Core and IB Diploma Core

Department Core and IB Diploma Core

At ISB students in Gr11 and Gr12 all participate in Core, which is a class dedicated to supporting students with four different elements: Theory of Knowledge, CAS, the Extended Essay and College Counselling Seminars.

Students who have opted to take the Personal Choice Diploma attend CAS and College Seminars, during Core. The remaining periods are free.

Students who take the full IB Diploma attend all sessions to help them fulfil the IB Diploma Core and receive guidance through the college seminars.

A calendar rotation is published at the beginning of the academic year to show which sessions are held during the Core period.

CREATIVITY, ACTIVITY & SERVICE (CAS)

(Service for Grades 9 & 10, Full CAS program required for Grades 11 & 12 )

Education neither begins nor ends in a classroom or exam room. Essential aspects of education exist outside of both. In recognition of this, all students must meet key outcomes (during the 2 year program) participating in activities at ISB and in the community. CAS is the acronym for Creativity, Action, Service. The CAS requirement is designed to be an enjoyable, yet challenging, component of a student’s education. All three activity elements should be represented.

• Creativity – covers the range of art, craft, debate, forensics, drama, music, choir, film-making, photography and/or the application of creativity in designing and carrying out service projects. • Activity – includes participation in individual and team sports, physical training or expeditions. • Service – includes a range of community or social service activities. Volunteer work helping the less fortunate or involvement in environmental projects are ideal service activities.

As a result of their CAS experience as a whole, including their reflections, there should be evidence that students have:

• Increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas for growth • Undertaken new challenges and developed new skills • Planned and initiated activities • Worked collaboratively with others • Shown perseverance and commitment to activities • Engages with issues of global importance • Considered the ethical implications of their actions

Documenting CAS Activities

Students will document their CAS activities and reflect on their experiences using the ISB’s core values as learning competencies.

Although there is no credit for CAS as such, elective classes can be taken for CAS to complete CAS requirements.

UNIVERSITY COUNSELING SEMINARS

Grades 11 and 12

University Seminars offer a chance for juniors and seniors to get important information relevant to their university search and eventual application process. There is a great deal of shared knowledge—things that everyone needs to know and understand about the process no matter where they want to go—that complements the individual meetings students (and their families) have with their university counselor.

Juniors: • The importance of self-reflection and the vital role it plays in being able to conduct a search for colleges and universities that are the ‘Right Fit’. • How to research universities—determining what your priorities and preferences are throughout the journey will guide your search. • Essay writing—putting those self-reflection skills onto paper in the manner that is best suited for different countries’ application style and need. • How to ask for letters of recommendation. • Testing--what, if anything, is required for where you want to go?

Seniors: • Finalizing your balanced list. • Getting applications done! • Finishing and finessing the final essay draft(s). • Hitting the submit button, the importance of deadlines, and what to expect next. • How to choose your destination college or university. • Transitioning from high school student to independent higher education student/ young adult.

EXTENDED ESSAY (EE)

Required for all IB Diploma Students

Grades: 11-12 IBDP | Length: approximately 40 hours of independent learning

The Extended Essay is a substantial piece of academic writing of up to 4,000 words, enabling students to investigate a topic of special interest that they have chosen themselves; a passion project. The EE is the capstone of the Diploma Programme and encourages the development of independent research skills expected at college or university.

The Extended Essay is: • Required for all Diploma Programme students • Externally assessed and, in combination with the grade for Theory of Knowledge, contributes up to three points to the total score for the IB Diploma • A piece of independent research/ investigation on a topic chosen by the student in cooperation with a supervisor in the school • Chosen from the list of approved Diploma

Programme subjects, presented as a formal piece of scholarship containing no more than 4,000 words • The result of approximately 40 hours of work by the student

THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE (TOK)

Required for all IB Diploma Students

Grades: 11 – 12 | Length: 4 semesters* Credit: 1

The TOK course provides students with an opportunity to explore and reflect on the nature of knowledge and the process of knowing. It is a core element of the IB Diploma. The course is taught in Grades 11 and 12, over approximately 100 hours. Students reflect on the knowledge, beliefs and opinions that they have built up from their years of academic studies and their lives outside the classroom. The course is intended to be challenging and thought-provoking—as well as empowering—for students.

The course centres on the exploration of knowledge questions, which are a key tool for both teachers and students. These are contestable questions about knowledge itself, such as: “What counts as good evidence for a claim?”, “Are some types of knowledge less open to interpretation than others?”, or “What constraints should there be on the pursuit of knowledge?”. While these questions may initially seem slightly intimidating, they become much more accessible when considered with reference to specific examples within the TOK course.

The TOK curriculum is made up of three deeply interconnected parts.

• The core theme—Knowledge and the

knower: This theme encourages students to reflect on themselves as knowers and thinkers, and to consider the different communities of knowers to which we belong. • Optional themes: This element provides an opportunity to take a more in-depth look at two themes of particular interest to teachers and students. The given themes all have a significant impact on the world today and play a key role in shaping people’s perspectives and identities. Teachers select two optional themes from a choice of five: knowledge and technology; knowledge and language; knowledge and politics; knowledge and religion; and knowledge and indigenous societies. • Areas of knowledge: The areas of knowledge (AOK) are specific branches of knowledge, each of which can be seen to have a distinct nature and sometimes use different methods of gaining knowledge. In

TOK, students explore five compulsory areas of knowledge: history; the human sciences; the natural sciences; mathematics; and the arts. • There are two main assessments during the course. The Exhibition, which takes place at the end of Gr11 and the TOK Essay, which is tackled in Gr12.