What is IB?

International Baccalaureate (IB) is a worldwide, non-profit education program founded to allow all students to receive an education fit for a globalizing world. There are four IB education programs which are the IB Diploma Program and the IB Career-related Program for students aged 15 to 19, the IB Middle Years Program for students aged 11 to 16, and the IB Primary Years Program for children aged 3 to 12. All of the programs are intended to develop students’ intellectual, emotional, personal, and social skills. The IB Diploma Program and the IB Career-related Program are mostly concerned with high school students.

Why is IB important?

IB students develop strong academic, social, and emotional characteristics. They are also performing well academically which is often better than students on other programs. Taking the IB program, students are encouraged to think independently and drive their own learning. They will become more culturally aware, through the development of a second language. Students who take part in the IB program will lead to some of the highest-ranking universities around the world.

From Pre-school to graduate

IB focuses on 6 themes for children ages 3 to 12 such as who we are, where we are in place and time, how we express ourselves, how the world works, how we organize ourselves and sharing the planet. Students examine these ideas through a variety of prisms, by considering works that focus on language, social studies, math, arts, science, and personal, social, and physical education.

For students ages 11 to 16 in the middle year program, he or she needs to consider approaches to learning, community and service, human ingenuity, environment, and health and social education while learning their usual middle school subjects, plus technology and a foreign language.

High school students who participate in IB with varying degrees of intensity, depending on what the school offers. Students must pass IB classes in six areas such as language and literature, foreign language, individuals and societies, science, math, and art in their 2 years diploma program.

External and internal assessment

The IB uses both external and internal assessment in the Diploma Program. For external assessment, examinations form the basis of the assessment of most courses because of their high levels of objectivity and reliability. The examinations include essays, structured problems, case study questions, multiple-choice questions, data response questions, short-response questions, and text response questions. Teacher assessment is also used for most courses for internal assessment in IB. The assessment tasks include oral work in languages, laboratory work in sciences, fieldwork in geography, artistic performances, and investigations in mathematics.

How are Diploma Program assessments scored?

Students will receive their grades ranging from 7 to 1 in the Diploma Program which 7 is the highest. Students receive a grade for each DP course attempted. A student’s final Diploma result score is made up of the combined scores for each subject. The diploma is awarded to students who gain at least 24 points, subject to certain minimum levels of performance.

So, how do I use this to my advantage?

IB is a very balanced curriculum that is highly valued in tertiary institutions and ivy leagues in the states and around the world.

The Focus of IB is not just academic. The IB curriculum expects all students to show a demonstration of balance in both curriculum and co-curricular activities. These co-curricular activities are a gauge of the true student’s identity and showcases the student’s talents.

Each student has their own strengths and weakness and this is a great area to showcase a student’s abilities.

1 on 1 lab is big supporter of co-curricular activities and we activity create opportunities for our students.

From exhibitions to competitions, 1 on 1 lab students are well rounded and guided by their teachers who often become their mentors. Our teachers have intimate knowledge of their students and are activitely always pursuing opportunities to extend and showcase their student abilities further.

All this dovetails with the IB curriculum and students will build up a portfolio to round off their school academia.

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