated. It has plants, to keep the air fresh and to keep us relaxed while we spend hours and hours there each week. Maybe we have been told that this is what will make us successful.
This is the traditional approach taken by those of us who do not understand the secret.
The secret time management weapon my top students use allows them to learn most of the material without these endless hours of revision at home before each test. What is it that they do? Quite simply, it is this: Top students learn while they are in class. That is the secret. They learn while they are actually in the class.
I know that doesn’t sound revolutionary. But, think about it for a moment. If you’re honest with yourself, you might realize that many of your peers (and maybe you yourself) spend a lot of your time in class not actually challenging yourself, not thinking about and challenging the material and therefore not actually learning. And this means that you must do it later, probably at home, by yourself.
Why do extremely hardworking students approach learning this way? I’m not sure. Partly, it isn’t their fault because they may have never learned to do it any other way. They may also feel that it will be easier to learn without any distractions. I made this mistake when I was young. It meant I was normally stressed out before my tests because I found it hard to learn the material alone, at home, at my desk. It wasn’t until my final year of High School that I realized how much time I could save by staying focused on learning while actually in the lesson. Even better, if I read though the chapter (or the novel, etc) before the teacher went over the material in class, I could say truly-insightful things during the actual lesson. And this was great because it meant I could have a genuinely interesting conversation with the teacher; the teacher could challenge these insights I was having and expand my understanding, pushing me further, far beyond what the other students could understand because (at that moment, in the lesson) they were just hearing about the concepts for the first time.
I promise that if you apply that secret consistently you will not be sorry. As I’ve said, I have seen it applied by all of my most successful students and it worked well for them.
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Evaluation in Business
Sometim
es (normally in 8-mark questions) you will be asked to evaluate. This is about going beyond the insights you have made from doing your analysis (your Dr Tests).
But let’s make sure you are clear on the difference between analysis and evaluation. By analyzing in Business we mean giving your Definitions, Explanations, Examples and Development (making sure you have fully answered the question) (Doing the ‘DEED’). And then, after you analysis is done, you go on to evaluate, to make sense of it for the reader. You are telling us, in clear terms, what we should think about the situation.
This is a bit like Theory of Knowledge because you are not only showing that you can think about things using the course theories, but also showing that you can think about things in a complicated (or complex, or advanced) way. You can contrast the results of two ways of appraising an investment opportunity for example and tell us which insights are most important for this particular company. Business people (if you tell them some theories) will often say, “So what?!” They want to know what these insights of yours (from your analysis) really mean for their business. So it is often by doing good evaluation that you are really helping businesses to cope and improve.
Students generally struggle with this. Even if you feel like they know good evaluation when they see it, they don’t know HOW to do it. So this note shows you exactly what to do when you’re evaluating in business.
This acronym will help you to remember the 7 different aspects of good business evaluation:
Seriously Fantastic Leaders Will Profit People Consistently
Or
Some Foreign Leader Wrote Phoney Public Comments
Try to do all 6 parts.
Stakeholder Impacts
- What effects would this change (i.e. a focus on Corporate Social Responsibility) have on different stakeholders (Suppliers, Owners, Consumers, Government, Rivals, Investors, Managers and Employees — the “SOC GRIME”)?
- Are there some undesirable effects on some of these stakeholders?
- Is the policy great for some (i.e. owners), but bad for others (i.e. consumers)?
Functional Area Effects
- What will this change mean for the different parts of the business: the Marketing, HR, Production and Finance teams?
- In a way, these are the internal effects, whereas in the stakeholder effects you will look at employees and owners in general, but you will mostly focus on external stakeholders).
Long-term and short-term Consequences
- Some changes can have great benefits for a business in the long-term change good in the short-term, but over in a few years it will have undesirable consequences?
- Will the policy be really hard on short-run profits, but better for profits in the long-run, maybe due to increased customer loyalty?
- Or, will this policy fix one problem, but create another?
Weaknesses of the Analysis
- How sure can we be about the conclusions we’ve made? Is the answer completely obvious? Or are there some weaknesses in the approach we’ve taken?
- Is there some other data (i.e. financial data) which we would need in order to answer the question with complete confidence?
Priorities
- Discussing the priorities of the business is also a good way to keep things in perspective. For example, an ethical policy may be good for society, but social welfare is not generally the priority of a business.
- You can never go wrong, connecting a question back to profit or survival of the business –the main aims most businesses.
- So what are the priorities of the different stakeholders and which of these stakeholders (and therefore which priorities) will come first?
Pros and Cons
- What are the advantages and disadvantages (costs and benefits) of this change or approach? Are the costs worth the benefits?
- What are the arguments for and against this change or approach?
Conclusions
- What have our models and our theories (our Dr Tests) shown us? And then take this a step further: what do all of the tests together show us?
- What big conclusions can we draw?
So there you go. Try to go through each of the evaluation types, in order whenever you are asked to evaluate in IB Business exam questions.
To help you remember the mnemonic, you may want to consider, firstly, whether you agree with it. Does it seem true to you? Is leadership about consistently profiting people? What do you think? The other thing you might try to do is to create your own mnemonic. By thinking creatively about it you can stick it in your own mind.
(Also, if you take Economics as well, you might like to read this post on Evaluation in Economics.)
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