UniGeniusIB Theory of Knowledge

Course map

Knowledge and the knower, and the knowledge framework

  • Knowledge and the knowerAssessed in: TOK essay; TOK exhibition
    • Reflect on yourself as a knower: the communities, experiences and assumptions that shape what you know
    • Tell knowledge from belief and opinion, and explore how communities of knowers shape what we know
    • Ask how we decide whom and what to trust
    LessonPractice
  • Knowledge questions, the knowledge framework and key conceptsAssessed in: TOK essay; TOK exhibition
    • Write and recognise knowledge questions: open, contestable and about knowledge itself
    • Use the knowledge framework: scope, perspectives, methods and tools, and ethics
    • Apply the 12 key concepts: evidence, certainty, truth, interpretation, power, justification, explanation, objectivity, perspective, culture, values and responsibility
    LessonPractice

Optional themes

  • Optional themes: knowledge and technology, knowledge and languageAssessed in: TOK exhibition
    • Explore how technology extends, changes and challenges how we know
    • Explore how language enables and limits knowledge, and how it shapes what we notice
    • Find objects and knowledge questions in both themes
    LessonPractice
  • Optional themes: knowledge and politics, religion, and indigenous societiesAssessed in: TOK exhibition
    • Explore power, authority and bias in political knowledge
    • Explore faith, evidence and interpretation in religious knowledge
    • Explore how indigenous knowledge is produced, kept and shared, and who decides its value
    LessonPractice

Areas of knowledge

  • HistoryAssessed in: TOK essay
    • Ask how historians select, interpret and use evidence about the past
    • Weigh perspective, bias and hindsight in historical accounts
    • Use history examples in essays, with their knowledge questions
    LessonPractice
  • The human sciencesAssessed in: TOK essay
    • Ask how the human sciences study people, and the limits of their methods
    • Weigh models, statistics, observation and the observer effect
    • Use human science examples in essays
    LessonPractice
  • The natural sciencesAssessed in: TOK essay
    • Ask how scientific knowledge is produced, tested and revised
    • Weigh observation, experiment, models, falsification and paradigm change
    • Use natural science examples in essays
    LessonPractice
  • The artsAssessed in: TOK essay
    • Ask what kind of knowledge the arts produce and how it is judged
    • Weigh interpretation, intention, emotion and cultural context
    • Use arts examples in essays
    LessonPractice
  • MathematicsAssessed in: TOK essay
    • Ask what makes mathematical knowledge certain, and whether it is discovered or invented
    • Weigh proof, axioms, intuition and the application of mathematics to the world
    • Use mathematics examples in essays
    LessonPractice

The essay and the exhibition

  • The TOK essay: unpacking a title and building an argumentAssessed in: TOK essay
    • Unpack a title: its key terms, its assumptions and the areas of knowledge it invites
    • Build claims and counterclaims with specific examples, and evaluate them
    • Write a clear, coherent and critical essay within 1,600 words
    LessonPractice
  • The TOK exhibition: objects, IA prompts and commentariesAssessed in: TOK exhibition
    • Choose one IA prompt and three specific objects with real-world contexts
    • Explain how each object links to the prompt and justify its particular contribution
    • Write commentaries within 950 words, with evidence and references
    LessonPractice

IB Diploma Programme Theory of Knowledge. Essay titles here are our own, written for practice; the IB sets six new titles each session.

Independent preparation for IB Diploma Programme Theory of Knowledge. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the International Baccalaureate Organization.

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