TOK presentation URGENT

[alisonwong7]

Hi Guys! So my TOK presentation is coming up really soon and I'm having difficulties. My real life situation is about Kwasi Enin and how he got into all 8 ivy leagues, despite the fact that his SAT score was not competitive with other kids who apply to Ivy League schools. My original question was 'Does the SAT measure intelligence' but this still needs to develop into a knowledge question. My teacher has approved of this real-life situation but I am unsure of where I can go with this. 

 

I am finding it difficult to develop a knowledge question and decide what Areas of Knowledge and Ways of Knowing to focus on. I asked my teacher for guidance and she says that there are many angles I can approach this. I can look at Ethics and Race, and I can look at the factor that he was extremely talented musically and link that to the arts. But how should I incorporate ways of knowing and how am I going to link this all back to the SAT and a knowledge question? I am extremely overwhelmed and in over my head. Any guidance would be most appreciated! 

 

I have listed a link to the article below!

 

http://collegeadmissions.testmasters.com/how-did-kwasi-enin-get-accepted-all-ivy-league-schools/ 

[CkyBlue]

Maybe start with a definition of intelligence to have something to refer to. Then think about how someone knows if someone would be intelligent or not, and then compare it with your definition.

 

It would be a good idea to analyze what the SAT is, what it does, and how it "measures intelligence". Bring it back to how someone would know if someone is intelligent, and compare to what extent this is accomplished. Don't forget to state any implied limitations to the assumptions or definitions you are making.

 

I'm not sure if you should look into affirmative action or not; it seems like you're going into a two ended topic and might be too much for a presentation. 

 

Hope this helps

[alisonwong7]

Thank you so much for responding!

 

I have decided to hone in on reasoning as my way of knowing and focus on the Arts and Ethics as ways of assessing an individual's capabilities. Kwasi Enin gets into university it seems, because of his extracurriculars in music and some may argue because his SAT score was looked at differently because of his race. This are the two areas of knowledge I want to explore and I will look at them through reasoning. My knowledge question would be: How can we use reasoning to assess a person's capabilities? Not entirely sure about the capabilities part.

 

What do you think of this?

Edited November 17, 2014 by alisonwong7

[ibprincess]

You could have it as a more open KQ: How do we assess a person's capabilities?

 

AOK:

arts and ethics are good

probably go into mathematics as well because standardised testing deals with quantitative data but this isn't always the best representation of a persons ability

 

WOK:

reason--if a person does well on SATs does that mean they have higher capabilities

you could go into a lot of different things here such as emotion, faith, intuition

 

I would recommend doing a brainstorm about each AOK and WOK and see what ideas you come up with for each. the one with the best ideas can then be used for your presentation

[CkyBlue]

I'm a bit confused on your use of AoK in your question. I don't see how ethics could be used to really "know" anything(are you getting the word confused with "ethnic"? Ethics does not tie into your presentation, from what I see. Many members who have made guides on this website about ToK strongly advise writing about ethics.

 

"Reasoning" is way too broad; I suggest doing something similar as the above poster has stated: narrow down what reasoning is. Reasoning could be anything from logical deduction, to using a combination of WoK to gain knowledge or come to conclusions.