PlanningyourTOKpresentation.

GoodadvicefromTimSprod,coauthor(withAntoniaMelvin)ofthebookIBPreparedTOK:Approachyour
assessmenttheIBway.Thebookcontainsamoredetailedsetofguidelines,alongwithaDVDofexemplar
presentations,fullyanalysedinthetext.

Thestructureofyourpresentation

ATOKpresentationhasaparticularstructure.Yourplanshouldfollowthis.Thestructureis
intheTOKSubjectguideandalsohighlightedonthePresentationPlanningDocument
(TK/PPD).

Thereare3partstoawellstructuredpresentation:

1.Startwithareallifesituation
2.Developfromthisaknowledgeissue(KI)
3.ExploretheKIthroughinquiry

Parts1and2shouldbecoveredfairlyquickly.Part3shouldmakeupthebulkofthe
presentation.

Detailedguidance

Part1:Thereallifesituation.

Thisshouldbesomethingthatyouhavecomeacrossinyourreallivesthatis,yourlives
outsidetheTOKclassroom.Soitcanbeinterpretedfairlybroadly.Itmightbesomething
thatactuallyhappenedtoyou,orsomethingthatyouhavestudiedinoneofyourotherIB
subjects,orononeofyourCASprojects.However,itcanalsobeanewspaperarticleyou
haveread,orsomethinginaTVprogram.Itcanbefictionalasceneinamovie,anincident
inanovel.Thesedonotlimitthepossibilities.

WhatitmustNOTbeisahypotheticalexampledevisedjustforthesakeofTOK.

Thesituationshouldbespecificnotageneraltopic.Itshouldbeofgenuineinteresttoyou.
Itneedstobefruitfulthatis,itleadstoagoodknowledgeissue,sothattherecanbea
deepinquiryintoknowledge.

Becauseyouchooseoneparticularexampleasthereallifesituationdoesnotmeanthatyou
cannotintroduceotherreallifesituationsduringtheinquiryphaseofthepresentation
indeed,thisisaverygoodthingtodo.ButasagoodKIisopenandgeneral(nottootiedto
thespecificsofthesituation),thisexplorationshouldnotgetboggeddowntoomuchin
factualdetail.

Part2:DevelopingtheKI

Asyouarenodoubtaware,almostanyreallifesituationcanleadtomany,manygoodKIs.

However,foryourpresentation,youonlyneedone(tostartwith).Thefirst,shorter
introductoryphaseofyourpresentationhasaverysimplestructure,asIhavesaidpresent
yourreallifesituationandthenshowhowyourKIarisesfromit.

IrecommendthatyouexplicitlysayOurknowledgeissueis.Itmayincludesketchingin
someinformationsothattheaudiencecangraspthereallifesituationandseehowtheKI
comesoutofit.However,ifthereisaneedfortoomuchinformationthenthereallife
situation/topicisprobablynotagoodone.Common,wellunderstoodreallifesituationsare
better.

Part3:TheinquiryphaseexploringtheKI.

Whenyouhaveoutlinedyourreallifesituation,andtheleadingKI,thenyouenterthe
secondphaseofthepresentation.

Here,youwillbetryingtoansweryourKI,asyoustatedit.Whilethefirstphaseofthe
presentationislargelyassessedbyCriterionA,inthisphaseyoushouldmakesurethatyou
covertheremainingthreecriteria.

Whenyouareplanningyourpresentations,developyourinquirythroughdiscussionwith
yourcopresenters,thentransferwhatyouagreeontoyourpresentationplan.

Note:youwillcomeupwithfurtherKIsduringthisdiscussion,butrememberthatthemain
focusoftheinquiryphaseistotrytoanswerthemainKI,nottoraisetoomanyother
questions.TheattempttoanswertheKImustbringinTOKelements(suchaskeyTOKterms,
theWOKs,theAOKs,differentperspectivesandsoon).

ImportanthintsandtipsaboutwhattodoandwhattoAVOID!

TOKpresentationsareunlikemanyclassroompresentationsinseveralways:

TheTOKpresentationfocusesonknowledgeissues,whereasmanyotherpresentations
focusonsomethingdifferent:knowledgeclaims.

ThereisanotherpotentialnonTOKsortofpresentationtoothemoraldilemmaone.

Let'slookatthesetwotypesofnonTOKpresentationsonebyone:

NonTOKPresentation1Theinformationdump.

InmostnonTOKpresentations,youusuallyhaveatopic,andthengoawayanddoalotof
researchtofindasmanyknowledgeclaims(bitsofinformation)aboutitasyoucan.The
presentationthenconsistsofyoutellingtheclassabouteverythingyoufoundout.

InaTOKpresentation,thefocushastoshiftawayfromfindinginformation(thepresentation
shouldgivejustenoughofthistomotivatetheTOKinquiry),andontoanevaluationofthat
knowledgeintermsofitsreliability,theefficacyofthemethodsusedtogenerateit,a

considerationofthewaysofknowinginvolved,differentperspectivesontheknowledgeand
theeffectthatmighthaveandsoon.

Thetemptationistorushoutandfindasmuchinformationaboutyourreallifesituationas
possible.Thisisadangeroustemptation.Goodinformationtransmissionpresentationsare
notgoodTOKpresentations.

Forthisreason,someofthebestTOKpresentationsareaboutreallifesituationsthatare
alreadyprettyfamiliartoyouandtheclass.Thereisnoneedtoconveymuchinformation,as
theclassalreadyhaveit.Istronglyencourageyoutotrytofindafocusinyourowncommon
lifeexperience.

Examples:livingwithdifferentculturesintheboardinghouse;twomembersofagroupwho
didn'tgetonwitheachother;differentattitudestoalternativemedicinearisingfrom
parents'occupations.

NonTOKpresentation2Themoraldilemma.

Becarefulaboutpickingamoralissue,suchasabortion.Thefocuscantooeasilybeonthe
prosandconsofabortion,anditcanturnintoadebateor,evenworse,apolemic.

InaTOKexaminationof(say)abortion,thefocuswouldneedtobeon(maybe)theclaims
madebyeithersidehowreliablearethey?whatmethodsofjustificationwereused?Oron
themethodsusedinthedebatehowisemotion(orreason,orlanguage)used,andisthat
uselegitimate?

Becauseitcanbequitedifficulttowalktherightsideofthelinebetweenmoraldebateand
TOKinquiry,itmightbebesttostayawayfromlargelyethicalquestions.Theyarepopular,
andtheycanbehandledverywell,butitistooeasytoslipintotheethicaldebateandaway
fromtheunderlyingKIs.