Dear Students,
This message is to provide a little clarification about grading in our TOK course so that you fully understand what you have been awarded and can use that as a benchmark for the improvements you are going to make next academic year! Try to think of the assessment not as an end in itself but as a way of measuring the quality of your thinking about what you know. In the end, the really important thing about TOK is broadening of your intellectual horizons, not the letters in the boxes. But wouldn't you feel proud if your achievements were recognized in a public manner with a grade A?
As you know, TOK is graded on an A-E scale:
A = excellent work
B = good work
C = satisfactory work
D = mediocre work
E = elementary work
Now this semester (and next semester), this grade will be mainly determined by the scores you achieve in a presentation (out of 20) and in an essay (out of 40). This semester, it is the TOK Weekend presentation and the essay you are now receiving back that will count. Next semester it will be your final presentation and final essay. The most important thing is that you learn from your experiences this semester in both of these components so that what your work next semester is the very best quality you can produce.
Grade A is reserved for the very best work, and therefore a substantial achievement when awarded. You would need a total of 48 (out of 60) or more for this. For a B, it would be at least 38, and a C at least 29. Then we take into account your relationship to this blog and consider raising the grades of those students who who provide high quality contributions. In quite a number of cases, we have done so.
Let's keep the conversations going. The great advantage of this medium is that we don't need to start and stop according to any school timetable. I will try to put some things up during the vacation. When we return in August, we will find some new ways to use this blog for learning, so watch out for that!
