IA Question about Math SL IA

[Pon]

I am in the process of writing mine, and are wondering: how many marks will be taken off for having a page count over the max recommended amount of 12? A lot of the page content right now is that tables and mathematical evidence, so I can't exactly get rid of that. Any help is appreciated, thanks!

[Vioh]

I am in the process of writing mine, and are wondering: how many marks will be taken off for having a page count over the max recommended amount of 12? A lot of the page content right now is that tables and mathematical evidence, so I can't exactly get rid of that. Any help is appreciated, thanks!

 

Don't worry. If it is largely tables, data (and other similar stuff, such as graphs), then the examiners will not take away any of your valuable marks. In fact, I have seen a few IAs that have more than 12 pages but still get a 7.

 

However, why don't you try to reduce the word size, squeeze the words together, and reduce the gaps between the lines? I did that with my IA. Originally I had 15 pages, but after fixing the size of the words and using some other computer tricks, i successfully got it down to 11 pages

[Pon]

 

I am in the process of writing mine, and are wondering: how many marks will be taken off for having a page count over the max recommended amount of 12? A lot of the page content right now is that tables and mathematical evidence, so I can't exactly get rid of that. Any help is appreciated, thanks!

 

Don't worry. If it is largely tables, data (and other similar stuff, such as graphs), then the examiners will not take away any of your valuable marks. In fact, I have seen a few IAs that have more than 12 pages but still get a 7.

 

However, why don't you try to reduce the word size, squeeze the words together, and reduce the gaps between the lines? I did that with my IA. Originally I had 15 pages, but after fixing the size of the words and using some other computer tricks, i successfully got it down to 11 pages

 

Alright, thank you for the reply and tips!

[theboro76]

It really depends on a number of things as to whether or not you get marked down. Compared to almost all of the other IB tasks with word counts (at least all the ones I've done) there is nothing specific that says 'if you exceed the page limit you will lose x marks and the examiner will stop reading'. Because of this you have to gauge how important what you write actually is. It is really about consiceness, which is a part of the criteria. So if you write 13 pages, which is rambly, and doesn't get to the point of your exploration then you will lose marks. Equally if you write 13 pages that is consise, given what you are trying to acheive, then you should be fine. As Vioh said, if you include graphs, tables, but also bibliographies, contents, etc. then these will not likely detract from your exploration's consiseness. Essentially I think a good way of judging is asking yourself 'can I reasonably acheive my aim in less pages than I have?' This could be by reducing the amount of text or data, but also text size, spacing, margins as Vioh also said. But remember don't do this at the expense of readability, which you can lose marks for. I might point out also it is possible to have an exploration that is 8 pages, for example, that is not concise, even if one over the limit is.

 

But also, ask your teacher their interpretation of the limit. The real question is will your teacher mark you down? Because, he/she is the person who marks it, so they need to be happy. I know mine was over the 12 pages, and I dindn't get penalised, but it is possible your teacher enforces the limit more strictly.