B&M HL Paper 2 Test Issues

[achipalk]

Hi all,

I'm new to IB Survival, so I hope I"m doing this properly.

I'll be taking the HL Paper 2 in Business and Management this Friday. Just sat down to do my first practice test, and I'm noticing that there's a distinct trend in the questions. A short 2 mark definition, an 8 mark explanation of something, and a 10 mark discussion. All this is well and good, but what sort of depth is the IB looking for here? Should each question in all be about one page in their answer sheets? I know it depends on how thorough you are, but I'm curious as to general standards.

Additionally, are there any websites/resources with revision notes and/or a subject report on it? I did a lookthrough of the forums and couldn't find anything, so here I am asking!

Thanks!

[Matthew Sinclair]

Hi all,

I'm new to IB Survival, so I hope I"m doing this properly.

I'll be taking the HL Paper 2 in Business and Management this Friday. Just sat down to do my first practice test, and I'm noticing that there's a distinct trend in the questions. A short 2 mark definition, an 8 mark explanation of something, and a 10 mark discussion. All this is well and good, but what sort of depth is the IB looking for here? Should each question in all be about one page in their answer sheets? I know it depends on how thorough you are, but I'm curious as to general standards.

Additionally, are there any websites/resources with revision notes and/or a subject report on it? I did a lookthrough of the forums and couldn't find anything, so here I am asking!

Thanks!

Hi there!

I didn't do Business, but as a general rule-of-thumb, 1 mark = 1 good response/idea to answer the question. From what I remember, the marking scheme will have a dot point list of possible responses that correctly are part of the total answer. You get 1 point for each one. Although keep in mind, a 10 mark question could perhaps have 15 potential marks, yet you will only ever get 10. So you need to answer the question succinctly, with the required number of points (and I recommend a few extra in case some aren't correct). If Business is a positive marking subject, you shouldn't get marked down for wrong points/ideas. Whereas in some subjects a wrong idea or contradiction will lose you points.

So I'd say, for the definition you need at least 2 sentences. A good idea is to have a dictionary definition followed by an example. Be quick on these ones. You should memorise your definitions/examples. In economics, an 8 mark explanation was around 1.5 to 2 pages of IB paper and I think 10 mark would be slightly more.

Hopefully a business student can provide some more clear advice, but this is just what I think

Good luck!

Also, have a look on the markschemes if you have access to them so you're familiar. It's surprising how easy it is to get marks really. You don't need to write all that much. You just need to write down what they want in full sentences, in logical order, answering the question asked, and you should be good!

Also, learning the meaning of the command terms such as "define" and "explain" is really necessary! It's in the IB textbooks etc.

Edited May 15, 2011 by Matthew Sinclair

[slack]

Hey! Well for Business and Management, there's no such thing as a 'point system'...

There are usually what are called bands... Let's say there's a 10 mark question, there will be some criteria to get a mark between 8 and 10. If your answer doesn't fall into this band, you didn't meet some aspect of the criteria, and you fall into the next band. Basically, your answers must be well structured ideas organized coherently into paragraphs, NOT point after point. This is not limited to writing a list of points. Sometimes students organize their answers into paragraphs but with little or no cohesion. Avoid this!

As for the content of the answer itself, try to give an objective analysis of the whole situation, briefly explaining all the implications/outcomes/etc... You must show some high level of interpretation, and note that most of the time each student will have a different view, and so you must explain and justify any argument or 'point' that you make. At the end, give your opinion, and justify this opinion with material from the text or with a further analysis. Two or three paragraphs of strong, to-the-point analysis is better than tonnes of pages that just throw in arguments from every-which-way! The cliché most certainly applies!

Good Luck!