ultimateone Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Hey! Was wondering if we get assessed on things in the sciences syllabi like Applications and Skills and Nature of Science in the new syllabus? Or are these just gimmicks? Will we just be assessed on the Understanding points like it's always been in the old syllabus? Like, even if Applications and Skills are included in the exam, don't you think that considering this is the first year of the new syllabus, maybe the IBO would cut some slack and traditionally assess understanding points mainly since we haven't had exposure to papers with the nature of the new syllabus? And then maybe slowly drift more to the Applications questions as the years progress? Or would the syllabus just be applied in full swing the way it is from now? I don't want to turn this into a rant or anything, but it's just that the following years' candidates would have past papers and more resources on this syllabus if you know what I mean, so surely the May 2016 candidates would have some sort of privilege maybe? Albeit a slight one? I just really wish this was made a bit more clear in the subject guide, or as instructions to teachers? Because no one really seems to have a clue, the only closest thing we have to the exam is the specimen paper, which is quite limited. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw0573 Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Yes it's true that you can better predict questions on a later exam, but the difficulties will not vary significantly across the years. They will not skip stuff on the syllabus just because it's the first year. Looking at the HL Chemistry past papers, some of the hardest ones were from 2010 and 2011 in the 2009-2015 cycle.If you compare the 2016 syllabi to the 2009 syllabi, you'll find that there are less material in the Understandings portions in the new one because some have been moved to Applications and Skills. Some of the latter ones are often repeats of Understandings. There will not be any Nature of Science or ToK questions on the exam. Some said that Nature of Science have appeared on the biology specimen but I am not sure if that's true and the exact incidence. If you could find such an incidence in the specimen papers then I would be wrong. The new syllabi also has advantages: one of them being Utilizations now give a very good idea of what crosscurricular questions IB will ask. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultimateone Posted March 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Yes it's true that you can better predict questions on a later exam, but the difficulties will not vary significantly across the years. They will not skip stuff on the syllabus just because it's the first year. Looking at the HL Chemistry past papers, some of the hardest ones were from 2010 and 2011 in the 2009-2015 cycle.If you compare the 2016 syllabi to the 2009 syllabi, you'll find that there are less material in the Understandings portions in the new one because some have been moved to Applications and Skills. Some of the latter ones are often repeats of Understandings. There will not be any Nature of Science or ToK questions on the exam. Some said that Nature of Science have appeared on the biology specimen but I am not sure if that's true and the exact incidence. If you could find such an incidence in the specimen papers then I would be wrong. The new syllabi also has advantages: one of them being Utilizations now give a very good idea of what crosscurricular questions IB will ask. Thank you Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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