V For Vendetta. Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 (edited) I decided to go all out on this exploration (as IB calls it). I didn't feel like doing an SL topic as I wanted a high mark and going above and beyond the syllabus seemed the only way I could have gotten that. I decided to do my IA on: Estimating the Gaussian Integral using Riemann Sums and Taylor/MacLaurin Series. I programmed my own program (using VB.net) to calculate the Gaussian integral (to a significant degree of accuracy - 25 decimal places). I showed personal engagement, and the math was well above what was expected. I even derived the power series and the Taylor series in order for my peers to understand what I did. I ended up getting a 11/20. Discussing my IA with other teachers, they would have given me 17/20. It was also sent off to IB for moderation. Do you guys feel as if my teacher was unfair on me? Edited May 17, 2014 by V For Vendetta. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Marioti Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 I don't think we can tell you if your teacher was unfair because we haven't seen your IABy going with what you've said (that other teachers would've given you a much higher mark) I would say that your teacher was unfair.But didn't your teacher give you feedback? I mean explain why he gave you a low score? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negotiation Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 It shouldn't be an issue, as IAs are typically peer moderated internally if there are multiple SL classes, and then externally moderated, so you'll be pulled up if you deserve it. 3 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charliepants Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 You shouldn't worry too much about your teacher's marking.A handful of IA samples are sent in to the IBO for external marking, and if they notice that your teacher has been too strict, they will pull up the whole class. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
V For Vendetta. Posted May 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 I don't think we can tell you if your teacher was unfair because we haven't seen your IABy going with what you've said (that other teachers would've given you a much higher mark) I would say that your teacher was unfair.But didn't your teacher give you feedback? I mean explain why he gave you a low score?When I asked him about it, he pretty much ignored me. Also, how much will this affect my chance to get a 7 final? I really NEED a 7. :/ Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bankhead Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 If your IA was sent for moderation, then they would probably give you the mark as given by the moderator right? So it shouldn't be an issue. Or did i get this wrong? haha Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
V For Vendetta. Posted May 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 If your IA was sent for moderation, then they would probably give you the mark as given by the moderator right? So it shouldn't be an issue. Or did i get this wrong? haha Nope you got it right! And the thing is, they maximum they could increase it by is 4 points. If they even give me 3 more points, I'll be at a 14/20. I feel as if that hinders my chance of getting a 7 overall. :/ Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bankhead Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Woooooow. Thats not good. I mean I don't think you can do anything about it anyways. I wish you the best of luck man. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flinquinnster Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 It does sound like an unfortunate situation - your topic seems way beyond SL and indeed beyond HL option material! Firstly, whilst this probably isn't going to affect your mark now, I would suggest that you ask your teacher for feedback on why you got a low score, and if that isn't satisfactory raise the issue to your school to try and help other students who will later be taught and marked by that teacher. As far as I'm aware most schools with multiple IB teachers idealistically aim to have their own internal moderation process whereby if teachers disagree on marks there should be discussion and re-alignment of marks before any mark is sent to the IB. However, I didn't hear about this going on in my school and I doubt all schools strictly do it. Otherwise, you do have to put your faith in the IB moderation system. I was always under the impression that teachers were meant to select samples for moderation randomly based on a selection of IAs with different marks, but I may be wrong. Usually IB does do a decent job with moderation of IAs - though it's hard to challenge the moderation of an IA with a remark. Although it is rarer for this to occur, it should be possible to get more than 4/20 added to an IA if the IA deserves it. As far as I know there is no limit set on how much IA marks can go up by - e.g. our class' physics IA scores went up in some cases over 5 points, but it was out of 48. However, I totally get that getting large increases in IA score is generally hard in the moderation process even if your IA is picked - for one, there is the psychological anchor set by the original mark that may bias the moderator. If it does happen that your sample wasn't actually picked though for IB IA moderation it might be more complex. They may see other works which were perhaps marked overly favourably by your school and then, without looking at your individual IA, decide that all the marks should be moderated down. In the end though, it's probably not worth spending too much time agonising over the IA moderation process! If you are a May 2015 candidate you may still have time to challenge your mark internally. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negotiation Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Otherwise, you do have to put your faith in the IB moderation system. I was always under the impression that teachers were meant to select samples for moderation randomly based on a selection of IAs with different marks, but I may be wrong.This is somewhat correct. The IB decides which ones will be sent in based on a list of the students and their scores, for example they'll pick 2 from the lowest scores, 2 from the middle, and 2 from the top, and they moderate these groups individually.This, of course, depends on the size of the class. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elaifyanre Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 (edited) Otherwise, you do have to put your faith in the IB moderation system. I was always under the impression that teachers were meant to select samples for moderation randomly based on a selection of IAs with different marks, but I may be wrong.This is somewhat correct. The IB decides which ones will be sent in based on a list of the students and their scores, for example they'll pick 2 from the lowest scores, 2 from the middle, and 2 from the top, and they moderate these groups individually.This, of course, depends on the size of the class.At least for philosophy it was randomly picked by the computer from the quartiles/quintiles/etc depending on how many samples they want.If it's randomly picked then it's probably not going to be sent to IB, but I'm not sure about math anyways (there's only 3 students in my math class so all IAs were sent to IB).According to OP's description it seems good (although to correct OP: it's not necessary to go beyond the syllabus to get 20/20 or a 6/6 for the use of mathematics criterion, and too many decimal places would be unnecessary and probably redundant), but we don't know the mark breakdown (aka where he lose marks) and what he actually did in the IA .I'm not quite sure about the policy of using programs to do the math in the math IA, but since OP did it on his own (and hopefully included how he programmed it based on his knowledge) I think it should be alright.Anyways, good luck! If it's sent to moderation then you should get what you deserve. Edited May 6, 2014 by ssy Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrHitNik Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 Otherwise, you do have to put your faith in the IB moderation system. I was always under the impression that teachers were meant to select samples for moderation randomly based on a selection of IAs with different marks, but I may be wrong.This is somewhat correct. The IB decides which ones will be sent in based on a list of the students and their scores, for example they'll pick 2 from the lowest scores, 2 from the middle, and 2 from the top, and they moderate these groups individually. This, of course, depends on the size of the class. What if the class size is small, like say 10-12 students? How many would be sent then? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibprincess Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 What if the class size is small, like say 10-12 students? How many would be sent then?in a class of 6 or less, everyone's it's are sent away. in classes of 7+, top 2 bottom 2 and 2 in the middle are sent away 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle turtle Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 It shouldn't be an issue, as IAs are typically peer moderated internally if there are multiple SL classes, and then externally moderated, so you'll be pulled up if you deserve it.Sorry I haven't done my IA yet (i'm year 11), what do you mean they are typically peer moderated internally?? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibprincess Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 It shouldn't be an issue, as IAs are typically peer moderated internally if there are multiple SL classes, and then externally moderated, so you'll be pulled up if you deserve it.Sorry I haven't done my IA yet (i'm year 11), what do you mean they are typically peer moderated internally?? i think it means teacher A marks the ia, the ia is then remarked by teacher b. if there are discrepancies between the two marks then its solved between the teachers 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMGIBISFUN Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 The ones selected for moderator review is done by an independent IB algorithm based on the scores your teacher gave, hard to say if yours is going to be included in the sample. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousGlassesIB Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 Please post this IA. You might have been off-topic, vague or you might have tried to make your topic too advanced without explaining the basics very well. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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