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by Antony W
October 22, 2023
The Theory of Knowledge essay is a mandatory test given to all IB diploma (IBDP) candidates, one that causes a lot of unfounded terror.
The fact that it is so different from many of the essays you are likely to do makes it all the more exciting, albeit with a bit of hard work.
While the IB TOK exam is split into two parts, 67% of the points come from the essay and the rest from the exhibition project . You need to ace the essay if you are to get respectable marks.
As the TOK IB essay rubric shows, what is being tested is how well you use the concepts of the nature of knowledge to critically explore how we know, using arguments for and against a real-life situation of your choice.
As such, official guidelines do not define a TOK essay structure, but you won't get anywhere without one. It takes skillful manipulation to get through it, and we will show you to pass your IB TOK essay assessment.
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Still, you might want to learn all there is to know about the TOK essay requirements, its recommended structure, and how each part should be written.
If so, settle down somewhere comfortable and off we go. Along the way, we will also suggest some proven tactics to help you pass the TOK essays.
A good TOK essay starts with a good approach. Before you get into the actual writing, you will need to select a topic, understand it, redefine it using your own words, and construct an appropriate knowledge question.
Our guide on how to write a compelling TOK essay can point you in the right direction.
The essay usually comes with several prescribed titles (PT), from which you're supposed to pick one and run with it. For example, Do good explanations have to be true was one of the prescribed title for May 2019.
You can follow these simple steps to choose an appropriate topic for your TOK essay .
For our purpose in this essay, suppose we choose to explore: "Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not" .
Ideally, the title you pick should be one you can understand, but they are usually convoluted and confusing. Make sure you understand your chosen topic fully, look up any terms that are new to you, and define any new terminology. As you probably know by now with TOK, things aren’t always what they seem.
Once you have understood what the essay is about, paraphrase with simple, direct language. Set out the perspective, contrast, and comparison in the title clearly enough for a nonprofessional to understand. You can do this by first breaking it down into parts and then putting it together again.
For our chosen PT, we gather that it is asking how new knowledge is acquired. Is it by asking 'why?' or 'why not?' Which method is more reliable, and why? Answering this question will give the substance of the essay.
Once you have your title understood in depth, put it at the top of your document, centered and in bold. You are now officially on your way to a great TOK essay.
From your topic and in the simplest language you can master, create your knowledge question (KQ). This is the question that your topic is going to answer, put together by words and phrases from the topic.
It is always best to work with an open-ended question that leaves you lots of room to explore different viewpoints and allows you to have a bang in the conclusion. It usually starts with, ‘to what extent’. As in:
“With regard to religious systems, does asking ‘why?’ limit our knowledge of what actually is, or does it protect us from fallacious faith?”
Explore the prescribed title and your knowledge question to discover what way of knowing (WOK) and areas of knowledge (AOK) you are working with. You will need 1 WOK and at least 2 AOK - 2 is the recommended number because one is too few, and 3 or more would not allow you to explore any one area thoroughly enough within the word count of 1600 words.
There are 8 ways of knowing , which are the ways we make sense of the world and in this case, we make sense of and understand the prescribed topic.
TOK recognizes 8 areas of knowledge . We’ve outlined and explained each on the Help for Assessment Blog.
Once you have picked one WOK and 2 AOK, you are ready to set out your TOK essay structure.
For our example, you can easily see that religious knowledge systems are one of our AOKs. To set contrast, let us pick out ‘Natural Sciences’ for the second AOK and ‘faith’ as a way of knowing.
Let’s check out one of our recommended formats.
As with most essays, the Theory of Knowledge essay outline is quite simple in theory. It consists of an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
However, the logical distinctions made between the parts are very different, so that is what we shall focus on. The recommended TOK format is designed to inspire your thinking, give form to your ideas, and present the result neatly and acceptably in a readable format.
Before you check out the TOK essay format, a word of caution: this is not a definite structure that you have to use. Instead, it is meant to be a guideline.
As stated before, there is no official format, but using this proven outline will get help to get you all three points if you do it right.
A Theory of Knowledge essay is about exploring how we know what we know .
Again, like most essays, you can think of yourself as a smart lawyer trying to convince a judge of something. Only in this case, you will be presenting both claims and counterclaims against your argument, picking out its strong and weak points, and supporting them with evidence.
The essay will have 7 paragraphs, totaling 1600 words. They consist of an introduction and conclusion each taking up about 200 words, and the rest split between 5 paragraphs for your claim and counterclaim.
The body will have 2 'divisions' for each AOK.
Paragraph 1: say something interesting about the prescribed topic, designed to hook the reader’s attention. You can give a twist to the topic to make it uniquely yours, and this twist will be what you will be addressing. E.g.,
‘Many people dismiss faith on the grounds that it offers little datum for belief, yet this criticism might be closing our understanding to so much more that could be.’
Use this chance to define any new, ambiguous, or complex term in the PT. Even if you know what the terms mean, the person marking your essay might not be working with the same definition. Thus, use it to bring them to the same page. In this case, you might define ‘faith,’ ‘datum,’ ‘criticism,’ and ‘understanding.’
In the same paragraph, give your thesis statement on the topic. Try to make it different from mainstream ideas on the same to keep things interesting. Since we have already picked a combative approach to our topic, this will be easy:
‘Faith as a way of knowing is taken to completely disregard or overlook reason and logic. Yet, science has much evidence that could form the basis of faith even with a purely logical approach.’
Tell the reader what you plan to discuss. Narrow your focus and state which WOK and AOKs you will use. From this point on, decide whether you are for or against your argument.
Paragraph 2: Just like all the paragraphs in the body, the second paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that describes clearly what your main claim or counterclaim here is. In this case, we might open it with,
‘From astronomy to biology, scientific datum shows that there is a lot yet to be understood.’
Paragraph 3: Set out a strong counterclaim to your argument in paragraph 1. You will be following the same TEEL format where you start with a strong topic sentence, explain, give an example, and link back.
Paragraph 4 : With a focus on the second AOK, set out your claim using the same format.
Paragraph 5 : Set out your counterclaim to the claim in paragraph 4.
Paragraph 6 : conclusion. Explain what insights you have gathered from your discussion on the PT. You will also describe the implications and significance of what you have uncovered. Why do you think we (the audience) should know it? Why does it matter that we understand what you are saying?
Paragraph 7 : Perspectives and extensions. You are not closing the case in your conclusion, rather, show your audience that the discussion is still open. The goal is not to defend or refute the thesis statements, although you will also prove or disprove it here. Rather, it is to show your method of knowing.
You can acknowledge one or two questions that remain unaddressed or unresolved. Better still, adopt a different perspective from what your essay has uncovered and show you are open to new discussions.
That is the outline that can help you write an excellent TOK essay.
However, the ones marking will not be looking at the format. What will they be looking at?
The IB TOK essay rubric uses a list of descriptors to judge your essay on various points.
Since it is up to the examiner to decide how well your essay fits the descriptor tags given, make it easy for them to realize how good your essay is. Here is what they are looking for when marking the IB Theory of Knowledge essay.
How well have you understood the prescribed title chosen? How comprehensive and cogent is your point of view on the topic? Your essay should demonstrate that you understood the topic and can draw contrasts as well as parallels in AOKs and WOKs.
You should also demonstrate that you recognize your own perspective or biases upon the subject and can analyze them as objectively as possible.
This criterion tests how thoroughly you have explored claims and counterclaims in your essay. Your main points should be well justified and your arguments compelling enough to sway your audience. You should also thoroughly explore the main counterclaims and identify any assumptions made in the process.
How well do you make your point?
More to the point, how effectively do you use real-life examples to make a point for your claims and counterclaims?
Your findings and insights should be used to extend the relevancy of these claims (or counterclaims) to other real-life situations.
What do you think, are you up to exploring your own knowledge systems and present them coherently and persuasively in a TOK essay? One unique feature of the essay is that it largely disregards fluency and quality of writing unless it impedes understanding or is too flowery to prove actual understanding.
Nevertheless, you can see that getting all three points will be a tall order. With the right essay and a respectable presentation, you can do it. Let Help for Assessments handle the essay portion for you and assure you of the 67% of points given for it. Our experts are all it takes to ace the IB Theory of Knowledge essay, thanks to our ground-breaking format and years of experience.
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About the author
Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.
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Your TOK exhibition is worth 35% of the grade. It is assessed internally, that is by your own teachers, but moderated externally by IB examiners. The “exhibition”, understood as both a noun and a verb, aims to assess how you can apply TOK concepts to the real world by requiring that you bring to presence, bring out of “hiding” and to “hold out”, ex-hibit, evidence of your ability to discourse on the subject matter that you have been studying and questioning in the course. Your discussion requires that you use representational thinking (thinking in images) and inductive reasoning to move from the particular images or objects you have chosen, establish their relation to one another through analogy or metaphor, and then proceed to the general principles and key concepts contained in the prompt that you have chosen to demonstrate your knowledge of those principles and concepts. Your first step is to ensure that you understand what principles and key concepts are involved in the prompt you have chosen.
Your Exhibition is a rendering that is handed over to others i.e. it is public. You have to complete the exhibition individually (no more groups) and make sure no one in your TOK class or school uses the same objects or images in their exhibition. In short, your TOK exhibition is a “holding forth” by you demonstrating how you understand some of the key TOK terms and how you are able to apply them to the “real world”. You are required to choose one prompt from the list below, and it must be exactly from this list and you cannot change the wording. You will then find three objects or images of objects that relate to this prompt and develop your interpretation accordingly.
It is very important that your exhibition is based on one of the prescribed prompts. If not, you will get a 0. You also create a document with the title of your IA prompt, images of the three objects, and you will also provide a commentary on each object that identifies each object and its specific real-world context. The comment should also justify the inclusion of the object in the exhibition and explain its links to the IA prompt (i.e. why these three objects or images from an almost infinite possibility?). Finally, you should also include appropriate citations and references. Perhaps the greatest challenge you will face is that the total word count for this document is 950 words (excluding references).
The purpose for this writing on these prompts is to provoke thought regarding our understanding of what the key concepts contained in the prompts might mean. Our interpretations of things may be complex requiring very specialized language from various areas of knowledge or it may be simple and be provided by what we might call “sound common sense”. It may be useful to you to determine which prompts belong to the same sub-group in terms of their main theme. Whatever prompt you choose, it is important for you to develop your arguments so that they are clear to your listeners and readers. In your analysis of your chosen prompt, you need to determine whether or not it is a “first-order question” and therefore a description or explanation, or whether or not it is a “second order question” and therefore involves the nature of knowledge, the type of knowledge involved, and how we know. The intention of this writing is to provoke thought on your part so that you are mindful of your choices and, hopefully, gain greater knowledge of who you are so that you will be able to make more aware judgements in the future about academic and ethical questions.
PROMPTS Each of the prompts are discussed in detail on the mytok blog. Chick HERE to see all thirty-five prompts.
Below we outline the practical details of the exhibition. We go into more detail about these aspects on the different pages for the TOK exhibition; follow the links to take you to them. Your teacher will obviously go through all of these points, particularly on the process of assessing your final exhibition. • The TOK exhibition is an individual task • It represents one third of the overall mark for TOK It is assessed internally, with a selection of exhibition files from each year group sent off to be moderated by the IB • You choose one IA prompt to explore, from a list of 35 options. These remain the same for every exam session • Three objects are also selected for the exhibition • The aim of the exhibition is to demonstrate the relationship between the objects and the IA prompt in a 950-word commentary • There is a single criterion for marking , and three characteristics of an excellent essay (convincing, precise, and lucid) • The context of the exhibition should be based on the core theme , or one of the optional themes • 8 hours of teaching/planning/writing is required for the exhibition task • Ideally, your exhibition should form the basis of a public event , to showcase TOK to the rest of the learning community • The exhibition is done at the end of the first year of the DP
(https://theoryofknowledge.net/tok-exhibition/)
How is the TOK exhibition marked? The exhibition commentary, and images of the three objects (along with references) is added to an exhibition file. This is marked internally by your TOK teacher, and uploaded to your IB dashboard, to be moderated externally. Your TOK teacher will explain this process in more detail. Where can I find out more about TOK exhibition rubric? Read our guidance on the rubric for the exhibition here . You can read the official rubric in the TOK subject guide, on page 47. Your TOK teacher will give you a copy of this. What are the IA prompts for the TOK exhibition, and how to I choose one? This page discusses the IA prompts. Your choice of a prompt should be driven by what you find interesting and engaging, and align to the experiences you’ve had inside and outside the TOK classroom. It should also allow you to explore either the core theme , or one of the optional themes . What do you mean by exhibition ‘objects’? Find out more about the exhibition objects here . These allow you both to demonstrate the way TOK manifests itself in the real world, and link your experiences as a knower to the TOK course. How do I write my exhibition commentary? We discuss the commentary here . In a nutshell, the commentary relates your objects to the IA prompt you’ve chosen, and shows how TOK is relevant to both the world around us, and to you personally.
(https://theoryofknowledge.net/tok-exhibition/)
TOK Home > Free TOK notes > TOK essay guidance > Writing & uploading the TOK essay
After you have grasped the essay rubric , chosen your title , and have a clear plan and structure , you can start writing your TOK essay. You’ll be doing this alongside the three interactions, so keep these in mind as you proceed.
Read the points below to get some advice on how to write your essay, and avoid common mistakes made by students.
Get started.
The most important part of writing your essay is getting started. You can procrastinate for ages, thinking about whether you’ve chosen the right title, which areas of knowledge to explore the question in, key thinker and ides to draw on, and so on. Obviously you need to choose the right title, and have an effective plan, but this means nothing until you have put your thoughts down on paper. You will find that many of your uncertainties start to resolve themselves when you start writing.
Your introduction should begin with a ‘hook’ to engage the reader, offer your interpretation of the key words or ideas from the title (don’t just copy a definition out of a dictionary – give your take on what the title means), outline the scope of the essay. Get your introduction right, and you will have set up the foundations for a great essay. If you rush it, or not view it with the importance it really requires, you’ll struggle to develop clear ideas in the main body of the essay.
By two, you should have formulated a clear essay plan. This means knowing which AOKs you are using as the context of the essay, the arguments and counterarguments you’ll be presenting, the real-life examples you’ll be drawing on to justify discussion points, how you’ll indicate the implications of your arguments, and the way in which you’ll challenge assumptions in the question. Agree with your teacher on this plan, and let them know if you are deviating significantly from it.
Each of the discussion points you make should be supported by a real-life example. These can come from your own experiences as a knower (inside, and outside of the school), or from events, issues, and topics you’ve read about or encountered from the news and other media sources.
A common mistake made by students is to move straight onto real-life examples without offering a proper discussion about knowledge. Discuss your own take on the question, perhaps referring to a key thinker or theory, before relating this to a real-life situation.
You need to offer a consideration of different points of view, and the way to do this is via counterarguments. For each of your claims or arguments, you should offer a counterclaim or counterargument, weighing up how the issue could be considered from another point of view. Make sure you evaluate these counterarguments, and don’t just mention them.
Make sure that you offer your own opinions, give your own interpretation of the title, and offer your own experiences to support your arguments. This will demonstrate your skills as a critical thinker, and distinguish your essay from those that rely on generic and cliched discussions.
In order to develop your ideas, and ensure that you’re on the right track with your essay, make sure you make full use of the with your teacher. It’s during these one-to-one sessions that you can discuss your arguments, evaluate your examples, and consider which key thinkers and concepts work in your essay.
Make sure that you format your essay in the right way, offer a decent bibliography, hit the word limit (without going over it), and follow all the other protocols for submitting your TOK essay. This will present a great impression to examiners, and show that you are ready and willing to follow the IB requirements for the assessment task.
Click on the buttons below to take you to the four steps of creating a great TOK essay. Don’t forget that we have plenty of videos on this and other aspects of the course, and members of the site have access to a huge amount of other resources to help you master the course and assessment tasks.
Check out our three-minute explainer video on the TOK essay here . The video goes over the basics of the TOK essay, such as how it’s assessed, the word count and other practical details, terms such as ‘perspectives’ and ‘implications’, and the role of real-world examples in justifying claims and arguments.
You’ll find more videos on this and other aspects of TOK here , and you can dive into much more depth via our free and premium webinars, here .
Click on the images below to access these premium webinars on how to create the essay and exhibition. Access more webinars here , and watch our videos on the assessment tasks on this page .
How do i choose my tok essay title.
You choose your essay from six prescribed essay titles, that are released at the beginning of your second DP year. We give a few tips on how to choose a PT that will work for you here . But briefly, choose one that links to your pre-existing knowledge, and that you find personally engaging.
You’ll be answering your prescribed title, within the context of two areas of knowledge, considering how different perspectives might affect our response to the question, and what the implications of your arguments are.
You can use ChatGPT to help you gather materials for your essay, but you should definitely not be using it to write the essay. Be very careful with ChatGPT. It bases its answers on online material, and much of this is inaccurate or out-of-date. For example, depending on what you ask it, it may tell you that you have to explore multiple areas of knowledge (rather than the two stipulated by the titles), and that you have to identify a separate knowledge question to the title (which is absolutely not the case).
Your teacher should run through the PTs when they are first released, and then meet you for three interactions, during which you’ll discuss your progress. They are allowed to give you one set of written feedback. But you can consult them at other times with specific questions.
Yes, real-life examples help illustrate your points and make your arguments more tangible. They can be drawn from personal experiences, historical events, scientific discoveries, etc.
While the TOK essay is not about your personal opinion per se, it’s important to reflect on your perspective and how it shapes the way you understand the title. However, you should avoid using the essay as a platform for rants or unsubstantiated claims.
Yes, including counter-arguments shows a deeper understanding of the complexity of the topic and demonstrates your critical thinking skills. It also enables you to consider different perspectives, and evaluate the implications of arguments.
Yes, as much as you can, draw on the key concepts such as justification, evidence, perspective, bias, certainty, and objectivity within your arguments linking them to the title, and to the real-world examples you draw on.
Clearly attribute ideas and sources that are not your own, and strive to present original insights and interpretations supported by evidence and reasoning. See our point above on using ChatGPT – never view this as more than a tool to help you gather material for your essay, rather than a tool to write it for you.
Avoid oversimplifying complex issues, relying solely on personal opinion without justification, neglecting counter-arguments, veering off the question, and failing to include a consideration of different perspectives.
You’ll have 6 months from the time the prescribed titles are released, to the deadline date for uploading your essay to the IB. However, most schools will set their own deadline for completing the essay, so that everyone has plenty of time to complete your PPF, and upload it on time. Follow what your school tells you about this.
The PPF (‘Planning and Progress Form’) is the document that you fill in to outline your discussions during the three essay. Although this is not directly assessed, it is an important part of demonstrating that you have approached the TOK essay in an ethical way, which is now particularly important in the era of ChatGPT.
Take breaks between revisions, seek feedback from peers or teachers, and carefully proofread for grammar, punctuation, and coherence.
While not required, referencing sources appropriately adds credibility to your essay; use footnotes or endnotes for citations.
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These titles prompt discussions on various topics in knowledge, ethics, science, mathematics, human sciences, and more. There is a maximum TOK essay word count of 1,600 words. This strict limit requires students to articulate their thoughts clearly and concisely. The essay is assessed using criteria that evaluate students' ability to identify ...
2. Understanding perspectives. Your TOK essay should show a clear awareness of different points of view, and should offer an evaluation of them. This means considering how different perspective might approach the question in different ways. 3. Offering an effective argument. The arguments within your TOK essay are clear and coherent, and are ...
The TOK essay is an opportunity for students to engage in a formal, sustained piece of writing in response to a prescribed title focused on the areas of knowledge. The assessment of this task is underpinned by the following single driving question. Does the student provide a clear, coherent and critical exploration of the essay title?
The Essay emphasizes Areas of Knowledge. CLASS ACTIVITY i: ... Read and assimilate is the official Assessment Rubric . Read and grade teacher chosen Essay Exemplar A . 2. Find a partner ... Print out (on both sides of one sheet of paper) the "Theory of Knowledge prescribed titles" document. The first page contains the IB logo and formal ...
The TOK exhibition rubric. After understanding the basic requirements of the exhibition, your next step is to grasp how it is evaluated and marked, which is outlined in the 'assessment instrument'. Your TOK teacher will give you a copy of this, or you can find it online in the 2022 TOK Guide. Our 3-minute explainer for the TOK exhibition ...
Once you've grasped the essay rubric, and chosen your title, you can start planning and structuring your TOK essay. You base this around the 3 interactions with your teacher, which are one-on-one meetings discussing your progress, and receiving feedback. As well as the interactions, you can also ask your teacher specific questions about your ...
Theory of knowledge (TOK) is assessed through an exhibition and a 1,600 word essay. It asks students to reflect on the nature of knowledge, and on how we know what we claim to know. TOK is part of the International Baccalaureate® (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) core, and is mandatory for all students. Learn more about theory of knowledge.
Aspect. Level 5 Excellent 9-10. Level 4 Very Good 7-8. Level 3 Satisfactory 5-6. Level 2 Basic 3-4. Level 1 Elementary 1-2. Irrelevant 0. Understanding Knowledge Questions. There is a sustained focus on knowledge questions connected to the prescribed title and are well chosen—developed with investigationof.
The TOK essay is a 1600 word essay written about topics usually given to students from their teachers from a list of numerous options. It is an essay that promotes arguments and counterarguments for the topic at hand. Understanding your ways of knowing (WOKs) and areas of knowledge (AOKs) is extremely crucial before you even start choosing a ...
Here are the essential elements: 1. Assessment pages of the TOK Subject Guide. 2. Prescribed Essay Titles for the examination session. 3. The 35 Exhibition Knowledge Question Prompts. 4. Rubrics for the Exhibition and for the Essay.
**The TOK essay rubric Four key points that IB Examiners made in essays from previous years were: * Don't use hypothetical examples. In other words, when you support your thesis with stories related to different Areas of Knowledge, make sure they are real. Don't say something like, "Suppose this
Essay shows adequate evidence of independent thinking about knowledge issues related to prescribed title. Essay shows thoughtful, personal engagement with the knowledge issues and some self-awareness as a knower. Acknowledges different perspectives and some attempt to explore these. Examples chosen are effective, with some variety.
Theory of Knowledge is assessed, but not in the form of an exam. Instead, there are two parts of the assessment: an essay on a prescribed title and, new to this specification, the "TOK exhibition." The essay is marked externally and is worth 67% of the marks. The Exhibition is marked internally (but moderated externally) and worth 33% of the marks.
Paragraph 1. - Say one or two interesting things about the prescribed title question. This shows us, right away that you know what the question is asking. - Define one or two of the key terms in the title. Get definitions for all of the main words in your title. You don't need to include all of them in your essay, but it's useful to see how ...
Generally no …. TOK examiners tend to be quite dismissive of essays that argue either that we can't know anything at all or that you can have your 'truth' and I can have my 'truth' and that these truths are both true. The first of these approaches is often called 'lazy scepticism' and the second 'easy relativism' and you can ...
Tags: Areas of Knowledge, Core Themes, Exhibition Prompts, Exhibitions, Knowledge Questions, Learner Profile Attributes, Optional Themes, TOK Essay, Ways of Knowing American School of Madrid │ Calle America 3 │ Pozuelo de Alarcon │ 28224 Madrid
1 The TOK essay is an individual task. 2 It represents two thirds of the overall mark for TOK. 3 It is externally marked. 4 You choose your title from a list of six prescribed titles, which change every exam session. 5 The word count for the essay is 1600 words. 6 You'll meet your teacher for 3 interactions to discuss your essay.
As the TOK IB essay rubric shows, what is being tested is how well you use the concepts of the nature of knowledge to critically explore how we know, using arguments for and against a real-life situation of your choice. ... A Theory of Knowledge essay is about exploring how we know what we know. Again, like most essays, you can think of ...
Example essays. Last updated: 06 June 2023. As part of theory of knowledge (TOK), each student chooses one essay title from six issued by International Baccalaureate® (IB). The titles change in each examination session. Upcoming and past questions include:
How to write a TOK essay: webinar. This 80-minute webinar video and presentation gives you a clear, engaging, step-by-step guide to the task, helping you to understand the assessment rubric, choose the right PT, and produce an essay that hits all the assessment targets.
Your TOK exhibition is worth 35% of the grade. It is assessed internally, that is by your own teachers, but moderated externally by IB examiners. The "exhibition", understood as both a noun and a verb, aims to assess how you can apply TOK concepts to the real world by requiring that you bring to presence, bring out of "hiding" and to ...
Writing & uploading the TOK essay. After you have grasped the essay rubric, chosen your title, and have a clear plan and structure, you can start writing your TOK essay. You'll be doing this alongside the three interactions, so keep these in mind as you proceed. Read the points below to get some advice on how to write your essay, and avoid ...