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General IB Knowledge - Ask mini-questions about IB here


ibnerd22222

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Does IB accept Wikipedia as a valid source? I have my final spanish oral IA on Friday and one of my resources is from the spanish Wikipedia.

Absolutely not. Wikipedia is not considered a valid source at any time or place. You could be marked down incredibly for this!

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I understand mostly everything but one thing bothers me. You study for two straight years and give ONE exam. What if you screw up the exam? I know you can take it again in Nov but still shouldn't it be more on what you do throughout the year?

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I understand mostly everything but one thing bothers me. You study for two straight years and give ONE exam. What if you screw up the exam? I know you can take it again in Nov but still shouldn't it be more on what you do throughout the year?

You could retake exams but it'd cost you. I don't really know how much. Or you could do what someone in my school's done: they retook the entire year, which is kind of sad, but there you go.

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I know what you guys stated above. What I mean is that shouldn't at least half of your final marks be from the IA and presentations and stuff you did throughout the two years?

The percentage of a subject mark that is coursework (IAs and Presentations) varies from subject to subject, but the reality is that the majority of your mark is from the final exam for pretty much every single subject. Whether you think that's right or not is moot, it's just the way it is.

I mean that's the reason why the IB is such a stupidly stressful course - knowing everything and passing all your exams within a timespan of 2-3 weeks isn't easy. At all! It's actually modelled on the British system where examinations are taken in subjects at the end of the course... although ironically, the British system has actually changed so you can sit your overall qualification in many spread-out mini exams across 2 years, so it's no longer got as harsh a format as the IB does. Just the IB left trying to screw you over nowadays :P

On the plus side, many University courses (mine included) have a very similar final nothing-else-counts-but-this exam system, so it does prepare you for it.

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Well I'm kind of prepared because my high school is the same. 75% of your final mark is from the end of term exams. Also in Iran at the end of high school there is a test for everyone called Konkoor where everyone gives a test, which includes everything you've learned throughout the four years. The result of your Konkoor exams is what you send to universities. I guess IB is the same, stupid! At least its good to have the pressure so that you study hard enough.

Thanks guys for the fast replies.

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I came across a "Rules For Drawing On An Exam" document, that claims we must use pencil for drawings, that all lines must be drawn with a ruler (which students must have in all exam sessions), and that they must by exactly 1/3 of the page per drawing. Are any of these valid? And do other such rules exist?

(This is all in reference to my Biology HL Exam)

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I'm not sure about the 1/3 of a page rule! But yes, drawings must be in pencil (use a sharp one so it scans niceley) and any labels need a ruler as they must be parallel to the top of the page. And also pencil lines can't cross over, they must join smoothly. I doubt you'll get penalised much for not doing these things, perhaps for the labels thing cos they are quite funny about that! The 1/3 of a page is probably to ensure the diagram is clear and you have room to annonate. It probably isn't a rule just a helpful hint, it's sensible!

And don't forget your calculator, ruler and pencil tomorrow :)

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Well should all depends on how you work, whether you need to work loads to keep your grades up and what subjects you're doing. I didn't do work each ngiht but procrastinated and ending up doing blocks of work when I needed to... I think a lot fo people are like that. I would recommend studying about an hour and a half each night when you don't have any IAs and increase that for when you have IAs and then obviously around mock exams and the real ones!

If needs be you could donate your sunday afternoons or saturday afternoons to IB work too. In IB1 I wouldn't say loads is needed, however it is recommended you keep on top of your workload and sometimes work ahead so you gain more understanding, especially in sciences and math. This helps your revision in the end.

Languages need constant work throughout the two years as they are hard to revise for. Make sure you watch lots of films in said language and read lots and work on grammar. Do things that are fun whilst improving your skills. That way it seems easier.

Overall I don't know how many hours your should expect, as different teachers in different schools set different amounts at different times. For instance I never got homework for biology and we did all our IAs in class, but had LOADS for history.

If you ever feel overwhelmed then ask someone on here, someone in your cohort or in the above and someone is bound to help you. We are all friendly here.

Good luck with the rest of your IGCSEs :D

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Well should all depends on how you work, whether you need to work loads to keep your grades up and what subjects you're doing. I didn't do work each ngiht but procrastinated and ending up doing blocks of work when I needed to... I think a lot fo people are like that. I would recommend studying about an hour and a half each night when you don't have any IAs and increase that for when you have IAs and then obviously around mock exams and the real ones!

If needs be you could donate your sunday afternoons or saturday afternoons to IB work too. In IB1 I wouldn't say loads is needed, however it is recommended you keep on top of your workload and sometimes work ahead so you gain more understanding, especially in sciences and math. This helps your revision in the end.

Languages need constant work throughout the two years as they are hard to revise for. Make sure you watch lots of films in said language and read lots and work on grammar. Do things that are fun whilst improving your skills. That way it seems easier.

Overall I don't know how many hours your should expect, as different teachers in different schools set different amounts at different times. For instance I never got homework for biology and we did all our IAs in class, but had LOADS for history.

If you ever feel overwhelmed then ask someone on here, someone in your cohort or in the above and someone is bound to help you. We are all friendly here.

Good luck with the rest of your IGCSEs :D

Thank you very much, I will keep all of the above in mind, thank you!

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hi guys i'm fiqri from Malaysia

I am schedule to enroll to MARA College Banting this 28 June and of course I have to take the IB programme since this is the only prog that they offer there. so, I new at this. can you explain to me about this prog because I've tried to read the article at IBO webpage but I still don't understand about the execution of this program so please help me with this. Every answer from all of you is very much appreciated. Thank you

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