IB Diploma Programme Subject Briefs

What does the Diploma Curriculum Contain?

The curriculum contains six subject groups and a core of three parts.

Students study concurrently:

three subjects at higher level (240 hours each)

three subjects at standard level (150 hours each)

all three parts of the core

Following are IB Diploma Programme Subject Briefs (grades 11-12). For IB Middle Years Programme Course Briefs (grades 7-10) please visit Middle School (grades 7-8) and IB MYP Course Briefs (grades 9-10).

Group 1 Language A1

Subject: English Higher Level

Year One.The first half of the two-year Language A1 HL course, as a natural continuation of the MYP English courses, requires students to read, write, and think from both a personal and critical perspective and is designed to comply with the curricular requirements described in the Language A1 Course Guide.

This course offers students the opportunity to explore works across multiple genres with a special emphasis on fiction. Course texts span multiple time periods from the High Renaissance to the Modern age and include selections written by a broad array of writers who represent, in their diversity, a global perspective that is essential to IB language studies. The purpose underpinning the study of literature in this course is not just to "know" the literature, but also to use texts as lenses through which to explore, reflect on, and mediate the essential questions, the philosophical and abstract ideas that have roiled under the gaze of man for millennia.

In addition to the continued development of professional reading and writing skills initiated in the MYP English courses, this course challenges students to study, write about, and engage in the analysis of literature from a scholarly perspective.

Year Two. The second half of the two-year Language A1 HL course, as a natural continuation of the MYP English courses and the first half of the Language A1 course, requires students to continue to refine the professional reading and writing skills and strategies developed in the earlier MYP and DP courses. This course is designed to comply with the curricular requirements described in the Language A1 Course Guide.

As with the year one course, this course offers students the opportunity to explore works across multiple genres, but with a special emphasis on drama and poetry. Course texts include two works by William Shakespeare, selected modern dramatic texts, and a series of poetic pieces that include the works of Seamus Heaney, John Donne, Robert Frost, and Robinson Jeffers.

In addition to the refinement of reading and writing skills, and a continued examination of the role of the twenty-first century writer, this course also challenges students to study, write about, and engage in the analysis of poetry and drama from a scholarly perspective.

Group 2 Second Language

Subject: Mandarin Ab Initio

This two-year course focuses on oral communication skills. Using the Chinese Pinyin Romanization system, students will gain proficiency in understanding, speaking, reading, and writing Mandarin in practical situations. There is plenty of opportunity to experience and explore Chinese culture in this course.

Group 3 Individuals and Societies

Subject: Philosophy Higher Level

This two-year course is for candidates who are interested in approaching issues important for humanity from a philosophical point of view. The main concern of this course is developing the students’ clear understanding of concepts, using critical and systematic thinking and the careful analysis of argument. The course has four main parts:

the core theme, “What is a human being?”
optional themes, such as “the theories and problems of ethics”
study of prescribed philosophical texts
philosophical analysis of non-philosophical material
exploring philosophical activity: responding to unseen text

Group 4 Experimental Sciences

Subject: Biology Higher Level

This two-year laboratory-based course covers topics typical of first year university study in all health and science related fields including the rapidly expanding subjects of genetics, forensics, environmental sciences, and animal/plant physiology.

While ideal for students who plan to major in the sciences, agriculture, or education, this course also provides the well-rounded liberal arts student a foundation in theoretical and applied sciences that will support and enrich their studies in the social sciences and the arts.

This course covers a broad array of topics including general concepts in cellular structure, cellular metabolism, cellular communication, genetics, concepts in evolution, ecology, plant science, experimental design, and the function of organisms. In addition, this course emphasizes the relationships and applications between the various sciences.

Student investigations, including 60 hours of hands-on laboratory experience, require accurate observations, collection of data, data analysis, interpretation of data, and safe laboratory and field practices. Second year students must keep a lab portfolio and participate in an interdisciplinary activity known as the IB Group 4 Project, a collaborative experience that emphasizes the processes rather than the products of scientific investigation. As an extension to this course, students have the opportunity to engage in scientific field research through the Adventure Leadership Program for Schools (ALPS).

IB Biology HL prepares students for the IB Biology SL and HL exams in addition to providing a foundation for a successful university education.

Group 5 Mathematics and Computer Science

Subject: Mathematics Standard Level

This two-year course is for students who possess basic knowledge and skills of mathematical concepts and techniques and is preparation for university programs requiring a sound mathematical background. Topics will include calculus, linear algebra, probability and statistics, and differential equations.

On completion of this course students will be able:

to read, interpret, and solve problems using mathematical terms.
organize, present information and data in tables, graphs, diagrams.
know and use mathematical notation and terminology.
formulate and communicate mathematical arguments.
select and use good mathematical strategies and techniques.
demonstrate reasonable results.
recognize patterns and structures.
make generalizations.
recognize and demonstrate an understanding of practical applications of mathematics.
use appropriate technological tools and devices.
demonstrate an understanding and use of mathematical modeling.

Group 6 The Arts

Subject: Film Higher Level

This two-year course examines the art of filmmaking from the perspective of the filmmaker as craftsman as well as from the perspective of the critical film viewer. An exploration of the technologies and processes of filmmaking, as well as instruction in the analysis and deconstruction of films and film scripts, is an essential component of this course.

Course films cover a range of genres including film noir, comedy, gangster, western, drama, mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, action, and adventure. A thorough exploration of the history of film, both in terms of technical and thematic development, begins with an examination of early silent film and continues with a look at Hitchcock, an exploration of the independent film movement, a brief study of foreign film, and a lengthy examination of current trends in contemporary cinema. The critical study of film in this course will always be conducted with an eye toward the development of the students' filmmaking skills.

As part of this course, students will write, produce, cast, direct, and shoot their own films, approaching this process from the perspective of D.W. Fenza who asserts that, as artists, we should always focus on the exploration of the relationship "between aesthetics and scholarship, between practice and theory, and between art and criticism."

IB Diploma Programme Core Courses

• Theory of Knowledge (TOK)

The Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course, a flagship element in the Diploma Programme, encourages critical thinking about knowledge itself to try to help young people make sense of what they encounter. Its core content is questions like these: What counts as knowledge? How does it grow? What are its limits? Who owns knowledge? What is the value of knowledge? What are the implications of having, or not having, knowledge?

What makes TOK unique, and distinctively different from standard academic disciplines, is its process. At the center of the course is the student as "knower." Students entering the Diploma Programme typically have 16 years of life experience and more than 10 years of formal education behind them. They have accumulated a vast amount of knowledge, beliefs, and opinions from academic disciplines and their lives outside the classroom. In TOK they have the opportunity to step back from this relentless acquisition of new knowledge, in order to consider knowledge issues. These include the questions already mentioned, viewed from the perspective of the student, but often begin with more basic ones like: What do I claim to know about "X"? Am I justified in doing so "how"? Such questions may initially seem abstract or theoretical, but TOK teachers bring them into closer focus by taking into account their students' interests, circumstances, and outlooks in planning the course.

TOK activities and discussions aim to help students discover and express their views on knowledge issues. The course encourages students to share ideas with others and to listen to and learn from what others think. In this process, students' thinking and their understanding of knowledge as a human construction are shaped, enriched, and deepened. Connections may be made between knowledge encountered in different Diploma Programme subjects, in CAS (see below) experience or in Extended Essay (see below) research; distinctions between different kinds of knowledge may be clarified. ©IBO 2008

• Extended Essay

The Extended Essay is an in-depth study of a focused topic chosen from the list of approved Diploma Programme subjects normally one of the student's six chosen subjects for the IB Diploma. It is intended to promote high-level research and writing skills, intellectual discovery, and creativity. It provides students with an opportunity to engage in personal research in a topic of their own choice, under the guidance of a supervisor (a teacher in the school). This leads to a major piece of formally presented, structured writing, in which ideas and findings are communicated in a reasoned and coherent manner, appropriate to the subject chosen. It is recommended that completion of the written essay is followed by a short, concluding interview, or viva voce, with the supervisor. ©IBO 2009

• Creativity, Action and Service (CAS)

Creativity, action, service (CAS) is at the heart of the Diploma Programme. Along with the Theory of Knowledge and Extended Essay, it is one of the essential elements in every student's Diploma Programme experience. It involves students in a range of activities alongside their academic studies throughout the Diploma Programme. The three strands of CAS, which are often interwoven with particular activities are characterized as follows:

Creativity—arts and other experiences that involve creative thinking.

Action*—physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle, complementing academic work elsewhere in the Diploma Programme.

Service—an unpaid and voluntary exchange that has a learning benefit for the student. The rights, dignity, and autonomy of all those involved are respected.

CAS enables students to enhance their personal and interpersonal development through experiential learning. At the same time, it provides an important counterbalance to the academic pressures of the rest of the Diploma Programme. A good CAS program should be both challenging and enjoyable, a personal journey of self-discovery. Each individual student has a different starting point and, therefore, different goals. © IBO 2009

*Physical education in The Westwood School Diploma Programme will have three foci: a conditioning program to ensure optimal health, an intramural sports program that will introduce students to a variety of competitive sports within the school, and an individual sports focus in which the school assists students in identifying and participating in a variety of individual sports offered through private businesses.