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IB Theory of Knowledge
BMS IB Core Week
July 2014
What is TOK?“The course does not declare. It invites.”
DefinitionMetacognitionKey conceptsWays of knowingAreas of knowing
What is TOK?This course introduces you to theories about the nature and limitations of knowledge (basic epistemology) and provides practice in determining meaning and validity of knowledge (critical thinking)
It is claimed to be a “flagship element” of the Diploma Programme, and is the one course that all diploma candidates are required to take
TOK requires 100 hours of instruction, the completion of an externally assessed essay of 1,200-1,600 words (from a choice of ten titles prescribed by the IB), and an internally assessed presentation on the candidate's chosen topic.
Metacognition“knowing about knowing”
•the awareness that you have of your learning processes, and
•the degree of control you are able to achieve in your learning thanks to this awareness.
Key conceptsknowledge issuesperspectivescritical thinking
knowledge claimsassumptionsjustificationimplications
Knowledge issues“In TOK discussions explore knowledge as a source of questions or topics for exploration that rise to the surface when a spirit of inquiry is applied to the process of knowledge itself”:
• its creation• justifications• complexities• uncertainties• implications• value
Perspectives
Making you aware of the fact that you don’t “just know”, but that you know from a particular perspective
It opens the way to recognising that others may have absorbed different cultural, ideological or personal assumptions.
Exchange of ideas in a spirit of inquiry can contribute greatly to the understanding envisaged in the IB’s mission statement that “other
people, with their differences, can also be right”.
Critical thinking
knowledge claims assumptionsjustificationimplications
Taking ideas seriously involves looking at them closely to understand why a person or a group is putting them forward and what their grounds are for
accepting them, no matter who it may be
knowledge claims= assertion that something is the case.
factual claimclaim of values
claim of religious belief...
assumptions
= the unarticulated givens, web of interconnected and mutually reinforcing beliefs
cultural and ideological assumptionsown temperaments
own family experiencerelative wealth or poverty
geographical spot on the planet...
justification
=grounds for accepting a knowledge claim
ReasoningEvidenceMemory
Expert testimonyFaith
...
implications
If you accept a particular claim, what further claims are you likely to accept, and
how are you likely to act on their basis? What we accept carries many implications in the looser sense- for our attitudes, our
sense of responsibility, our actions.
Ways of knowing
Sense perception
Language
Reason
Emotion
Imagination
Faith
Intuition
Memory
=traits which knowers can possess and through which they obtain and
manipulate knowledge
Areas of knowledgeMathematics
Natural sciences
Human sciences
History
The arts
Ethics
Religious Knowledge Systems
Indigenous Knowledge Systems
see examples
Religious Knowledge Systems
How do we decide between the competing claims of different religious knowledge systems? Can there ever be a basis for religious knowledge that is independent of the culture that produces it? Is atheism as much a matter of faith as religious belief?
Indigenous Knowledge Systems
In what ways are sense perception and memory crucial in constructing knowledge in indigenous knowledge systems? How do beliefs about the physical and metaphysical world influence the pursuit of knowledge in indigenous knowledge systems? How do indigenous people use the concept of respect to relate to their view of the world?
Assessment outlinePart 1 External assessment (67% of the final mark) Essay on a prescribed title (1,200-1,600 words)
Part 2 Internal assessment (33% of the final mark) The presentation (10 mins per student)
Where the essay demands a high-level overview of knowledge questions, the class presentation demands
a close-up of a knowledge in a real-life situation
EssayEthical judgments limit the methods available in the production of knowledge in both the arts and the natural sciences. Discuss.
“Knowledge is nothing more than the systematic organisation of facts.” Discuss this statement in relation to two areas of knowledge.
“The historian’s task is to understand the past; the human scientist, by contrast, is looking to change the future.” To what extent is this true in these areas of knowledge?
“A skeptic is one who is willing to question any knowledge claim, asking for clarity in definition, consistency in logic and adequacy of evidence” (adapted from Paul Kurtz, 1994). Evaluate this approach in two areas of knowledge.
show thinking skills in the discussion of a prescribed title that may be primary conceptual in nature
Presentation
What evidence is there about how dinosaurs looked and behaved?
Demonstrations in China against the issue of a new history textbook in Japan
What makes a work of art?
Global warming
demonstrate an understanding of knowledge at work in the world
The diploma point matrix
Points awarded for the externally assessed component, part 1, the essay on a prescribed title (40 points), and for the internally assessed component, part 2, the presentation (20 points), are combined to give a total out of 60. The grade boundaries are then applied, to determine the band (A to E) to which the student’s performance in TOK belongs.
The band descriptors are:
1. Work of an excellent standard
2. Work of a good standard
3. Work of a satisfactory standard
4. Work of a mediocre standard
5. Work of an elementary standard
The band descriptor is used both to determine the contribution of TOK to the overall diploma score and to provide the basis for reporting to schools on each student’s TOK performance.
What values does TOK give you?
help to make sense of what you encounter
discover and express your views on knowledge questions
share ideas with others and listen and learn from what others think
shape, enrich and deepen your thinking and understanding of knowledge as a human construction
In the course, the aim is to help you become effective critical thinkers, with the greater goal being to develop IB learners:
“internationally minded people who, recognising their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a
better and more peaceful world.”
IB Learner ProfileInquirers
Knowledgeable
Thinkers
Communicators
Principled
Open-minded
Caring
Risk-takers
Balanced
Reflective
InquirersTOK students seek to find out how
knowledge is constructed using various ways of knowing and by considering what
constitutes knowledge in various areas of knowledge. It is a fundamental premise of TOK that personal knowledge should not
result from simple acceptance of knowledge claims without sufficient inquiry and
evidence.
ThinkersTOK students examine thinking in order to understand what constitutes good thinking
and also to recognize potential flaws in thought processes. Students also think about
what thinking is required in a variety of situations, as well as how thinking relates to
emotional processing and intuition.
Open-mindedTOK students need to be open-minded about
knowledge claims they encounter. They will learn not to simply accept claims at face value, but to consider the factual accuracy of any proposition and the potential emotional, social or cognitive bias of any person making a proposition. At the
same time, they must learn to balance skepticism with belief, and recognize that in many situations
there is a need to make decisions without possessing absolute certainty.
Risk-takersTOK students must be willing to risk questioning what they hold to be true. This means that they must be willing to risk being wrong. When we are willing to accept being wrong then we make progress towards correcting existing misconceptions and increasing our knowledge and understanding of the world. The word “judgment” is central in TOK, and students should be prepared to take the risks involved in making judgments in matters where the evidence does not definitively favour one view or another, while at the same time acknowledging the provisional nature of these judgments.
ReflectiveTOK students learn to reflect on the degree
to which their own and other people’s motivations, beliefs, thought processes and
emotional reactions influence what they know and what they are capable of knowing.
Sources
Dombrowski, Mackenzie, Clarke. 2010. IB Research Paper. Perspectives on a curious subject: What is IB Theory of Knowledge all about?
Theory of knowledge guide. (First examinations 2015)