At the start when it was founded in 1968, IB was known as International Baccalaureate Organization and now simply International Baccalaureate (IB). It is headquartered in Geneva Switzerland. It is an education system operating at the international level in almost 159 countries. It offers four different programs for children in the age group 3 -19 years, operating at different levels.
IB Primary Years Program (PYP) – for students between the age of 3 and 12 years
IB Middle Years Program (MYP) – for students between the age of 11 and 16 years
IB Diploma Program (IBDP) – for student between the age of 16 and 19 years
IB Career Related Program- for the students between the age of 15 and 19 years
This board does not have any formal examinations. Certificates are issued to students who fulfil their standards at the different levels. Also, there are no prescribed textbooks nor there is a curriculum. Hence present is the flexibility for the teachers to personalize it and make the teachings for each concept as per the requirements of the students. The advantage lies in increasing the creativity and imaginative skills to maximize the learning outcomes. After completing the diploma programs, the students can look forward to getting admissions in universities and completing their graduations.
The IB MYP is a 5-year program and requires a teaching of at least 50 hours/year for each of the following eight subjects covered during the program.
The purpose of the MYP is to prepare the students for the 2 years IB Diploma program. The MYP encourages the students to make practical connections between their studies and the real world.
IB MYP curriculum offers the above eight subject groups and requires at least 50 hours of teaching hours for each subject group in each year of the curriculum. In the years 4 and 5, the students have the option to take six out of the eight subject groups within certain limits, considering the local requirement needs and the individual student leaning needs. Each year, the students also engage in at least one inter disciplinary unit, involving at least two subject groups.
Students demonstrate interdisciplinary understanding when they merge concepts, methods, and forms of communication from two or more disciplines, enabling them to explain a phenomenon, solve a problem, create a product, or raise a new question that would have been unlikely when dealing with just one discipline. This collaborative planning is important and encourages critical thinking in the students and understand complex issues or ideas better.
The MYP students also complete a long-term project – where they experience the responsibility of completing a significant piece of task over an extended period of time.
MYP projects are student centred and enable the students to engage in practical explorations through a cycle of inquiry, action and reflect.
MYP school-based assessments focus on the tasks created and marked by classroom teachers who are well equipped to make judgements about student achievements. MYP teachers assess the prescribed subject-group objectives using the assessment criteria.
In the final year, the personal project developed by the student independently is externally validated by the IB.
At the same time schools can opt for an optional external assessment – e-Assessment in all other elements of the program. It offers the students a chance to earn a formal international certificate if they meet the success criteria.
Once the school registers for e-Assessment in the MYP, students can participate in any of these two types of examinations.
Unlike the conventional examinations, on-screen examinations allow the IB to assess the full MYP teaching and learning outcomes, knowledge and understanding, conceptual understanding and communication skills.
The interface of the on-screen is intuitive in design and function, drawing from social media and web-based sites that the students familiar with. The exam questions are friendly to English language learners. The IB has built special features such as the hover-text to define the words that may be difficult for students, particularly students taking the exam in a second language. On-screen tools help them understand the tasks and questions better.
The MYP interdisciplinary on-screen examination is the only examination for students aged 15-16 years that assesses interdisciplinary understanding- giving students the ability to learn connections between different areas of knowledge.
The IB believes that all students must be allowed to take their examinations under conditions that are as fair as possible. The on-screen examinations have accessibility features built into the software to meet the needs of students who require alternative arrangements like
MYP on-screen examinations are constructed as a series of tasks that sample or replicate the internal assessment practices. The assessments have a very specific structure that provides a framework for formulating each examination. As part of an ethical assessment model, these assessments blueprints ensure consistency and transparency, and a balanced approach to measuring students’ achievements with respect to MYP objectives. These blueprints enable the teachers and students to review the nature and purpose of MYP e-Assessment and they are released 6-weeks prior to the examination.
The IB launched the MYP e-Assessment in 2016 as a leading innovation in the education sector. The MYP e-Assessment pushes the students well beyond the rote memorization of subject-specific content, where 75% focusses on inquiry, communication, and critical thinking skills.
MYP e-Assessment is a flexible and a highly innovative assessment tool that can be used in different ways to benefit a wide variety of school contexts globally.
MYP e-Assessment has received multiple international accolades since its inception.
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Book your Free Counselling Session now!The MYP eAssessment provides practitioners with a cutting-edge tool to gather insightful knowledge on teaching and learning. It also gives students the chance to complete a qualification for their middle school education and engage in assessment activities that are compatible with the current digital learning environment.
Language and Literature, Language Acquisition, Individuals and Societies, Sciences, Mathematics, Arts, Design, Physical and Health Education.
Criteria A = Thinking and Knowledge Skills
Criteria B = Organizing Skills
Criteria C = Application and communication Skills
Criteria D = Evaluating Skills
In comparison to the global average of 37.75, the average overall grade was 49 out of 56 points.
In order to be considered for certain degrees, such as law or medicine, universities are only likely to look at MYP marks in subjects like science, math, and English when they normally want “GCSE or comparable passes.”
Tips for IBDP-TOK and a Sample Essay
