GEMS WORLD ACADEMY SENIOR SCHOOL

The core of the curriculum model consists of the Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge (TOK) and Creativity, Action, Service (CAS). The following descriptions come directly from the IB.

 

Theory of Knowledge is the only aspect of the three components where students will participate in a class. However, the teacher of this class will also be the CAS advisor for their TOK students as well as help students get started on their Extended Essay, though they will not be students’ Extended Essay advisor. Theory of Knowledge class will also be a time where students will reflect on personal academic goals and the Learner Profile.

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Extended Essay (EE)

Below is a brief overview of the Extended Essay programme, for a full explanation of student's expectations, due dates, etc., please click here to access the student handbook.

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The extended essay offers the opportunity for IB students to investigate a topic of special interest, usually one of the student's six DP subjects, and acquaints them with the independent research and writing skills expected at university. It is intended to promote high-level research and writing skills, intellectual discovery and creativity - resulting in approximately 40 hours of work. It provides students with an opportunity to engage in personal research on a topic of their choice, under the guidance of a supervisor. This leads to a major piece of formally presented, structured writing of no more than 4,000 words, in which ideas and findings are communicated in a reasoned and coherent manner, appropriate to the subject.

 

Theory of Knowledge (TOK)

At GWA we use Pamoja, the IB's online course offering to facilitate the teaching of Theory of Knowledge. The online teachers are examiners and workshop leaders with many years of experience teaching TOK. 

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For the TOK calendar for this year, click here.

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Below is a brief overview of the Theory of Knowledge programme, for a full explanation of student's expectations, please click here to access the course syllabus.

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The interdisciplinary TOK course is designed to develop a coherent approach to learning that transcends and unifies the academic areas and encourages appreciation of other cultural perspectives. The Theory of Knowledge course is in part intended to encourage students to reflect on the huge cultural shifts worldwide around the digital revolution and the information economy. The extent and impact of the changes vary greatly in different parts of the world, but everywhere their implications for knowledge are profound. Theory of Knowledge encourages critical thinking about knowledge itself and aims to help young people make sense of that they encounter. Its core content focuses on questions such as the following:

• What counts as knowledge?

• How does it grow?

• What are its limits?

• Who owns know ledge?

• What is the value of knowledge?

• What are the implications of having, or not having, knowledge?

 

TOK activities and discussions aim to help students discover and express their views on knowledge questions. The course encourages students to share ideas with others and to listen and learn from what others think. In this process students' thinking and their understanding of knowledge as a human construction are shaped, enriched and deepened. Connections may be made between knowledge encountered in different Diploma Programme subjects, in CAS experiences or in extended essay research; distinctions between different kinds of knowledge may be clarified.

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Together, the EE and TOK combine together to avail students of a possible 3 bonus points as part of their Diploma. The following matrix demonstrates how the two work together.

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Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS)

Below is a brief overview of the CAS programme, for a full explanation of student's expectations, please click here to acess the student handbook.

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Creativity, action, service is at the heart of the Diploma programme, involving students in a range of activities that take place alongside their academic studies throughout the IB Diploma Programme. The component's three strands, often interwoven with particular activities, are characterized as follows:

• Creativity - exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance

• Activity - physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle

• Service - collaborative and reciprocal engagement with the community in response to an authentic need

 

Creativity, activity, service (CAS) encourages students to be involved in activities as individuals and as part of a team that take place in local, national and international contexts. Creativity, activity, service enables students to enhance their personal and interpersonal development as well as their social and civic development, through experiential learning, lending an important counterbalance to the academic pressures of the rest of the IB Diploma Programme. It should be both challenging and enjoyable - a personal journey of self-discovery that recognizes each student's individual starting point.

The CAS programme aims to develop students who:

 

• enjoy and find significance in a range of CAS experiences

• purposefully reflect upon their experiences

• identify goals, develop strategies and determine further actions for personal growth

• explore new possibilities, embrace new challenges and adapt to new roles

• actively participate in planned, sustained, and collaborative CAS projects

• understand they are members of local and global communities with responsibilities towards each other and the environment

 

As students engage in various activities, reflection plays a key component and is the ultimate indication that students have undertaken and completed their CAS requirements as part of the Diploma Programme. Student CAS goals and reflection must be directly connected to the following seven CAS learning outcomes:

 

• Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

• Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

• Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

• Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

• Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

• Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

• Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions