IBEC Assessment & Evaluation in IB Context 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which IB programme uses 'eAssessment' as an option for final examinations?
- Diploma Programme (DP)
- Middle Years Programme (MYP) (Correct answer)
- Primary Years Programme (PYP)
- Career-related Programme (CP)
Correct answer: Middle Years Programme (MYP)
The MYP offers optional onscreen eAssessment for students in years 4 and 5, providing an externally validated qualification.
Question 2: In the IB PYP, what is the culminating assessment project called?
- Extended Essay
- Personal Project
- Exhibition (Correct answer)
- Community Project
Correct answer: Exhibition
The PYP Exhibition is a collaborative, transdisciplinary inquiry project completed in the final year of the programme, assessed using shared criteria.
Question 3: What is the maximum possible total score a student can receive in the IB Diploma Programme?
- 42
- 45 (Correct answer)
- 48
- 50
Correct answer: 45
The DP maximum score is 45 points: 6 subjects × 7 points = 42, plus up to 3 bonus points for the Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge.
Question 4: In MYP assessment, what is the purpose of 'task-specific clarifications'?
- To replace the standard assessment criteria for a particular school
- To adapt the published criteria descriptors to the specific requirements of a given assessment task (Correct answer)
- To explain assessment criteria in the student's home language
- To allow teachers to create entirely new criteria for each task
Correct answer: To adapt the published criteria descriptors to the specific requirements of a given assessment task
Task-specific clarifications reword the MYP criterion descriptors to reflect the context and demands of a particular assessment task without changing their meaning.
Question 5: Which of the following is a key feature of the IB's approach to assessment that distinguishes it from purely norm-referenced systems?
- Only the top 7% of students receive a grade of 7
- Grade boundaries are fixed percentages regardless of exam difficulty
- Grade boundaries are set after statistical analysis and expert judgment each session (Correct answer)
- All examiners are from the country where the exam is taken
Correct answer: Grade boundaries are set after statistical analysis and expert judgment each session
IB grade boundaries are determined each examination session through a combination of statistical analysis and chief examiner judgment to maintain standards over time.
Question 6: A student submits a lab report for IB Chemistry IA. The teacher grades it, but the IB moderator grades a sample that includes this report. Whose final mark counts?
- Always the teacher's mark
- Always the IB moderator's mark
- The moderator's mark, which may adjust all of the teacher's marks up or down (Correct answer)
- An average of the teacher's and moderator's marks
Correct answer: The moderator's mark, which may adjust all of the teacher's marks up or down
If moderation reveals a significant difference, the IB adjusts all marks from that teacher up or down by the identified difference; the moderated marks become the official scores.
Question 7: What is the IB's 'Theory of Knowledge' (TOK) exhibition assessed on?
- A 1,600-word essay submitted to the IB
- Three objects or artefacts connected to a core theme and a IA prompt, assessed internally (Correct answer)
- An oral presentation to an external examiner
- A written exam taken at the end of the DP
Correct answer: Three objects or artefacts connected to a core theme and a IA prompt, assessed internally
The TOK exhibition requires students to connect three real-world objects to an IA prompt, demonstrating how TOK manifests in the world; it is internally assessed.
IBEC Assessment & Evaluation in IB Context 3
Which IB programme uses 'eAssessment' as an option for final examinations?