TOK: Current Event Presentation
Students will work alone, in pairs, or groups of three for this assignment. You or your
group will be required to select a current issue/event on which to present. You will apply
TOK questioning to this issue/event as you examine knowledge issues and different
perspectives. This will culminate in a timed presentation. Students who work
individually will be allotted a maximum of 10 minutes to present all information. Groups
of 2 or 3 will be allotted a maximum of 20 minutes. ALL presentations will be stopped
once you have reached the max. time limit. Make your decisions accordingly.
What kind of article should we select?
Anything at all that interests you and is related to this course. The article must be about a current
event/issue (within that last year—or ongoing) printed online, in a magazine, journal, or
newspaper. It may be strictly news or opinion/editorial. You should begin with an article that is
related to a timely event/issue and is relevant to your audience (typically a room full of educated,
young adults). Please bring the article (or a copy) to class. HINT: It helps to find articles on
topics with clear knowledge issues. This article is a STARTING point. Your task is to find the
primary knowledge issue, then focus on discussing this issue and its relationship to TOK.
What background information should I/we include in our presentation?
Your report to the class must include the following items: title of article, source (where you got it
and who wrote it), date article was published/event happened, brief summary of issue (including
any necessary background information).
What should we cover in our presentation?
This is a nice opportunity to really look at differing perspectives and relevance of your topic to
the audience. Review the knowledge issues chart we examined at the beginning of the year to
guide your selection and statement of the K.I. You should focus on the following:
 What is the relationship between the ideas/topic presented in this article and the topics
discussed in theory of knowledge? Make connections to the ways of knowing and
attempt connections to the areas of knowledge.
 Is the presented position biased? Uniformed? Limited? What might be some other
perspectives? How do we resolve these issues?
 Regarding the issues/event itself, what is the primary knowledge issue(s)? These can be
issues regarding justification or certainty, or issues that deal with the area of knowledge
itself or with one or more ways of knowing as it relates to the event/issue. You should
select a primary knowledge issue to focus on in the interest of both time and class
participation.
 What are the future implications of your issue? Explain.
When do we present and how many points is this worth?
Your group will sign up for a presentation dates. You MUST present on that day. Please be
sure you are ALL prepared to present the entire issue/event if necessary.
Your article, presentation outline, and presentation are worth 100 points total. Please refer to the
scoring rubric for exact point values.
Current Events Presentation Scoring Rubric
Unsatisfactory
Presentation met the required
10-20 minute time limit.
0-1
Emerging Meets
Exceeds
Standards Standards
4
2-3
5
0-5
6
7-8
9-10
0-1
2-3
4
5
0-1
2-3
4
5
0-5
6-7
8
9-10
Comments:
Submits copy of the article and
typed outline of the presentation.
Both content and professional
appearance/writing will be
assessed.
Comments:
Presentation was given on the
original sign-up date. All
members were present and were
equally involved in the
presentation.
Comments:
Presentation was appropriate
and professional. Attire is
appropriate, no gum chewing, no
vulgar language, limited use of
“um,” “uh,” “like,” “you know.”
Comments:
Information
& Summary
Comments:
Relationship to TOK
concepts/WOK/AOK
0-5
6-7
8
9-10
10-11
12-13
14-15
0-13
14-19
20-22
23-25
0-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
Comments:
0-10
Addresses the author’s
perspective and discusses the
issue/event from varying other
perspectives.
Comments:
Analyzes primary knowledge
issue(s) in relation to the
event/issue and the world at
large.
Comments:
Personal approach to the
topic, including relevance to
audience and future
implications
Comments:
TOTAL PONTS
Additional comments: