The IB Diploma Programme has provided students at Wells with opportunities to take ownership over their learning, develop their personal and cultural identities, and engage with ideas from the local to global that allows them to take action in the wider community.

“I joined the DP program with 2 goals: to research, and to become a better learner/thinker. The EE and IAs fulfilled my first goal. As for the second, the TOK course and its pervasiveness across all other subjects helped me become more reflective and aware of my own learning process and the knowledge journey in general. It also made me form an interconnectedness perspective of all subjects. This opened up new possible combinations of my academic interests that I hope to pursue moving forward.” (Graduate from Class of 2023)

“The IBDP at Wells was very inclusive of the student’s perspective and thoughts. Especially while working on the Internal Assessments and the Extended Essay, I was able to pursue ideas that I was curious about. I believe this not only satisfies my thirst for knowledge but also encourages me to seek more knowledge in the future.” (Graduate from Class of 2023)

“The TOK course and its pervasiveness across all other subjects helped me be more reflective and aware of my own learning process and the knowledge journey in general. It also made me form an interconnected perspective of all subjects. This opened up new possible combinations of my academic interests that I hope to pursue moving forward.” (Graduate from Class of 2023)

As a school, we are proud to reflect on our progress in developing our IB Diploma Programme for the past 10 years, and eagerly look forward to continuous development of the programme moving forward. We commend our IB Diploma and Certificate candidates over the years for attempting, accomplishing and persevering throughout such an academically rigorous program. We recognize we must continue to create and innovate in order to provide quality education for our students in a complex and ever-changing global context.

Here are some of the moments captured of students inquiring, collaborating, learning and developing useful life skills in and outside of the classroom:

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The TOK exhibition is the course’s internal assessment (IA) and its purpose is for students to demonstrate how TOK manifests itself in the world around them. This is achieved through creating an exhibition of three objects which have a real-world context, and demonstrating how these objects connect to one of the IA prompts provided by the IB. Throughout the year, students have been working towards this final event, completing related assessments, such as show & tell, mini exhibition posters and a mock exhibition.

Some of the prompts explored by students included:

• Why do we seek knowledge?

• Are some things unknowable?

• What constraints are there on the pursuit of knowledge?

• What is the relationship between knowledge and culture?

• Can new knowledge change established values or beliefs?

• How can we distinguish between knowledge, belief and opinion?

• What counts as good evidence for a claim? (IBDP Theory of Knowledge Subject Guide, 2020)

The goal of the exhibition was to increase visibility of TOK in the school community, as well as encourage students to explore diverse perspectives in pursuit of answers to their prompt questions. Teachers and students from middle and high school joined to learn more about the TOK course, as well as gain new knowledge related to each unique individual exhibition. There were some interesting discussions and insightful explorations into the questions between the hosts and participants. 

We commend the students for their efforts in completing the TOK exhibition in their first year of the IB Diploma Programme, and celebrate their first completed IA of many!

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The post Class of 2024 TOK Exhibition appeared first on �ۿ۴�ý | American International School - Wells.

The TOK exhibition has replaced the original TOK presentation as the course’s internal assessment (IA). The purpose of the exhibition is for students to demonstrate how TOK manifests itself in the world around them. They do this through creating an exhibition of three objects which have a real-world context, and demonstrating how these objects connect to one of the IA prompts provided by the IB. Throughout the year, students have been working towards this final event, completing related assessments, such as show & tell, mini exhibition posters and a mock exhibition.

These are some of the prompts our students explored:

• Why do we seek knowledge?
• Does some knowledge belong only to particular communities of knowers?
• What is the relationship between knowledge and culture?
• Can new knowledge change established values or beliefs?
• To what extent is certainty attainable? 
• What counts as good evidence for a claim? (IBDP Theory of Knowledge Subject Guide, 2020)

Contrary to last year, we were able to host the exhibition in person, in our school library and IB room spaces. Teachers and students from middle and high school joined to learn more about the Theory of Knowledge course, as well as gain new knowledge related to each unique individual exhibition. 

We commend the students for their efforts in completing the TOK exhibition in their first year of the IB Diploma Programme, and celebrate their first completed IA of many!

The post Class of 2023 IBDP TOK Exhibition first appeared on �ۿ۴�ý | American International School - Wells.

The post Class of 2023 IBDP TOK Exhibition appeared first on �ۿ۴�ý | American International School - Wells.

The IB Extended Essay is a key feature of the IB DP Core (along with CAS and TOK). It involves the IB Candidates in an undertaking of 4000 words argumentative essay, and in the case of the sciences this also involves a detailed investigation such as a laboratory experiment or fieldwork. For one of our most recent graduates, Gia Karamchandani in Class of 2021, she saw it as an opportunity to extend into her future studies in university.

Extending the EE into Lifelong Learning

For some, the exploration of writing the Extended Essay (EE) is a chance to try something new, to test the waters in a subject, or to focus on a passion. In the case of Gia Karamchandani and her study of bioremediation in biology was a chance to step further into her future university major. 

During Wells Summer Science Program in June/July of 2019 in the labs at University of Hawaii Manoa, Gia experienced what it was like to pursue lab work and investigations. In her EE topic, her aim was to explore potential solutions to the global issue of water pollution, as a response to what she saw growing up here in Bangkok.

After graduation, she didn’t stop learning. Over the summer of 2021, she took on the challenge of making a scientific poster of her 4000 word essay. She pursued and through several iterations of the poster, she learned how to make one as she went, collaborating with several teachers along the way. In the end, she created this beautiful poster, a product of learning communication skills required in the sciences at the university level. No doubt she is ready to take on her first semester as a university student fully prepared!

Download this file(PDF, 3.83MB)

IB DP EE at Wells in September 2021

This first semester, Year 1 candidates in the IBDP are starting to explore their interests and passions in the IBDP Core class. For the Year 2 candidates, they have already developed topics, met with their supervisors, and are in the process of writing their first drafts. This is a challenging at any step of the process. This is where the IBDP offers students a chance to build resilience, focus, and self-regulation, as they monitor their progress and make necessary adjustments. 

Written By: Ms. Katherine Caouette, IB Diploma Programme Coordinator

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Youth Leadership Training

IB Regional Workshops

Youth leadership was highlighted as an important part of IB’s student-centered philosophy in the IB Asia-Pacific Regional Workshops. It also showcased how embedding systems thinking and empowering youth leadership across subject areas and grade levels create a flourishing future through education. As part of this pilot program, the youth leader participants presented inspirational keynote speeches, student-led breakout sessions, and most of them co-facilitated 3-day IB workshops with IB workshop leaders. Students were able to gain a deeper understanding of various IB programs and crucial concepts in education, as well as gain leadership and teaching experience, as many of them led discussions and activities and actively engaged in discussions, providing valuable student perspectives for the purpose of educator development.

Special Thanks to our Youth Leaders

They served as respected youth leaders of our school and demonstrated professional competencies working with teachers, developing their communication, public speaking, collaborative, and creativity skills. Below are some of their shared insights and lessons gained during their involvement in this program

Insights & Lessons Learned

“Definitely, Definitely, Definitely incorporate youth leaders in such workshops. Although the teachers might not think that it will help us, but the information we got from this workshop was so useful. Although the information was not meant for me or my age group but it was really interesting how I can use this information and incorporate into activities I am involved in or use them in the clubs I lead.” – Jai, Class of 2019

“Teachers go through similar struggles as students. Being aware of your well being is important for our education.”

-Amy, Class of 2019

“I learned a lot about teachers, and how hard their lives can also be, how teachers organize their programs and how different schools vary in their programs.” -Sapal, Class of 2020

“It was a great opportunity to think in global perspectives and bring international mindedness to our world. It has given me different perspectives, listening to what teachers think. I gained engagement and appreciation towards my education and IB ESS…now I think more positive about my life and the world. I believe I can make a change in the world!” -Jimin, Class of 2019

“It was an amazing workshop, where our voices were heard, where all participants were able to express and describe towards certain notions…We had a conversation and discussion based workshop. In this way, personally, I feel like it really broadened my perspective. After this workshop, my passion for Education grew and it developed a lot, by interacting with international teachers from different schools, countries, and even programs (IB DP, IB PYP, IB MYP).”  -Ruby, Class of 2020

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