The Internal Assessment in the new IB Psychology Course (for first examination in 2019) has undergone considerable changes and this article is designed to outline how the new requirements will impact the IA process for students.
In the past, the IA involved the replication of a simple experiment and the writing of a report on that experiment. The work was generally completed individually. HL students were required to write a report that included inferential statistics. SL students only needed to include descriptive statistics.
The new IA requirements are now the same for both HL and SL. They involve mandatory group work in proposing and conducting an experiment, inferential statistics and a new report format. Once students have gathered their data they must not collaborate in any way in the statistical analysis of that data and in the writing of the report. Pamoja follows the IB recommendation to employ Turnitin.com to check the authenticity of the IA report.
Some students may be in a group with students from other Pamoja classes or even with students in other schools.
Students are introduced to the IA in the last week of Year 1 and are encouraged to form groups and select a study to replicate. In the first week of Year 2, they are asked to commit to a group and to a suitable study.
The first crucial step in the process is the submission of a proposal. This is due by mid-September. The IB has provided strict guidance about the nature of the experiment students can undertake and the ethics involved in experimenting with human participants. Teachers will not grant students permission to carry out the experiment until their proposal meets these guidelines.
Course activities from Weeks 34 to 39 provide extensive guidance and Pamoja teachers will conduct Live Lessons to offer further support.
SBCs can also help in the following ways:
1. Ask students about the study they plan to replicate.
2. Ask them about their group members.
3. Ask them if their proposal has been approved.
4. Provide logistical support to carry out the experiment (typically students use classmates as participants).
5. Encourage students to participate in Live Lessons.
6. Reinforce the importance of academic honesty