Meadowbrook High School

IB Program

2008-2009

NOTE: This website contains the description, handouts, PPT presentation, and student materials that accompanied the presentation of this title at the IBNA Regional Conference at the Hyatt Regency, San Francisco, CA, July 2008. The presentation was made by Carolyn P. Henly on Saturday, July 19, 2008. For further information, e-mail Carolyn_henly@ccpsnet.net.

This session will demonstrate Theory of Knowledge lessons that allow students to compare the ways that various thinking skills function within multiple areas of knowledge. Several activities allow students to reflect more powerfully about their own thinking by helping them break down simplistic ideas. (e.g. the idea that artistic thinking relies on emotion while scientific and mathematical thinking rely on reason.) Session attendees will participate in a lesson on the nature of historical thinking that can then be extended into an assessment of scientific thinking. These lessons can be used in TOK or they can be used as interdisciplinary lessons in the subject areas.

CLICK HERE for a copy of the PowerPoint I used as the framework for the presentation. NOTE: All PowerPoint Presentations were made using PowerPoint 2003. Animations and other features will not function properly in older versions of PowerPoint.

The Following Resources are for the Checks Lab:

Checks Lab This is the website at ENSI (Evolution & the Nature of Science Institutes) where the “Checks Lab” by Judy Loundagin is located. The site includes instructions and handouts for the checks lab, including the PDF files of the actual checks. The website promotes the lesson as a science lesson; I use it in the History unit for Theory of Knowledge, and then follow up with a discussion about how similar methods function in the natural sciences.

STUDENT INSTRUCTIONS This is the revised version of the handout, adapted for use as a History lesson for TOK.

STUDENT INSTRUCTIONS—PPT This is the PPT used during the presentation to give the groups instructions about how to proceed. It can be used in conjunction with the handout or, as I used it during the presentation, instead of the student handout. I prefer to use the PPT instructions because it helps keep groups for forging ahead of the rest of the class and taking out more checks than I intend them to have at any given time. NOTE: All PowerPoint Presentations were made using PowerPoint 2003. Animations and other features will not function properly in older versions of PowerPoint.

GROUP WORKSHEET This is the worksheet on which students write down their hypotheses during the activity and which contains the questions to be answered at the conclusion of the activity. This is the revised version I made for use as a History lesson in TOK.

INTERPRETING FACTS This is the worksheet which students can use to do a more structured assessment of the conclusions they drew and the strengths and weaknesses of those conclusions. It is posted in Word format; students can be given hard copy, or they can be given an electronic copy. Typing in the boxes will expand them as much as needed for detailed explanations.

The Following Resources are for the Connections Chart:

BLANK FORM This is the form that I put on the server and/or e-mail to students for their use. They simply open the form, save it in their own folder or on their own disk, and then fill it in. This form works best on Office 2000 or newer, as the chart will expand properly in those versions of Word.

SAMPLE FORM This form is partially filled-in, showing some of the kinds of connections that can be made for both Ways of Knowing and Areas of Knowledge. This chart was done the first time students worked with it last year, so it is incomplete. I usually wait until we’ve done at least two Ways of Knowing and two Areas of Knowledge before starting students on this project, and then we revisit it on and off throughout the year. I have them work on the charts individually at home or in a lab at school, and then I have them share ideas with partners, groups, or the whole class. If students are diligent about keeping good notes in this form, they have an excellent review sheet at the end of the year when the time comes to prepare their final TOK essay and/or Presentation. I DO make formal assignments for portions of this throughout the year; I cannot count on my students simply to keep up with this on their own initiative.

The Following Resources are for the Visual Metaphor Assignment:

Samples This is the PowerPoint of student-made exemplars of the Visual Metaphor Assignment.

The Following Resources are Supplementary Readings:

Wineburg Link This is the web link to the first chapter of Sam Wineburg’s book: Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts. This site contains the PDF file of the first chapter and ordering information for the whole book.

WINEBURG ARTICLE This is the PDF file of the first chapter of Sam Wineburg’s book; this is the file that you can access at the URL above.

CARR LINK This is the web link to the compressed file of Edward Hallett Carr’s book: What is History? The book can be purchased inexpensively from Amazon.com.

MOST FILES ARE IN PDF FORMAT. Download Acrobat Reader for Free

SOME FILES ARE IN PPT FORMAT. Download PowerPoint Viewer for Free

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