Intergalactic-mindedness
Maybe with the advent of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope the IB needs to be less parochial and broaden its horizons by encouraging intergalactic-mindedness rather than just international-mindedness?...
Some thoughts on the May 2022 IB Chemistry examinations
About a year ago I wrote a blog Thinking through multiple choice questions on the difficulty of writing good multiple choice questions. This is partly due to the fact that because the numbers of words...
Anti-Markovnikov addition
Imagine the International Baccalaureate started in the nineteenth century and that it is now 1872. You are an IB student looking for a research question for your internal assessment. You have just read...
Initial reflections on the new programme
The new IB Diploma chemistry programme to replace the 2016 programme was due to start in August/September 2021 with the first exams in 2023. It was initially postponed for one year then for a further...
Covering the mandatory practical areas during lockdown
With the omicron variant now spreading rapidly through many countries there is real concern that many schools will be finding themselves in lockdown due to Covid yet again. One of the parts of the syllabus...
Greenhouse gas bulletin and COP26
A useful source of data for both EEs and IAs is the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin which is published annually. The latest publication (which came out today, just one week before the start of COP26 in Glasgow)...
Testing concepts using the H3+ ion
The trihydrogen cation is one of the most abundant molecular species in the universe. It is also one of the simplest and yet nowhere does it appear on the IB syllabus. Model of the H3+ ion For a bit...
“The Strangest Man”
Teachers in the Northern Hemisphere are hopefully enjoying a summer vacation and recharging their batteries after a stressful Covid-dominated year. For a relaxing and yet very informal and informative...
Preparing for the May 2021 results
Next week, on Monday 5th July, the May 2021 IB Diploma results are being released to schools (students will receive their results the next day). As with many other areas of life, education has suffered...
Thinking through multiple choice questions
Consider a very simple question, What does two plus two make? The obvious correct answer is four. Most people will arrive at four by simple addition using the equation 2 + 2 = 4 but in fact the answer...