The Internal Assessment in Economics is a most interesting exercise. It is also very useful. It is useful, first of all, because you have to search (quite a lot) to find a 'convenient' article (see below for what I mean by 'convenient'). You will thus be forced to read quite a few articles to arrive at the one that you feel will permit you to best fulfill the requirements (make sure you save all articles you read as long as they are interesting and related to what you cover in class. This will help you write better essays in Paper 1 where real world examples are a must to achieve high marks)
Some notes on the IB Economics Internal
Assessment
Search for a ‘convenient’
article:
Once article is found
On the actual writing
On the diagram(s)
Where to search
Read the handouts on the
rubrics
Key to success:
The Economics IA exercise is also useful as it permits you to apply the knowledge you gain. You will be reading articles under a total different light than if you had read them before starting this course. You will have a framework of analysis which will help you make more sense of what you are reading. You will have the opportunity to write your own 2 cents on the issue when discussing the issue at hand. This way, whatever theoretical knowledge you gained in class will become embedded in the real world. You will see the power of theory as well as its shortcomings.
Below is what I gave this year my Year 1 (Candidates 2019) students on how to go about writing their first commentary. Hopefully, these notes could be useful for students all over the world who are taking IB Economics (Higher and Standard level).
Some notes on the IB Economics Internal
Assessment
Search for a ‘convenient’
article:
è Preferably, not more than 3 months
old (max 6 months)
è Preferably, between ¾ of a page and 3
pages long
è Definitely, on a topic that you can employ
at least one (perhaps, two) diagram(s)
è Convenient topics include
Pollution of any
type
|
Deforestation,
overfishing (CARs)
|
Taxation of liquor /
tobacco
|
Subsidies on farm
products
|
On health care /
education
|
Rent control;
gentrification
|
Minimum wage
|
Collusion
|
Price wars
|
è Article should be of a ‘reporting’
nature, not an opinion, as you will have less to write / explain
è Avoid the Economist (usually
analysis is already there – not much for you to explain / analyze / discuss)
è Avoid blogs
è Article MUST be in English
Once article is found
è Make an outline
o
Jot
down the terms you may use
o
Determine
the diagram(s) that you may employ
o
Think
of the points to explain / evaluate / discuss; make notes on each of these
o
Find
the 4-5 quotes that you will use
On the actual writing
è Do not use bullet points
è 1st paragraph may present
what the article is about
è In the next few paragraphs explain
the points using a diagram and quotes
è Your explanation / analysis must be
‘applied, applied, applied’: never
lose sight of the article; make constant references; use 4-5 quotes as they show that your analysis is APPLIED to the specifics of the article chosen; title of diagram(s) must be focused on the specifics of the article title of diagram(s) must
be focused on the specifics of the article: if there are figures (values;
numbers) in the article, then use these on the diagram!
è Must be less than 750 words
o
Note
that words in the title of diagrams (up to 10 words) do NOT count
o
Words
on labels of the diagrams up to (5 words) each do NOT count
è Avoid footnotes: if a footnote is
included then it must be a reference
è Terms have to be used, NOT defined; define only
one or two wicked crucial terms – no
more
On the diagram(s)
è Use whichever software you want but
make sure diagram is ‘anchored’ i.e. it does not move around when re-editing
(‘grouped’)
è ‘Paint’ (also available for Mac) is
recommended (but many others prefer Word or Drawing in Google docs – your
choice)
è Use on the labels the same fonts
that you are using in the commentary
è Labels should be article related
(e.g. price of gasoline)
Where to search
è Any news source you fancy; reporting articles are preferable so that
you have more to explain and discuss
è I like the New York Times and the
Washington Post (school subscription exists)
è Easy solution: use Google
o
Type
search terms e.g. alcohol tax or tobacco tax or gentrification or collusion or
price war etc.
o
Click
on News
o
Click
on Tools
o
Click
on Recent
o
Click
on Custom and insert date range
Read the handouts on the
rubrics
è Each of the 3 commentaries must be
from a different news source (i.e. you can only use the New York Times once)
è The 3 commentaries must be from 3
different areas of the syllabus (i.e. one from micro, one from macro (next
year), one from trade (next year))
Key to success:
APPLIED, APPLIED,
APPLIED
ALSO
- If you do not have a Mac then it may be a
good idea to download an extension for Chrome called “Mercury Reader”. This
‘cleans-up’ (most, not all) articles from ads and ‘noise’ and produces a
clean file that is easily read which can be saved as a pdf and printed out
(right click: print, as pdf file (not at connected your printer))
- In PAINT (for PCs or for Macs), by
pressing CTRL+SHIFT a line you draw is a perfectly straight (vertical,
horizontal or 45-degree only)
- Make sure when you ‘select’ an image (or a
label) you choose from the drop-down menu ‘transparent selection’ so you
don’t mess-up the diagram
1 comment:
yes, you are right Internal Assessment in Economics is an interesting exercise. As I am IB Economics students I know the value of Essay writing in the exam. As you say real-world examples are a must to achieve high marks, I agree with you at this point. because I always used to give real-world examples in my IB Economics exams. Economics is a subject in which we have to learn from different mindsets then we will able to achieve our milestone in this subject. I learn a lot of things from different web portals like Smile Tutor they are one who provides up to date learning. Thanks for sharing this post with us, I definitely recommend your post to all who are learning this subject.
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