From Doubt to a Grade 7 in Math IA
Subject
Math AA IA
Topic
Geometry of famous buildings
Draft Score
13/20
Final Score
18/20
The Challenge
Charmaine struggled to find the right topic for her Math IA and didn't really understand what her teacher meant by a Math IA being more of an exploration, rather than a Science IA investigation. She's not alone in this struggle. Many students are often not provided with a clear breakdown of the differences between Math and other subjects' IA structures by their teachers.
Therefore, in the research and preparation stage, it is important to understand that Math Internal Assessments are different from, e.g, Science coursework. Math IAs are essentially personalized explorations of topics that the student is interested in and uses mathematics to analyze or gain a better understanding of.
After browsing real student exemplars in Clastify's database, Charmaine was able to understand what was expected from her, and she eventually came up with an exploration about the geometry of famous buildings. However, when she completed her first draft, she only scored 13/20.
The Clastify Solution
Feeling confused and overwhelmed with the vague feedback, Charmaine decided to try the Clastify Review service. This is when she was paired with an experienced Math teacher who also serves as an IB Examiner and marks the Internal Assessment component during May and November sessions.
Within a few days, Charmaine received detailed feedback from an IB Examiner who explained to her what areas of her work can be improved to really hit all the requirements that IBO sets for Math IAs. She also felt encouraged as the reviewer pointed out the good aspects of her first draft- particularly the evident personal engagement in investigating geometry principles in world-famous buildings, as Charmaine developed self-devised approaches and guiding questions that structured her IA.
The Outcome
With feedback and clarifications provided by the reviewer, Charmaine was able to work on her initial draft for a few weeks before her school's deadline to submit the final draft. This process was made stress-free for her as the comments from the reviewer were direct and added to specific paragraphs and equations in the IA so that she knew right away what had to be fixed and how.
Eventually, when Charmaine requested a grade breakdown from the IBO when she received her Diploma, she saw that her IA mark was boosted from a predicted 13/20 to an 18/20, which helped her get the final Math grade she needed to meet her entry requirements at her dream university.
"Clastify really turned my IAs around and now I'm studying at my dream university."
Charmaine
M25 session
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