THEORY OF

KNOWLEDGE
THE PRESENTATION
THE TASK:

Students must make one

presentation to the class
during the course.

Presentations must be
delivered in English.
THE IB REQUIRES THAT
YOU:
 Describe your chosen RLS.
 Extract a central knowledge
question (KQ).
 Unpack subsidiary knowledge
questions.
 Develop arguments and……..
counter- arguments.
THE IB REQUIRES THAT
YOU:

 Illustrate with examples.

 Explore different perspectives.
 Relate your analysis back to your
original RLS.
 Show the broader relevance of your
findings.
 Your presentation should
move from the concrete to
the abstract, and then relate
your developed analysis
back to the concrete.
 Implications
Real Life Situation Other RLS

Conclusion

Extraction
Real World
(Concrete)

Ap
pl TOK World
ica
tio (Abstract)
n

Knowledge Question Developmennt

You might consider using this as a model to construct your own diagram, filling in specific details relevant
to your own presentation.
DOCUMENTATION
 Presentation planning document to your
teacher.

 Summary of up to 500 words (bullet

point or note form) of your presentation.

 Your summary should cover what I

stated before.
EACH RLS AND KQ CAN ONLY BE
TREATED ONCE BY YOUR YEAR
GROUP.

So you cannot pick the same

RLS or KQ as any other
students.

Since there are literally

hundreds of possible
presentation topics, this
should not be a problem.
WHEN WILL IT HAPPEN?

Your presentation will happen at

the end of the semester, so you
will have time to prepare.
MEETING WITH ME

You will be able to have

up to three meetings with
me to discuss your
presentation and get
advice.
INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP
PRESENTATION?
 You can either do your
presentation alone or you can
work in a group of up to three
people.

The required length will

varied based on group size.

It is ten minutes per person.

Some people prefer to do
the presentation alone;
others prefer to work in a
group.

There is no right or wrong

choice, but there are pros
and cons with either
option.
PROS

 You can share ideas and

perspectives on the topic.

 You have more time, which

enables you to go into more
depth.

 You can use dramatic presentation

methods, such as role-play, etc.
PROS

 You have more incentive to do

a good job as a result of peer
pressure.

 You may find it a more

sociable and enjoyable
experience.
CONS

 You may find it difficult to meet together to plan.

 You may run out of ideas and

struggle to fill the time.

 Your presentation may be fragmented

and poorly coordinated.
 CONS

You may end up working with students

who are less engaged than you are.

You may get distracted and find it

difficult to stay on task.
 A GROUP MIGHT ALSO BENEFIT FROM
HAVING MEMBERS WITH
COMPLEMENTARY SKILLS AND/ OR
BACKGROUNDS.

This may make it easier for you to come up with different

perspectives on your chosen topic.
  
YOU SHOULD ALSO KEEP IN MIND THE
FOLLOWING IF YOU DECIDE TO DO A GROUP
P R E S E N TAT I O N .
 TOPIC CHOICE

Since you have more time to

fill, you will probably want
to choose a topic that is
somewhat broader or richer
in TOK potential than if you
are working alone.
INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS

If you do a group presentation,

you do not all need to speak for
the same amount of time, but
you should demonstrate that you
have all been equally involved
in the planning and delivery of
the presentation.
PRESENTATION GRADE

Since each group member

will be given the same grade,
it is particularly important
that you feel in agreement
when it comes to expectations
about how much effort to put
in to your presentation.
THE PROCESS
 1
CHOOSING OF TOPIC
You have considerable freedom in your
choice of presentation topic.
You can choose something based on
your personal experience, or something
you came across via second-hand
sources (internet, television,
newspapers, etc.)
CHOOSING OF TOPIC

Your RLS might be directly

related to you or your local
community, or it may have
broader national or global
significance.

The only condition is that your

topic should be based on a
specific situation which is
suitable for a TOK presentation.
 WHAT IS A
SUBSTANTIVE
RLS?
BROAD THEMES ARE NOT
RLS.
Although you may begin by thinking about a broad theme, such as
world peace, or global warming, or scientific progress, these do not in
themselves constitute real-life situations.

If you are interested in such a theme, then choose a specific situation

that is related to it.
EXAMPLE: GLOBAL WARMING

Real Life Situation:

You might look at the 2009 controversy

known as 'Climategate' which centered
round allegations that some scientists had
manipulated climate data.
YOUR RLS CANNOT BE A MADE-UP
EXAMPLE.

The IB needs to be able to

research and identify the
situation.

It must be a real situation as

opposed to an imaginary or
hypothetical one.
EXAMPLE: THE MATRIX (1999)
 HOW CAN THIS BE USED?
This scene will initiate a
discussion about:

whether it is always good to seek

the truth

whether we want to seek it

the implications of our choices.

 THE RLS YOU CHOOSE DOES NOT
HAVE TO BE A CONTEMPORARY ONE,
IT COULD BE TAKEN FROM THE PAST.
 REAL LIFE SITUATION:

The trial of Galileo in the

seventeenth century extract
a knowledge question
about the relation between
science and religion.
 YOUR RLS
SHOULD BE
REASONABLY
SPECIFIC.
REAL LIFE SITUATION:

A particular incident,
such as the Allied
The Second World
bombing of Dresden,
War is far too general. might be appropriate.
WHAT TO AVOID?

 Cliched topics such as abortion or

capital punishment.

 Things you feel too passionately

about (bias)

 RLS that takes a lot of time to

describe
 THE FIGURE BELOW GIVES YOU SOME IDEAS
ON HOW YOU MIGHT BEGIN TO FOCUS IN ON A
SUITABLE RLS.

Personal Experience: You might look for something

related to your interests, e.g. music,
photography or soccer.
National

Area of knowledge : Something related to the subjects School

from school, e.g. the uses and abuses of language;
different interpretations of the same historical event.

Personal

News story: News stories

can be a rich source of ideas.

Community

Broad theme: You might begin with a broad theme (e.g.

cultural differences, human rights, media bias, etc.) and Global
then look for a specific situation which exemplifies it.
 2
EXTRACTING A KNOWLEDGE
QUESTION

Knowledge questions can be elicited from

almost any topic, and to a great extent the
success of a presentation will depend not so
much on what topic you choose as how you
treat it.
KNOWLEDGE QUESTIONS

are questions that directly refer to

our understanding of the world,
ourselves and others.

focus on the acquisition, search

for, production, shaping and
acceptance of knowledge.

arise from the struggle to find the

right method or evidence to reach
the goal of knowing, of finding
the truth.
 HOW TO FORMULATE KNOWLEDGE
QUESTIONS.
Second order General Open-ended

A knowledge question is A knowledge question is

A knowledge question is directly related to the open-ended and requires
one about the nature of a general question 'How a judgement about
subject which do you know?' and a matter of degree ('To
cannot be answered requires analysis in TOK what extent ... ?') as
within that subject. language rather than a opposed to a simple yes-
descriptive response. or-no answer.
RLS: NEW JAPANESE HISTORY
TEXTBOOKS ANGER CHINA

Specific
What criteria might one use to
determine whether or not history
textbooks are biased?

Generic
How is it possible to establish the
truth about the past?
RLS: MOTHER OF BOSTON BOMBERS
SAYS SHE KNOWS HER SONS ARE NOT
TERRORISTS

Specific
To what extent can emotion both
contribute to and detract from our
knowledge of others?

Generic
Can we ever really know another
person?
Coming up with a good RLS
and extracting an appropriate
KQ is a crucial, as it ensures
that you set off in the right
direction.
Although your presentation
will begin with the
description of your chosen
RLS, you should move
quickly to TOK analysis.

This should occupy the

majority of your
presentation time.
 3
GENERATING AND DEVELOPING
IDEAS

Whether you are doing

your presentation
alone or in a group, it
is important to discuss
your ideas with other
people, as this is likely
to spark new thoughts
and get your mind
moving in new
directions.
 4
STRUCTURING YOUR
PRESENTATION

Form

Organization
FORM A 'traditional' approach in
which you engage with
your audience and simply
talk directly about your
topic can work perfectly
well.
 YOU MIGHT ALSO CONSIDER
INCORPORATING ONE OR MORE OF THE
FOLLOWING ELEMENTS:

Role-play.

You might dramatize your

RLS, or adopt different roles
- such as scientist, artist,
economist - and debate the
issues, or have an interview
scenario with a TV reporter
talking to relevant
individuals.
 Multimedia.

You might incorporate

multimedia, such as text,
music, images,
animations and video
clips.
 Audience
participation.

You might directly

engage your audience
by, for example,
soliciting brief
responses to questions.
If you do choose one or more of the above
options, be careful not to confuse means
with ends.

These are vehicles for the analysis of your

knowledge question.
LIMITATIONS

The presentation cannot 'be

simply an essay read aloud to the
class'.

It 'must be a live experience and

not a recording of the
presentation'.
ORGANIZATION

Your presentation should

have a beginning, a middle
and an end, and a clear
sense of direction and
development.
WHEN PLANNING YOUR
PRESENTATION:

Start with something which grabs

your audience's attention.

Devote more time to major points

and less time to minor ones.
Include occasional 'signposts' so that
your audience has a sense of where
you have come from and where you
plan to go next.

Leave your audience with a strong

and memorable conclusion which
shows the broader relevance of your
topic
 5
DELIVERING YOUR
PRESENTATION

Speaking in public comes

high on many people's
lists of biggest fear.

Practice!
 You should use
straightforward,
accessible language for
your message to be
clear.

Consider your tone of

voice, facial
expression, eye
contact, gesture and
body posture.
PRESENTATION TOOLS
 PowerPoint®, Keynote®, or
Prezi®

 Don't overload your slides with

text.

 Use animations sparingly, if at

all.