Internal Assessment: The Final Write-up

The time has come to wrap up your report.  On Monday, February 14th you need to bring to class a "final rough draft" on paper.  Be sure to have your report printed out as we will be peer editing and this must be in paper form.  
The FINAL final draft is due to me by Friday, February 18th.  This means I must have it in my hands by 2:30pm - anything later will lose points. 
Be sure to use all available resources - info from my blog - as well as knowledge from your classmates in finishing this project.  Follow the format and use the rubric to guide you as you finish up.  Please, ask me any questions you may have before you run out of time.

Internal Assessment: Completing the Write-up

This week we will be talking in class about some of the common errors students make when completing the write-up.  We will review the checklist, the rubric and various details such as elements of the Method and Discussion sections. 

While I am absent from class on Wednesday and Thursday you will be in the computer lab and should use the resources available on my blog to work on developing your write-up. 

*You should procede in order from the title page down through the discussion.  *You should be working on the discussion by the tme I return.  I will answer any questions when I return and we will be doing some peer assessment at that time.
Be productive!

Writing the Report: The Internal Assessment - January 24-28th

This week we will be concentrating on writing the actual report.  Remember to bring your guide (which I gave you back in November) and a USB so you can save all the work you complete during class.  We will be in the lab this week and I will be available to answer questions about any section of your report.  You should be writing this on your own so no plagiarism creeps into your report.  Please be sure to share the results with other members of your group. 
By the end of this week, you should have completed your title page, abstract, introduction, method and results.  The entire paper is due in it's finished form by Monday, February 14th.

Step 3: Internal Assessment - Jan 17-20th

Hopefully you have conducted your experiment and you now have your data ready to calculate.  You should meet with your partner(s) to share all data and calculate your statistics - mean, median, mode, range and standard deviation (if you are unsure as to how to find each of these, come see me or talk with one of the math geniuses in class.)

After you have all of your data you need to say "goodbye" to your partners and commence with your write-up by yourself.  Remember, plagiarism will void your grade (you will have earned a "zero" and this will apply to both your class grade and your overall IB score - oh, and you will also be removed from the IB program, so just don't do it.)

We will have time in class to discuss the components of your write-up - you will also have opportunities to get some peer editing.  Bring your report via a USB so you can work on it during class time.

This website has some helpful information as well as actual examples of papers.  http://ibpsychrevision.blogspot.com/p/internal-assessment.html

Step 2: Internal Assessment

This is the week you should be conducting your experiment replication.  What does this mean for you?

1. You need to make arraingements with another teacher(s) to use his/her students as your participants during class time.  I recommend conducting the experiment during our block on Thursday to ensure you have enough time to be successful.  *be sure to let the teacher know when you will be there, how many of his/her students you will need to use and how long you plan to use them.
2. Write or type up the procedure you will be following in conducting the experiment (I will be checking this for a grade.) You will need the original (or at least another) write-up of the experiment.
3. Be sure you have all the neccesary materials to conduct the experiment.  You should make a list and be sure you have everything before Thursday.
4. Create and print up your consent forms - you will need one for each participant and anyone under 16 needs to have a parent sognature before they can participate. 

Semester Test Study Guide

If you know this material and can answer each question thoroughly, you should do extremely well on the exam.  The materials are all either in your possession through hand-outs and notes or posted on my blog.  Be sure you re-read the infromation about Colin Turnbull's study of the Pygmies, Stroop's experiment on attentional interference, Nass's study on multitasking and Piaget's stages of development.

http://bdoughertyamschool.wikispaces.com/I.B.+Notes+%26+Other+Materials

Step 1: Internal Assessment

You may work with up to three of your classmates in the preliminary stage of the Internal Assessment: this means you may work in groups of up to four to conduct the experiment.(It may be helpful to have at least one partner to assist you.)
You need to identify which experiment you are going to replicate by Thursday December 2nd. This means you must have done some research to determine who actually conducted this experiment and what are the details of the experiment (you need to know how it was carried out, with whom and what were the original results.)
Lastly, you need to do internet research to better understand the background of your experiment: this means you need to identify the topic area under which your experiment falls and find additional information to help you explain the concept when you complete your write-up.  Your background information must be submitted to me by Thursday, December 9th.  This requires you write 400 words detailing the original experiment and background information on the topic area - post it to your blog by the due date.

When we return from winter break we will be conduting the experiments so this is an improtant first step in preparing to be ready for STEP TWO.