There are almost 40 different essay topics in the four contexts. Combine this with six different concepts and we have over 200 possible essay questions in Paper 1, Section C. How can you prepare for that? Here’s one idea.
The Paper 1 essays combine one topic with one concept. The IB has said only the “Area of study” (i.e. topic titles) can be used in formulating the question. That means a nice generic question template is: “In the context of (insert context), discuss the concept of (insert concept) in relation to (insert topic).
Using this template will be enough to prepare for the real exam questions. This means we can combine a random question wheel spinner with a concept-die to create essay questions. Here’s how…
The Concept-Die
First we need a way of choosing the concept. There are six concepts and dice have six sides – how convenient. If you make a paper die like the one below you can roll this to see which concept gets inserted into the question. (Read more here).
Download the template to make this die HERE.
An alternative option is to find a wooden block and write the six concepts on the sides. This would be good for teachers to have as class sets because they’ll last longer.
You can use any wooden block to make a concept-die. (Image: ChatGPT). An entrepreneurial student could make some of these as merch to sell 🙂
Alternative – use this online wheel spinner to generate the concept (link).
The Question Wheel Spinner
Now you need the topics. Scroll down and you’ll find a Question Wheel with all topics for each context. Simply roll the die and then spin the wheel to see which topic you need to write about. For example, the wheel below has landed on “Cultural differences in one mental health disorder.” We now combine this with a concept from the die and we have an essay question.
- Example: In the context of health and well-being, discuss perspective in relation to cultural differences in one mental health disorder.”
There are lots of options online for making random wheel spinners. One I like is wheeldecide.com.
Tip: You can reduce your revision by focusing on three contexts, not four. That’s because you have two essay questions and choose one.
THE WHEELS
Human Relationships
The following wheel has topics for the human relationships context (Link to wheel)
Health and Well-being
The following wheel has topics for the health and well-being context. (Link to wheel)
Learning and Cognition
The following wheel has topics for the learning and cognition context. (Link to wheel)
Human Development
The following wheel has topics for the human development context. (Link to wheel)
I love the random wheel spinner for simulating exams. We know the possible topics, but we just don’t know which one will be asked.
Wheels not working? Let us know – info@themantic-education.com
Travis Dixon has been teaching for over 20 years and is an experienced IB Psychology, History and English teacher, author, workshop leader and examiner