MATHS IA QUESTION

[rebecca.vanderm]

Hi everyone!!!

 

I've submitted my first Maths HL IA draft to my teacher and my feedback is along the lines of:

 

would get full marks if:

made shorter (it's 10k words but that includes symbols and numbers, that's 30 pages for the body and around 36 including title page, contents, rationale, appendices, etc.)

and made SIMPLER

 

I love maths and really stretched myself with this project, going into extensive proofs using topology, logic and more.

 

He also told me to make it so that 'anyone in my class' would understand.

 

I've simplified it, added diagrams with bold, red arrows to show exactly WHAT I'm doing in steps, and my question is:

1.) Do moderators read the Internal Assessments (for maths like for other subjects), word for word? or do they just skim through/get a feel for the approach? Essentially, what I'm asking is: if I have a sentence that explains a step/process, that is not that trivial, will the moderator give it 15 seconds to make sense of it, or just think...not clear enough??? 

 

Also, does anyone in my class really have to understand it? Because my teacher would like to me to give it to a few of my class mates to see if they make sense of it, but let's face it, at this stage and with the workload..who's gonna add a stretching 30+ paper to the pile? 

 

Anyway,

There are probably no official IB IA moderators on this website, if so...please tell me!!

But I wanted to know what you guys think..??

 

Thank you!!

Rebs

[kw0573]

 

The final report should be approximately 6 to 12 pages long. It can be either word processed or handwritten. Students should be able to explain all stages of their work in such a way that demonstrates clear understanding. While there is no requirement that students present their work in class, it should be written in such a way that their peers would be able to follow it fairly easily.

From the guide. http://www.ibsurvival.com/files/file/2386-mathematics-hl-syllabus-first-examinations-2014/

Length is not the ultimate factor determining your mark. If your 30-pager is cohesive and logically organized, it will not lose marks on communication. You have to score your work against the rubric. If you lose marks in communication, you are also likely to lose marks in Use of Mathematics, which is demonstrating understanding. Your peers don't have to understand the exploration in a 1-minute skim read. But they should be able to do so given ample amount of time, WITHOUT REFERENCING ANY ADDITIONAL SOURCES. Also if you provide original insights rather than merely reproducing others' work, you will score high on Personal Engagement.

The only risk with having such a long IA (my math EE that I spent 2 months on is only 20 pages) is that your personal engagement and reflections may be unspotted. It's useful to make them extra clear and easy-to-spot.

Your teacher will likely not read word for word, but will follow the mathematics and the explanation to see if you know what you are talking about. As long as if you grade it against the markschemes you can can get a good mark, you don't have to cut it down too much. 

You have to understand that your teacher have at least a Bachelor degree in mathematics so what's "trivial" for them is different from what's "trivial" to you. If they don't understand it likely you have not explained it properly, which indicates to you that you should explain it in more detail. If you make any significant logic leaps that would imply you don't understand the topics very well, you are going to lose marks under communication and use of mathematics.

[xocat]

My teacher is a math IA evaluator, and he is really emphatical on the importance of being concise. Also, what kw0573 says on Personal Engagement is really important, and having such a long work might cause that part to be unspotted. 

 

I'm still working on mine, so there are somethings I still don't know much, except for a few things my teacher has said to the whole class. He also insists that your writing should be clear for someone in your class. So think about it this way: you want to teach your classmates about your topic, you want them to read your IA and understand what was your aim, what you did and the math you used. Hence, be clear on those important concepts. 

 

That's my advice, if you'd like me to ask something to my teacher, I'll do it.