Where to start

 

During the IB physics course we spend 75% of the time trying to understand simple models the other 25% is spent realising that it's never that simple. That 25% is the time we spend trying to apply the theory to practical situations you can call it what you like, practical work, experiments, labs but in the end it will become IA.

The IB certainly didn't invent practical physics but they did invent the way they assess it and it is this that most of this website is devoted to. The problem is that the you have to apply a set of criteria to assess different aspects of the practical work and these criteria are both open to some interpretation and very difficult to apply if you don't do the right type of practical. So in this section I will explain what it all means and give some examples of the sort of practicals to use and how to mark them.  I should point out though that there isn't just one way of doing this there are many I'm just giving an example of one that works.

If you are new to the IB then it's best to read the beginners guide first so you'll understand the basic idea if you know the difference between a 4psow and an 4IA then you're not a beginner.

 

Finding Information

Everything you need to know can be found on the IB On-line Curriculum Centre or OCC. When your school registers to become an IB school you will be given a password to access it. The information you need to know is in 3 places:

The subject guide

This is basically the syllabus in html format. Here you can find the criteria, and the most important part "the clarifications of the IA criteria". This is where you find out how to apply the criteria to physics practicals which is not the same as the way it's done in Biology and Chemistry so take note.

The handbook of procedures

This has all the technicalities, dates and forms that you need to fill out

The Teacher Support material

This gives a bit more information than the subject guide. There are marked examples and moderators comments. Its a bit difficult to navigate because of the mix of pdf and html but its something you must look at.

With all this information available on the OCC what's the point of this site? Well unfortunately its not that easy. The IB will not tell teachers what they should do, their philosophy is that there are many ways to teach the programme and this should be left up to the teacher. The problem is that in the past many teachers have interpreted the criteria wrongly and their students have suffered. What I am doing on this site is giving an example, the way I do it. having seen this example you can either copy it or use it to clarify your own interpretation.