Internal Assessment
During the second year of the IB Biology HL class, students have the opportunity to research, design, perform, and write up their own investigation. This project is known as an internal assessment (IA). Students will spend 10 hours doing this investigation which will provide 20% of the overall assessment for the IB Biology score (the IB score, not the class grade).
There is a large variety and range of possible investigations; each student must complete an investigation that is unique and adequately different from those of other students in the course. Students can choose from:
The Internal Assessment is assessed (that means ‘graded’) using very strict IB criteria. All IB science teachers world-wide must use the same criteria and apply them in the same way—quite a challenge!! To ensure that everyone is following the rules and applying the criteria correctly, schools must send samples of graded student lab reports to IB for monitoring. If a teacher is being too hard or too soft, that teacher’s marks which were awarded to students will be adjusted accordingly.
The IB Biology Internal Assessment is graded using five IB Internal Assessment Criteria. A maximum score of 24 points* is possible, awarded for the following five criteria:
*The points for the IA criteria are IB marks, not gradebook points. The class grade for the final IA report is IB weighted.
- c/o Biology For Life
There is a large variety and range of possible investigations; each student must complete an investigation that is unique and adequately different from those of other students in the course. Students can choose from:
- Traditional hands-on experimental work (if necessary following strict ethical guidelines for both human and animal subjects)
- Database investigations in which students use a database to obtain data to process and analyze the information for the investigation.
- Computer simulations in which students process and present the data in such a way that something new is revealed.
The Internal Assessment is assessed (that means ‘graded’) using very strict IB criteria. All IB science teachers world-wide must use the same criteria and apply them in the same way—quite a challenge!! To ensure that everyone is following the rules and applying the criteria correctly, schools must send samples of graded student lab reports to IB for monitoring. If a teacher is being too hard or too soft, that teacher’s marks which were awarded to students will be adjusted accordingly.
The IB Biology Internal Assessment is graded using five IB Internal Assessment Criteria. A maximum score of 24 points* is possible, awarded for the following five criteria:
- Personal Engagement (up to 2 points)
- Exploration (up to 6 points)
- Analysis (up to 6 points)
- Evaluation (up to 6 points)
- Communication (up to 4 points)
*The points for the IA criteria are IB marks, not gradebook points. The class grade for the final IA report is IB weighted.
- c/o Biology For Life
Assignment Overview
The IA process begins in September and ends on January 29th, 2020. This is to minimize conflict with other IB courses and give you ample time to complete this assignment.
ALERT! Do not procrastinate! If you are struggling with this project, for the love of glob do not keep it to yourself. Due to the nature of the IA, I am not allowed to give individualized feedback. However, I can answer your specific questions. This means you should bug me as much as you need, as early as possible through email or an in-person appointment. This is not the type of project that can be thrown together at the last minute. If you procrastinate, believe me, it shows.
Over the course of several months we will be completing the following steps outside of class time [DUE DATES SUBJECT TO CHANGE]:
ALERT! Do not procrastinate! If you are struggling with this project, for the love of glob do not keep it to yourself. Due to the nature of the IA, I am not allowed to give individualized feedback. However, I can answer your specific questions. This means you should bug me as much as you need, as early as possible through email or an in-person appointment. This is not the type of project that can be thrown together at the last minute. If you procrastinate, believe me, it shows.
Over the course of several months we will be completing the following steps outside of class time [DUE DATES SUBJECT TO CHANGE]:
- Topic Selection due 9/6
- Problem Question Selection due 9/13
- Background Research due 10/4
- Methodology Proposal due 10/18
- Hypothesis Writing due 10/25
- Data Collection due 12/6
- Introduction and Methodology Draft due 12/9
- Data Analysis due 1/13
- Data Presentation due 1/13
- Evaluation Writing due 1/22
- Self Evaluation due 1/24
- Peer Feedback due 1/27
- Electronic Submission 1/29