Learning objectives tell teachers what to teach and students what to learn. It’s nice to see them back in the new IB Psychology Guide. But…they’ve put me in a quandary – do I use them? What’s the problem? Let’s take the approach objectives to begin with. You’ll see below the learning objectives for the sociocultural approach. At first glance, the …
One Essay – Six Concepts
Content knowledge is king in IB Psychology. It’s the foundation upon which all other critical and conceptual thinking skills are built. In this post, I put this idea to the test by writing one essay that could address six different concepts. The purpose of this post is not to encourage rote memorisation of entire essays , but rather to show …
RETRACTION: I was wrong – You DO need to teach all four contexts
The benefit of publishing ideas is you get them tested. Thanks to John Crane who recently showed me I’d overlooked two important aspects of the Paper 1 and Paper 2 assessments (and for Christopher for posting the question). Paper 1B and 2B are linked to the contexts (developmental, learning, health and relationships). This means if a student didn’t learn about …
Sample IB Psychology Course Outline (for first exams May 2027)
This is a sample course outline that shows how you can cover everything in a logical order. The units are from this textbook. Sample IB Psychology Course Outline – HL Only This is a Two Year HL course mapped onto a Northern hemisphere timetable (from St Maur, Japan’s schedule). YEAR ONE Semester One (65 lessons) Focus: Knowing the basics, including …
Beware the Booby Traps in Class Practicals
Sometimes I feel like a little kid running excitedly across a field towards a fancy new playground when I’m planning for this new course. Other times I feel like the field’s littered with landmines. A false step and I might blow up my leg, or in class I might miss something that has big ramifications down the line for students. …
How to get 7s in Paper One?Build a course on content, not concepts.
If you’re struggling to build your course on concepts, this post will explain why. About 12 years ago I realised how irrelevant command terms were for IB Psych exams. I lamented over lost time and energy spent focusing on these, at the expense of better things, like content. Since then I’ve tried to show you all what I learned. I …
Example Essay: “Strategies used to measure theory of mind.”
The following is an example essay I wrote for the new curriculum. It answers the (problematic) question on the specimen paper. I’ve included a commentary along the side of this which shows my thinking about how to approach these new essays. In a nutshell, I haven’t changed a thing – students need to explain the topic, explain research and think …
Seriously?
In the new IB Psych curriculum we’ve been given 45 hours to teach “data analysis and interpretation.” No thanks. I’ll have a hard enough time staying awake in that let alone my students. Here’s a workaround that will give you 20 extra hours in your course. IB Psychology curriculums are convoluted and complicated beasts. Luckily, they’re filled with loopholes we …
The T-REX SAQ
The first two questions in IB Psychology Paper One (new syllabus) are designed to be “quick wins.” They’re 4 mark SAQs that can be answered in about 250 words. I want to keep things simple so students go into exams with confidence. I also love a good acronym. So here’s my T-REX SAQ structure that can answer any SAQ. Don’t believe me? …
IA Resources – IB Psychology | HOME PAGE
Need help with your IB Psychology IA? This page has everything you should need. If not, leave a comment and I’ll see if I can help. IA YouTube Playlist IA eBook IA TSP Getting Started Not sure what to do? This IB Psych IA Quick Summary will help. (Blog and Video) The most important aspect of the IA is not …
How to answer Paper 3, Question 1 (a, b & c)
The following has been adapted from our textbook “IB Psychology: A Revision Guide.” (Now available as an online textbook). All HL students should score 100% (9/9) for the first questions in Paper 3 because it’s so easy. But most don’t because they make basic mistakes. Let’s look at the best and simplest way to answer these three questions. We know …
IB Psychology – Grade Boundaries New Curriculum (Feb 2019)
Are you wondering what you need to do to get a 7 in IB Psychology?It’s a bit tough to say exactly because as of now (February 2019) we have not had any exams for this new curriculum. But as I’m marking my students’ mock exams I have also created the grade boundaries that I will use for IB Psychology until …