Theory of Knowledge

• The Theory of Knowledge (TOK) is a part of the IB curriculum, specifically positioned as the core of the curriculum.

• TOK aims to:

  • 1. Encourage students to reflect on their own thinking in a meta-cognitive (≒objective) way.
  • 2. Provide students with a framework for such thinking.
    • By providing a systematic framework, TOK ensures that meta-cognitive approaches are not biased towards certain areas of knowledge, covering both humanities and sciences.
    • If There is a Framework, You Can Recognize the Blank Space Enclosed by the Framework
  • For example, when watching the news and feeling uncomfortable with a statement made by a politician, TOK encourages students to consider why they felt that way.
    • Was it because there was a logical error in the statement?
    • Was it because the statement conflicted with their own beliefs?
    • Was it because there is shared knowledge that suggests the statement is suspicious?
  • Students are encouraged to think about such questions.
  • (If you can think of other examples that would be easier to understand when explaining to non-IB students, please write them down @(axokxi)(aka))

• Knowledge Questions (KQs) encourage meta-cognitive thinking.

  • Instead of asking “what do we know,” KQs ask “how do we know.”
  • For example, in the context of ethics, instead of discussing whether the death penalty is good or bad, students would consider how judgments about the death penalty are made.
  • Instead of focusing on the theory of relativity itself, students would explore how Einstein arrived at his theory.

• There is a Knowledge Framework for each of the six Areas of Knowledge (AOKs).

  • Scope, Concepts/Languages, Methodology
  • 範囲、用語、方法論

• Developing KQs is a training in abstraction.

  • It is more about generalization.

• Summarize in Tips for TOK Essay.

• TOK Essays seem to be just presenting four cases (RLS) and stating opinions without much evidence.

• It seems limited to only showing that a claim is true in one case and false in another case.

• Well, maybe it’s training to connect real events with general meta-topics.

  • If that’s the case, I think it has great value.

• http://ib.compscihub.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/IBCompSciGuide.pdf

  • The study guide discusses the connection between Computer Science and TOK.#informationscience
  • The theme is very interesting and can be used as a reference when thinking about TOK Presentations.
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• Learning about WOK in TOK was a turning point that made me reconsider my previous belief in logical thinking supremacy.

  • It’s just one of the seven concepts.

• As a learning experience in TOK, I feel that “expertise includes not only knowledge but also skills (methodology)” is important.

  • Gaining knowledge does not automatically make one an expert (a quiz champion is not necessarily a super expert).
  • In a way, this seems to be the difference between IB subjects and regular subjects (not only knowledge).
    • IB History: Developing critical perspectives
    • IB Sciences: Developing the ability to set up experiments
    • Realizing this, I once again think that TOK is truly at the core of the IB.

• Also, I feel that I have gained the skill of consciously considering the premises and definitions when constructing logic and arguments.

  • It’s about explicitly thinking about definitions and premises that would otherwise be ambiguous.
  • This seems particularly useful when thinking through Language.