zeevee Posted October 20, 2015 Report Share Posted October 20, 2015 Hi guys, so I'm roughly three months in the IBDP program and I have issues with my Physics teacher.She has never been trained for teaching IB before, though she claimed to have taught high school students in the past. My school is still new and inexperienced. We haven't gotten our Physics books to this date. My teacher said she can't start teaching without the book but even if we did I don't think she'd be able to teach properly. You see, she's only revised level 8 syllabus to us - scientific notation, orders of magnitude, vector & scalar quantities, estimation, cancellation of labels. The most BASIC things. I'm freaking out because supposedly our first topic should be mechanics and we've done nothing in these past three months. I got an A in my physics and biology IGCSE. I chose physics coz I feel like there's less to memorise -- I wanted to be able to spend more time on other subjects. Also, my dad's family business deals with electronics so I thought studying physics would not be a waste. But if this is the case I feel like I need to do extra tutoring out-of-school. It costs a lot of money and does not guarantee good results! The biology teacher, on the other hand, is an IB experienced examiner. He's really good. The bio students have covered quite a lot. On the side note, my phy teacher is extremely generous in markings (in other words, the tests she gives us are way too easy) so I think if I stick to phy I'll score well on my IAs. (solid 6s or 7s). So, I don't know. Is it possible to cover physics SL without extra help? I can try working hard on my own, try to do as many past papers as I can.. Or should I switch to bio SL where I am guaranteed an experienced teacher? Does bio SL take up much more studying time than phy SL? In all honesty I have no problem in memorisation -- in fact I'm quite good at it but I try to avoid it esp because I don't really need science (I'm planning to major in creative writing). Thank you!! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw0573 Posted October 20, 2015 Report Share Posted October 20, 2015 (edited) Unless your school (beyond just your teacher) is very experienced with physics, biology is often a better choice.At my school we had one IB physics teacher and two or three IB biology teachers and they are all very experienced though the physics students tend to get higher marks because the students who often choose physics are ok with doing some algebra, which account for 25% of the questions. I also attribute to the physics students' relative success to the vast resources we have access to, including QuestionBanks.That being said, IB physics is very different the regular physics course at my school in that IB physics is not focused on problem solving (mind you, that is different from doing math) but thorough conceptual grasps. This may be completely new for the new IB physics teacher. In high school we learned both the provincial curriculum and IB curriculum and the question styles are completely different.I don't encourage people to "learn" solely by memorization but you can choose to get the grade via other means. Memorization certainly is more effective in biology because if you only rely on memorization in physics you are screwed. That being said, you don't have to rely on memorization in biology if you keep consistent study habits.EDIT:At my school, for chemistry, biology, and physics (and many other IB subjects) we all use non-IB textbooks. Non-IB textbooks typically cover concepts in greater depth. We can do that because all of our teachers are experienced. If you take an IB course with an inexperienced IB teacher and expects the textbooks are 100% accurate and conform to standardized then you should know that most of those books are not written by current staff who comes up with test questions or syllabi. These books are known to occasionally contain errors or misleading information about the curriculum.​​​ Edited October 20, 2015 by kw0573 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djsporting Posted October 20, 2015 Report Share Posted October 20, 2015 Do you truly enjoy Physics? I was in a similar situation as you although I had a great teacher, I often felt like Physics just wasn't for me. The thing is, at least in my POV, a good teacher is essential for you to excel in the course thus perhaps you are better off changing to Bio. Also, it doesn't matter if your teacher is generous in marking the IA because (and especially since your school is a new school) your Physics IA will be externally moderated. Perhaps you're better off changing to Bio and having a 7 there rather than risk taking Physics. However, it is your decision that matters. If you need anything feel free to P.M me Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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