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Activity 1 - Reflection and review of personal workshop objectives

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Activity 1 - Reflection and review of personal workshop objectives

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Knowledge Artifact: Choose a method for reflection from the EE website, and reflect on the notes you wrote in session 1 and session 4 on your objectives and reflections respectively.

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Evaluation, including self-evaluation, is another distancing technique.

It requires the students to look at something (be it their own work or that of another) from a distance and to judge it. This judgment of what has been produced and how, what has worked and what hasn't, is measured against pre-set objectives and criteria.

Evaluation may take place at certain points during the development of the EE as well as at the end of it.

But evaluative reflection and feedback should always be future- oriented. They should be formulated in terms of "So what?", "What impact?", "What next?" and "How next time?"

What to do with feedback, and how to use it, is a key feature of learning through reflection. However, feedback has to be managed carefully. Its timing and how it "lands" are important things to consider.

The SAFE framework categorizes feedback into four types and is a useful guide for supervisors.

Share-This is primarily an exercise in sharing work and ideas. It is judgment-free and is designed to affirm as well as develop the students' work. The supervisor's role is to examine the student's work and to share their ideas and suggestions. There is a sense of collaboration and of trying to solve a problem together.
Timing: early to mid project

Affirm-This is a response designed to confirm success and achievements, responding to what a student has done so far, why and its impact. It is important for students to feel they are making progress and affirmation is particularly useful during the "dips" in the process. Sometimes this is all a student needs to move them on.
Timing: any time

Feedback-General feedback helps the student to develop their work and to overcome particular problems and obstacles. It focuses on what they have and haven't done as well as how they have done it. It examines difficulties as well as possibilities and asks students to reflect on their own approaches and progress.
Timing: mid project

Evaluate-This is a measure of the student's success in achieving goals, answering questions and developing skills. It is based on the student's work, their original objectives and criteria for success and a discussion about how this evaluation will affect their future work.
Timing: end of project

The SAFE approach requires the supervisor and the student to decide together which type of response is most appropriate at any given time. Negotiating what type of response would be most useful can be very helpful, with some provisos.

Let's do this

Learner profile matrix

This is feedback and evaluation against the attributes of the IB learner profile.

Take each attribute and ask the students to measure the extent to which they have demonstrated these attributes in their work.

Discuss how they think they have demonstrated that particular attribute and how it helped to develop their work.

Alternatively, the supervisor can choose particular attributes, as flash cards, and ask the student to reflect on a selection of them.

Railway line

This is an exercise in future-oriented reflection.

It requires the student to mark a moment as a milestone of what they have achieved but to also reflect on the impact of this milestone on their learning and on them as a person. What is the impact of this on their future work, learning, methodology and actions?

Ask the student to draw a railway line (a vertical line divided by at least five shorter horizontal lines). The railway line should divide the page in half.

For each horizontal line on the left-hand side, the student then identifies breakthroughs, key moments, challenges (and how they were overcome) and triumphs regarding the work they have completed.

On the right-hand side, corresponding to each contribution on the left-hand side, the students record how this will affect their future actions, methodologies and/or approaches to learning.

This allows what has been achieved to influence future approaches and actions.

Memorandum

What we learn about ourselves during one piece of work can be elusive and easily forgotten unless it is documented. This is an opportunity for the students to write a list of "should" and "should not" to guide their future work.

The supervisor can ask the student to record five of each. This can also form the basis of the student's self-evaluation.

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Evaluation, including self-evaluation, is another distancing technique. It requires the students to look at something (be it their own work or that of another) from a distance and to judge it. This judgment of what has been produced and how, what has worked and what hasn't, is measured against pre-set objectives and criteria.

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Activity 1 - Learning pathways and the EE

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Activity 1 - Learning pathways and the EE

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We will outline the nature of the EE, including similarities and differences between the EE and the IA and an introduction to the EE website of resources for teachers and students on My IB.

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Choice of topic

The topic must allow an approach that relates specifically to biology. Where a topic can be approached from different viewpoints, the treatment of the material must be clearly biological. For example, an EE in an interdisciplinary area such as biochemistry will, if registered under the subject of biology, be judged solely on its biological content.

Essays that deal with human diseases can often be dealt with from a number of perspectives, such as biological, medical, social or economic. Such essays should focus on biological aspects of the disease rather than on medical diagnosis and treatment.

Similarly, essays that deal with sports physiology and physical fitness must have a clear biological emphasis. They must explore the issues from a biological viewpoint and provide biological explanations for the results.

Topics contravening safety protocols or IB policies

Some topics may be inadmissible because their means of investigation are unethical. For example, investigations that:

are based on experiments likely to inflict pain on, or cause stress to, living organisms

are likely to have a harmful effect on health, eg culturing micro-organisms at or near body temperature (37°C)

involve access to, or publication of, confidential medical information.

In all cases where human subjects are used as the basis for an investigation, clear evidence of informed consent must be provided in accordance with the IB guidelines.

Some topics may be unsuitable because of safety issues. Adequate safety apparatus and qualified supervision is required for experiments involving dangerous substances such as:

toxic or dangerous chemicals

carcinogenic substances

radioactive materials.

Other topics may be unsuitable because the outcome is already well known and documented in standard textbooks.

Examples of topics

These examples are just for guidance. Students must ensure their choice of topic is focused (left-hand column) rather than broad (right-hand column).

The effect of detergent toxicity on soil bacteria

Detergents in the environment

A study of malnourished children in Indonesia and the extent of their recovery after a period of supervised improved nutrition

Malnutrition in children

A study of the effect of differing pH levels on the growth of Phaseolus vulgaris

The effect of acidity on plant growth

The competitive and evolutionary nature of the symbiotic relationship in Paramecium bursaria

Symbiosis

The effect of banana peel on seed germination

Factors that affect the germination of seeds

Gel electrophoresis: The construction of an apparatus and the separation of proteins in heat-treated cow's milk

Uses of the gel electrophoresis technique

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The topic must allow an approach that relates specifically to biology. Where a topic can be approached from different viewpoints, the treatment of the material must be clearly biological. For example, an EE in an interdisciplinary area such as biochemistry will, if registered under the subject of biology, be judged solely on its biological content.

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Activity 1 - The importance of school context—links to the PSP aspirational guidelines

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Activity 1 - The importance of school context—links to the PSP aspirational guidelines

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We will consider how school contexts influence DP biology.

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Activity 1 - Introduction to external assessment

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Activity 1 - Introduction to external assessment

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We will introduce the role of external assessment, the different exam papers, types of questions, command terms, assessment objectives and the nature of markschemes.

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Knowledge Artifact: Use an exam paper to identify command terms and relate these terms to the assessment objectives in order to identify trends and patterns.

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Activity 1 - Outline the organization of the IA

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Activity 1 - Outline the organization of the IA

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We will outline the different methods of organizing the IA with a class (including methods of data collection, time allocation, and collaboration).

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Activity 1 - The role of practical work in DP biology

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Activity 1 - The role of practical work in DP biology

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We will discuss the roles of practical work in learning in biology.

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Inquiry-Based Labs Case Study: Biological Sciences

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Activity 2 - Preparing for the internal assessment

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Activity 2 - Preparing for the internal assessment

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We will identify skills required by students to succeed in the IA.

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You will brainstorm questions about the DP biology course which you still have or which you anticipate colleagues will ask once you return to school.

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Activity 1 - Presentation of the structure of the DP biology course

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Activity 1 - Presentation of the structure of the DP biology course

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Explanation of the DP biology course structure, including the road map, teaching hours, topics, SL/HL and the organizational themes.

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A summary of the changes to the DP biology curriculum.

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Activity 2 - Explore the biology roadmap

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Activity 2 - Explore the biology roadmap

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You will study the themes and the different levels of organization linking the topics, and then discuss how this framing of the content can help students to understand over-arching concepts in biology and to help make links to other subjects.

Knowledge artifact: Quiz about the biology roadmap and the topics in the guide.

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Activity 1- Introduce the DP programme model and unpack the elements of the core

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Activity 1- Introduce the DP programme model and unpack the elements of the core

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We will distinguish between NOS and TOK, explore the notion of “action learning” in CAS and relate it to aspects of biology, give a brief introduction to the EE, and use the "Portraiture approach to stimulate discussions of international-mindedness".

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What is an ib education support material

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You will be introduced to the workshop, the agenda, housekeeping information, the workshop leader, and to your fellow participants.

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Activity 2- Introduction to an IB education and the learner profile in biology

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Activity 2- Introduction to an IB education and the learner profile in biology

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You will be introduced to the IB mission statement and the essence of an IB education.

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Activity 3: The collaborative sciences project

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Activity 3: The collaborative sciences project

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We will discuss the role of the collaborative sciences project in the aims of DP biology.

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Exploration of TOK knowledge questions from each part of the knowledge framework.

Knowledge Artifact: Use of the Biology guide to find examples from the biology course that could illustrate each aspect of the nature of science.

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We will review the Programme Standards and Practices (PSPs).

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Knowledge artifact: Identify aspects of "Learning (4) standards and practices" in your school context or in examples covered in the first two sessions.

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You will engage in collaborative work to explore the use of linking questions to guide the design of a sequence of lessons.

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You will use a markscheme to grade a student response.

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Knowledge Artifact: You will undergo a self-guided exploration of the resources available on My IB, on the PRC, in the guide, and in other places.

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We will introduce an EE supervisor’s role.

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Activity 2 - Discussion of IA alternatives

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Activity 2 - Discussion of IA alternatives

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Looking at three examples of student IA work including the three main approaches.
Knowledge Artifact: “two stars and a wish” exercise

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Collaborative work to develop a few different approaches to teaching the biology topics.

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Activity 2 - Creating professional learning communities

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Activity 2 - Creating professional learning communities

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We will consider the ensuing benefits of participating in professional learning communities (PLCs), including IB programme communities.

Knowledge Artifact: Participants will create a community of their own to offer support to each other.

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Activity 3: The learner profile in my lab

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Activity 3: The learner profile in my lab

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We will discuss the following questions in relation to the different Learner Profile attributes:
• When do students in your classroom have opportunities to do this?
• What type of teaching or learning is happening in the classroom at this time?
• What do you have to do as a teacher to facilitate these activities?

Knowledge Artifact: Mini-posters for each attribute

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Activity 4 - Reflection and notes to self

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Activity 4 - Reflection and notes to self

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We will reflect on learning using Project Zero Compass points to record notes about areas of concern, questions to ask, or notes for colleagues back in school.

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Exhibition of mini-posters generated in session 3.

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Activity 4- Essential components of a teaching sequence

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Activity 4- Essential components of a teaching sequence

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We will share, discuss and reflect upon the sequences found, to identify the essential components of an effective course.

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Activity 3 - Individual reflection and course outline

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Activity 3 - Individual reflection and course outline

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Using your Compass Points reflection from session 2, choose from the activities below:
* Continue to complete your course outline.
* Create your own inventory of useful pages on My IB, adding them to “my resources” for easy reference at a later date.

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Activity 5 - Introduction to the approaches to learning

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Activity 5 - Introduction to the approaches to learning

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Using the Biology guide, you will identify the approaches to teaching and approaches to learning that were observed in the teaching practices described in the gallery walk activity.

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Knowledge Artifact: Produce a student help sheet or a checklist using the assessment criteria in the guide.

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We will explore the feedback from the examiners for the November 2022 session.
Knowledge Artifact: Collaborate to use this information to produce a resource to help students.

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We will share linking questions and linked topics from activity 2 and provide peer feedback.

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You will complete an exercise in guiding students to move their reflections from “descriptive” to “analytical” or “evaluative”.

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We will consider helpful tools or approaches to teaching and learning which can reduce barriers to learning and increase access to the curriculum for all students.

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We will use your personalized IA assessment criteria sheet and the details in the guide to assess a sample piece of work, answering questions and discussing judgements.

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Activity 5 - Themes and levels of organization in exam papers

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Activity 5 - Themes and levels of organization in exam papers

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You will study a multiple-choice exam paper to observe whether the questions follow a particular order.

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Activity 4 - Reflecting on a DP biology course

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Activity 4 - Reflecting on a DP biology course

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Knowledge Artifact: You will choose your activity:
* Reflect on and complete further development of your course outline
*Reflect on and plan a sequence of lessons or topics using a unit planner format

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Activity 4 - Resources and school policies to support students

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Activity 4 - Resources and school policies to support students

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We will explore strategies used in school by teachers to help their students work effectively with academic integrity and to reflect during the EE.
Knowledge Artifact: Produce a resource to help guide students.

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Activity 4 - Adapt a resource and explore an inclusion method

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Activity 4 - Adapt a resource and explore an inclusion method

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Knowledge Artifact: Working individually or in groups, take ideas about inclusion into consideration and build a resource which will be useful for one of the students in your class.

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Activity 5 - Plenary—review and reflection

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Activity 5 - Plenary—review and reflection

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Draw together everyone's assessment grades of the work from activity 4.