The step-by-step

summary





The TOK presentation: a step-by-step summary

Step 1: Understand what the TOK presentation is

Its vital that you read through the relevant section in the TOK subject guide for the
presentation. Look initially at the general instructions, noting points such as -

The maximum group size is three students
No group may repeat the topic of another group
The main real life situation can centre around either the local community, or have a
global scope
The time of the presentation should be (approx) 10 minutes per group member
You will need to complete a presentation planning document, and provide your
teacher with a copy of this before you deliver your presentation

When you have all these practical points shorted, you need to turn your attention to the
way the presentation will be assessed. Your presentation will receive a mark out of 10,
based on whether you have shown that TOK concepts can have a practical application. This
means doing the following:

Describing your main RLS clearly
Identifying a central KQ from this RLS
Exploring this KQ via different perspectives, and on the way, supporting your
arguments with examples
Linking your arguments and examples back to your original RLS

Take a look at the TOK presentation instrument, focusing on the top mark band - this is
what you are aiming for! Your presentation should be sophisticated, discerning, insightful,
compelling, and lucid. It would be worth asking your teacher (as they will be assessing your
work, not the IB) how each of these characteristics may work in practice.

Step 2: Form your group

The maximum group size for the presentation is three, and this is generally an effective
number in terms of group work. Remember: you will be awarded an overall mark, and not
assessed individually, so its vital that everyone does their part in the design of the
presentation!

You need to choose your group based on how well you work together, and the key to this is
probably how well you communicate and get on. Its not important that you all have the
same views on things - in fact, it can actually add life to your presentation to disagree over
things, and promote the idea that youre approaching issues via different perspectives.

Step 3: Decide on your main RLS and central KQ + initial meeting with
teacher

The key to this is find something that interests you. Anything that naturally leads onto a
knowledge question will work; this means that you shouldnt have to work too hard in order
to come up with a KQ. If you find that you are all racking your brains for a decent KQ, then
its probable that your RLS wont work.

However, the great thing about the presentation - much more so than the essay - is that
your teacher can (and should) guide you in this respect, and can actively help you to
formulate an effective KQ. This should be the purpose of your initial meeting with him or
her.

Apart from basing your presentation on a RLS that interests you, make sure that it does not
require too much explanation. There are two reasons for this: first, explaining it in too much
detail will divert your energies from what you should be doing with the presentation;
second, if your RLS is familiar to your audience, they will be much more engaged by what
you are saying, and be much more receptive to what you are presenting.

Step 4: Find additional RLSs, including personal experiences + second
meeting with teacher

Your KQ should be broad enough to be explored via different areas of knowledge, with each
one giving you a slightly different KQ. To see how this works, take a look at our model
presentation, and how the main KQ (Does language describe the way we think, or define
it?) can be applied to different AOKs (for example, for ethics - Does language determine our
ethical outlook, for the natural sciences - Can our understanding of science be influenced
by language?, and so on).

For each AOK that you look at, you should support your discussion with reference to
subsidiary real life situations. By bringing in other RLSs, you will demonstrate the importance
and relevance of the KQ you have chosen - one of the key assessment targets.

Its also vital to mention your own TOK experiences in your presentation. This means
mentioning your own perspective and opinions on the KQs and RLSs that you are discussing.
By doing this, you will demonstrate the relevance of the TOK classroom to the real world,
which is another target in terms of earning a high mark in the presentation.

In order to make sure that you are doing both of these things, you should meet with your
teacher in a second planning meeting, and discuss with them what you propose to include in
your presentation.

Step 5: Create the presentation + final meeting with teacher

After you have finalised your main RLS, central KQ, and the subsidiary KQs and RLSs, you
need to put together your presentation. Theres no set way of doing this: most students
choose to deliver it in the traditional way, supported by PowerPoint, Google Slides, Prezi, or
other presentation tool.

But as it says in the subject guide, theres no reason why you cant be more creative, and
include a role-play, debate, or interview. You can use recorded material, although of course,
you cant just show a film for the whole of the presentation.

You should have a final meeting with your teacher to run everything by them, and at this
point ensure that your Presentation Planning Document (PPD) is completed. Your teacher
should have a copy of this before you give your presentation. Because your teacher will
need to upload this to the IB afterwards, you need to have both a hard and digital copy of
this.

PPD form is only for the G12 Final Presentations! Don't worry

about this now.
Step 6: Deliver your presentation

Your final task is to actually deliver the presentation. Although this is undoubtedly the most
nerve-wracking stage of the whole process, if you have chosen a topic that interests you,
and worked hard with your group to turn it into a presentation, youll feel much more
confident before you stand up in front of your classmates. Its also important to have a dress
rehearsal first, to ensure that your timing works (approx. 10 minutes per group member).

When talking in public, speak slowly and steadily. Dont use humour unless youre really
confident about your speaking skills, and dont rely on your audience behaving or acting in a
specific way if you are going to ask for their opinions about an issue, do a questionnaire, or
get their feelings about something. Be prepared to field their questions at the end of your
presentation - but your teacher should support you here. The Q&A session is designed to
help you clarify anything that wasnt 100% clear during the presentation, not catch you out;
your teacher should also give you a little time to formulate an answer to questions asked.

Step 7: Celebrate

Youve done something very special by delivering a TOK presentation, so you should be very
proud of your achievement. Get together as a group and do something special to celebrate!

First published December 2016 Michael Dunn, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Phone: +51 256 119006 Website: http://theoryofknowledge.net
theoryofknowledge.net 2016

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