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IB Diploma Programme course outline notes

Dear All,

Thank you for taking part in the design of the ICS IB Diploma Programme. The following notes
attempt to guide you through the process of course design, but do at anytime, talk to any member of
the IB Steering Committee (Rose, Jo, Ean or Steph) if you require any guidance or simply want to
brainstorm/share ideas.

Once you have been on specific Diploma course training and/or visited/talked to an IB Diploma
school during the next academic year, you may want to tweak your outline, but the expectation is
that you will have a draft completed and emailed to Jo (cc Rose deputyhead@ics.uk.net) by the end
of training week 3rd July 2009. Jo’s email address = englishliterature@ics.uk.net

Please make clear at the end of this draft any problems you face in writing the draft, so that we
can address these quickly when we return in August. Jo and I will check in with each of you
during the week’s training to see how you are getting on with the draft.

In 2004, some drafts were created by teachers at ICS and if one exists for your subject Jo/Ean/Rose
will give you a copy of it. The course may have moved on since that time, so please check the details
in your subject guide and ‘upgrade’ it. If you don’t like the old draft, please ignore it!

GUIDELINES

1. Please prepare a course outline following the guidelines below. While IB subject guides will
be used for this exercise, teachers are expected to adapt the information in these guides to the
ICS context. Please be sure to use IBO nomenclature throughout.

2. Please pay attention to the guidance below under the heading ‘In addition’, which gives
additional points for each subject group. Providing opportunities for analytical and
critical thought and embracing the concept of ‘internationalism’ are important for all
courses.

3. Assessment: All courses have ‘internal assessment’ requirements (normally worth around
20% of final grade) as well as ‘external’ examination requirements. Internal assessment or
coursework is internally assessed (by you) and externally moderated (by the IBO) against
Diploma subject criteria. Formative assessment will also be ongoing throughout the course
and will include pieces of class work/homework etc that isn’t submitted as part of the internal
coursework, but is work set by you to consolidate student learning. Examinations/orals etc
will naturally occur at the end of each two year course with an examination session in
April/May each year. These examinations are set by the IBO and follow similar guidelines re.
Procedures to the A’ level exams. Please note that unlike the A’level courses, IB
examinations are only held at the end of the two year course. ICS will probably also chose to
have in addition to these exams, an examination regime to help our students prepare for this
examination experience, so mock exams and perhaps summer exams during the first year for
example.

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The most important aims of assessment in the Diploma programme are that it should support
curricular goals and encourage appropriate student learning i.e. be relevant to the course
goals and encourage student progress.

Please look carefully at the assessment requirements for your course and develop a response
that clearly describes the internal assessment activity(ies) that you are going to action and the
criteria they are designed to be assessed against. State also what external assessment
expectations exist for your course.

4. Resources: please make it clear the resources that we already have for the course and those
that we do not have. Please also provide a ‘ball park figure’ of what we need to spend in
order to resource the first year of the course and again for the second. NOTE: None of the
Diploma subjects have set course textbooks and you should not refer to one in your course
outline. Rather, a range of ‘texts’ are recommended alongside library based resources which
we need to build up.

5. TOK – a final box asks you to link your subject outline to aspects of the TOK course. Please
keep this box empty for this first draft. We will address this together in September/October
2009.

6. Please write separate drafts for HL and SL although much of the programme will be the
same. We are planning to teach HL and SL students in all subjects for year 1 courses together
and the same for Year 2 students (except Maths HL and SL). Keep this in mind as you plan
the two year courses, so that typically 3 lessons each week will be common to both HL and
SL, with a further two just for HL students..

7. Timing – We are planning for a 38 week student school year in the first year of the course, so
please plan to hit the ground running the first week of term! The second year of the
programme, teaching will basically end by the end of the Spring Term, so 27 weeks (Diploma
examinations typically start from 2nd May each year and continue through to end of May).
Please plan for 5 periods of 45 minutes per HL subject and 3 for SL. Weeks per term wil
thuis be:

1st Autumn Term = 15 weeks of teaching

1st Spring Term = 13 weeks

1st Summer Term (1st Year) = 10 weeks

2nd Autumn Term = 15 weeks

2nd Spring Term = 13 weeks

2nd Summer Term = 0 teaching weeks

8. A’levels – When we launch the Diploma in September 2010 all students that year will take
this course and not A’ levels. Obviously however, there will be a group of students who in
September 2010 will be completing the second year of their A’level programme. Once we hit
September 2011, all A’level courses will have been replaced.

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PLEASE PLACE ANSWER TO Q. 1 AND 2 BELOW ONTO A COVER PAGE AND INTO
THE HEADER OF YOUR DOCUMENT

1. Name of the teacher who prepared the outline and school name:

2. Name and level of the course and which Subject Guide is being utilised:

3. Course description:
In two to three paragraphs, describe the course in terms of focus, purpose, aims and
objectives, the inclusion of internationalism, the proposed process, and expected
assessment. This should be a summary.

4. Topics:
In narrative or outline form, list what you will cover in your course to meet the IB
syllabus requirements and the teaching weeks that each ‘unit’ will take.

5. Assessment:
Knowledge of IBO-required assessments and descriptors should be evident. All parts
of IB assessment should be addressed, both internal and external.

6. Resources:
List the books and other resource materials and software that will be used in the
course. Information should include what is currently available as well as what is
being ordered.

7. Teaching time:
List all classroom teaching hours for each HL and SL course. Explain how the hours
are calculated.

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HL/SL course Teaching hours

(add rows as necessary)

8. TOK:
Please indicate the links between your course outline and the TOK course. You will find that
certain topics/skills etc will lend themselves very directly to the TOK course and it is these
links that we need to emphasize with the students in order to bring alive the TOK course. All
teachers will also be encouraging the entire faculty to contribute to the TOK programme,
whether for a one off session or a short series of sessions.

In addition:
For group 1 subjects:
• Does the course provide adequate preparation in oral and written expression and in
analytical and critical thought?
• List the works for language A1 and explain how these works reinforce
internationalism.
• Does your list of works reflect the requirements of both “genres” and “periods”, as
explained in the language A1 syllabus and in the prescribed book list (PBL) for your
language A1?
• Are there adequate materials, particularly in literature, criticism, and literary history?

For group 2 subjects:

• Does the course provide adequate preparation in oral and written expression and in
analytical and critical thought?
• Is provision made for individual practice in speaking and listening over and above
what is possible within regular class hours, whether through a language laboratory or
by other means?
• Is each language level grouped appropriately, allowing the teachers to provide
specialized, intense instruction for each group?

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• Explain how the resources and themes chosen will highlight or reinforce
internationalism.
• Is the school well stocked with general high-interest reading material at all levels of
proficiency in the languages being offered?
• Does the school subscribe to newspapers and periodicals in the language(s) being
offered for student and staff use?

For group 3 subjects:

• Where history will be offered at higher level, please indicate the regional option
selected.
• Have the teachers organized appropriate optional topics for study where applicable?
Does the course provide adequate preparation in oral and written expression and in
analytical and critical thought?
• Explain how the topics chosen will be used to reinforce internationalism.
• Does the school subscribe to newspapers, periodicals, and current reference materials
providing up-to-date information, for both staff and student needs, relevant to the
group 3 courses offered at the school?
• Where history will be offered at higher level, are there adequate reference
materials in the library to support the study of the regional option, as well as to
provide sources for in-depth study?

For group 4 subjects:

• Have the teachers organized appropriate laboratory exercises and optional topics for
study that conform to IBO requirements for the specific science course?
• Does the course provide adequate training in analytical and critical thought?
• Have science teachers collaborated and planned for the group 4 project?
• How do you envision that the methodology and resources with which the sciences are
presented will enhance the international perspective of your students?
• Has there been an assessment of the laboratory facilities?
• Is there adequate instructional space for the group 4 courses?
• Are the science laboratories adequately equipped to perform those exercises required
by the IB Diploma Programme curriculum?
• Does the school subscribe to appropriate scientific periodicals and journals and
maintain balanced, current and adequate stocks in the life and physical sciences?

For group 5 subjects:

• Does the course provide adequate training in analytical and critical thought?
• Have courses been sequenced to provide appropriate preparation for the various
mathematics options and computer science?
• How will the international perspective of your students be enhanced by the
methodology and resources used in the teaching of mathematics/computer science?

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• Does the classroom and/or library contain a variety of modern mathematics

textbooks, technical reference materials and other supplementary instructional
materials to support the course(s) in IB mathematics?
• Does the classroom and/or library contain sufficient materials to support the computer
science course?

For group 6 subjects:

• Are all group 6 courses adequately supported with materials and laboratory/studio
space?
• Does the course outline adequately demonstrate that the school has prepared for the
required internal assessments for the subject(s)?

For Theory of Knowledge:

• Is the TOK course designed to conform to IBO requirements in substance and classroom
hours?
• Indicate the distribution of TOK topics over the two years of the IB Diploma Programme.
• Does the course provide adequate training in analytical and critical thought?

For all subjects:

• Has a thorough review of the available resource materials and equipment (both within
the department and in the library/media centre) been conducted?
• Are instructional materials available in sufficient quality, quantity and variety to give
effective support to the aims and methods of the courses?
• Are community resources used both within the classroom and as part of regular field
trips?
• Are the needs and projected costs of acquiring all necessary materials and equipment
for each subject group clearly stated?
• Is an international perspective included?

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