Theory of Knowledge Syllabus
DP Year #1
Mr. Malmed
2015-2016
Welcome to Theory of Knowledge (TOK)! In this central course of your
International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (DP) you will tie together all of your
DP coursework to develop a profound understanding of what it means to know
something.
TOK is a two-year long IB Diploma-required course about critical thinking
and inquiring into the process of knowing, rather than about learning a specific
body of knowledge. It works in conjunction with the other Diploma Program
subjects to support them in the sense that they reference each other and share some
common goals. The TOK course will examine how we know what we claim to know.
It does this by encouraging you to analyze knowledge claims and explore
knowledge questions. A knowledge claim is the assertion that “I/we know X” or
“I/we know how to Y”, or a statement about knowledge; a knowledge question is an
open question about knowledge. Furthermore, you will develop an understanding of
the distinction between shared knowledge and personal knowledge.
Over the course of this first year of TOK you will pose fundamental questions
about what knowledge is and arrive at some answers through a study of the Ways
of Knowing (WOK) that include language, sense perception, reason, emotion,
intuition, memory, imagination, and faith. You will then apply these WOKs to a study
of the Areas of Knowledge (AOK) that include the Natural Sciences, Human
Sciences, Mathematics, History, Arts, Ethics, Religious knowledge systems, and
Indigenous knowledge systems. Among the tools you will use to apply your study of
the AOKs will be the Knowledge Framework which is an outline that you will use
to investigate the scope and applications, language and concepts, methodology,
historical development, and links to your own personal knowledge of each one of
the AOKs.
At the end of both years of the two-year TOK course you will write a 1600word essay (5-6 pages) that answers a question posed by the IB using the TOK
analytical skills you will have developed. You will also give either an individual or
group presentation that similarly addresses a TOK question and uses TOK analysis
to answer. These assessments will be graded internally by me and externally by the
IB.
Along with your TOK content, the class time will also be used to administer
your Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) requirements as well as to develop your
Extended Essay. Both of these elements are core requirements for your IB Diploma
for which you will be provided more detail later in the TOK course.
Much of the work for this class will take place inside the classroom. In other
words, there will be very little homework because the demands on you from your
Diploma Program coursework will be much higher than other students’ curricula at
Eagle Rock. Therefore it is imperative that your TOK classroom time is focused and
that your work is done with your best effort. The TOK assignment-types are listed
below. Your success on these assignments will be critical for high marks in TOK.
Assignment Types (with point values)
Essay: (100 points, summative)
At the end of the year, using the analytical skills you will have developed throughout
the course, you will select one of six questions posed by the IB about knowledge.
You will receive the questions early in the year so will have ample time to select a
question, think about and develop your ideas, and draft your essay. Because the
essays will be submitted for external assessment, the version you submit to me for a
grade will be considered a rough draft. It will receive a score for the course but will
be returned to you to undergo revisions for external IB scoring. Your writing must
address the selected question specifically without modification, and must utilize the
WOKs and AOKs extensively in your analysis. Of course, general writing standards
that you are given in your Language and Literature class for the DP level will apply
as well.
Oral Presentation (50 points, summative)
Along with the essay, the presentation is the other externally assessed assignment
you will undertake. Either individually or in a small group of no more than three
people with each member having a substantively equal role to play in the
presentation, you will be required to analyze a real life situation and investigate it
by developing a knowledge question and applying TOK analysis to give an answer or
set of answers. You will develop the presentation with my approval and guidance
but the work will be your own. The presentation can take on a multiplicity of forms
(debate, classroom discussion, multi-media presentation, etc.) and will be practiced
extensively during class before it is assessed.
Smaller Presentations (5-25 points, formative)
Throughout the year you will give both group and individual presentations that will
demonstrate your understanding of TOK concepts and act as a tool for further TOK
analysis. They will serve to support your larger summative presentation and final
essay and be assessed on your ability to both conduct TOK analysis and
communicate your ideas orally.
Journal Writing (5-25 points cumulatively, collected periodically):
On a daily basis, you will be required to keep a journal of immediate responses to
reading and classroom discussion using quick-write responses, reflections,
annotation notes, and visual (charts, maps, and graphics) analysis. The idea is to
allow for free-flowing cognition and to get you used to writing regularly. Grading
will not be based on “right” or “wrong” answers but on the thoughtful commitment
to the writing activity. Completed journal entries will be shared in pairs, small
groups, and whole class discussion where noted ideas are extended, refined and
developed. Journal entries will be used as launching points for formal paragraphs
and the final essay.
Paragraphs: (10-25 points):
These are formal responses to the reading material and classroom activity. Using the
informal analysis completed in journals, you will expand your initial thoughts into
formal paragraphs. You will receive specific instruction on the writing and editing
process, particularly how to develop a solid organizational structure, controlling
perspective, clear assertions followed by development and/or textual support, an
understanding of audience, a variety of sentence types, a wide-ranging vocabulary,
and an overall fluency using techniques like parallelism, repetition, and emphasis
with graceful transitions between ideas.
Socratic Seminars (5-25 points):
These are both formal and informal discussions in which you will discuss among
yourselves important ideas from the TOK concepts we are studying. Emphasis will
be placed on developing group interaction and exploring more complex, mature
ideas at the DP level. There will usually be ample time to prepare ideas so that you
will be able to bring your ideas to the table. Still, there is much room for exploration
as you encounter new ideas and with your peers seek more sophisticated ideas
inspired by your reading and classroom activity. Thoughtful engagement and
positive contributions to group understanding will be essential and will receive
higher scoring.
Quizzes (5-15 points):
Periodically, as a way to measure focused participation, both scheduled and pop
quizzes will be given to assess levels of mindful commitment to classroom content
and activities.
General Participation (5 points per assignment/10 points monthly):
Student engagement and participation is essential for success both in the class and
for the DP assessments. Therefore, it is required that students give the maximum
effort to seek understanding, practice skills, and participate in classroom activities.
Because of this, credit will be periodically given for participation in either a specific
activity or else given generally over the course of a month.
Grading:
A+ = 97-100%
A = 93-96%
A- = 90-92%
B+ = 87-89%
B = 83-86%
B- = 80-82%
C+ = 77-79%
C = 73-76%
C- = 70-72%
D+ = 67-69%
D = 63-66%
D- = 60-62%
F = 59% and below
Late Work:
For most assignments, late submissions up to two weeks maximum will be
accepted but only for partial credit. Deductions will be made per day late depending
on the point value of the assignment. For example, 50-point assignments will be
deducted 5 points per day late.
Extra Credit:
There are no extra credit assignments offered, but additional credit can be
earned by revising any assignment based on comments and instruction I have
provided. The “extra credit” will come in the form of an averaged score between the
original score and the revision. For example a revision on an original 40/50 score
that earns a perfect 50/50 will receive a final, averaged score of 45/50.
Supplies
Students must have the following materials with them every day:
1. A TOK journal (composition notebook)
2. Three ring binder with extra paper or spiral notebook
3. Blue or black pens and #2 pencils
4. A planner/agenda (this must have enough space for each calendar
day to record all of you homework assignments for every class
5. Any and all relevant reading material
Classroom Rules
 When someone has permission to speak, everyone respectfully listens
 Absolutely NO food, drinks (except water), head-phones, or applying of
make-up
 NO phones. All private, non class-related phone activity is strictly forbidden
 NO hate language that insults a person’s gender, religion, sexual orientation,
physical appearance, or race will be tolerated
 NO writing on desks, chairs or other parts of the classroom
 NO packing up before the bell rings (even if there is just a minute left)
 Arrive on time
 Be on task
Course Schedule:
Introduction to TOK (August-September)
We will investigate the concept of knowledge and the rationale for how we know
something. The Ways of Knowing, Areas of Knowledge, and Knowledge Framework
will be introduced. Knowledge questions, the difference between personal and
shared knowledge, the role of the TOK class and its connection to the IB learner
profile, international mindedness, and overviews of CAS and the Extended Essay.
Important Concepts:
 Core requirements
 Ways of Knowing
 Areas of Knowledge
 Knowledge Framework
 Shared vs. Personal Knowledge
 International Mindedness
Assessments:
 Journal Writing
 Quizzes
 Small Presentations
 Socratic Seminar
Ways of Knowing: (September through December)
Once the groundwork for the TOK class has been laid in the introduction, an analysis
of each Way of Knowing will be given close study.
Important Concepts:
 Language
 Sense Perception
 Reason
 Emotion
 Imagination
 Memory
 Faith
Assessments:
 Journal Writing
 Small presentations
 Socratic seminars
 Quizzes
 Paragraphs


Small and large group discussion
Summative presentation
Resources:
 Theory of Knowledge 2nd Edition from Pearson
Areas of Knowledge: (January through mid April)
Important Concepts/Topics
 Natural Sciences
 Human Sciences
 Mathematics
 The Arts
 History
 Ethics
 Religious Knowledge systems
 Indigenous knowledge systems
Assessments:
 Journal Writing
 Small presentations
 Socratic seminars
 Quizzes
 Paragraphs
 Small and large group discussion
Resources:
 Theory of Knowledge 2nd Edition from Pearson
 The American Pageant 13th Edition by David M. Kennedy, Lizabeth
Cohen, Thomas A. Bailey
 PreCalculus with Trigonometry by Paul Foerster
 Trigonometry 5th Edition by Ron Larson and Robert Hostetler
 Marine Science: Marine Biology and Oceanography by Thomas Greene
 The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley
 The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
 Selected poetry from John Keats, William Carlos Williams, e.e.
cummings, Langston Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, and T.S.
Eliot
 Macbeth and selected sonnets by William Shakespeare
 Local, national, international, network, and cable news Broadcasts
 Youtube Videos
 Sicko by Michael Moore (documentary)
 Various Buddhist scriptures
 The King James Bible
 Paintings by Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Raphael, Frida
Kahlo, Salvadore Dali, Leonardo DaVinci, among others
 Selected Essays by George Orwell
 Emir Custarica’s Time of the Gypsies (film)
Final Assessment Development: (mid April through June)
The final weeks of the year will dedicated to developing, researching, writing,
editing, and revising the TOK essay.
Important Concepts:

Essay criteria

WOK and AOK adherence

Outlining

Drafting

Editing
Assessments:

Journal Writing

Peer Editing

Essay