IBDP Performance Enhancement Programme Boosting critical skills
October 17, 2019
A three-day performance enhancement programme was organized from 14 to 16 October to develop and hone critical 21st century skills and boost the performance of students and teachers at the IB Diploma.
The sessions comprised workshops on understanding the IB DP Core, Internal Assessments, Math, Psychology and Academic Writing Skills. The resource persons for the sessions were renowned educationists and consultants, Ms.Yogesh Dhingra and Ms. Chrisann Almeida from Courseleap Education, Mumbai. The consultants and trainers are experienced IBDP leadersand carry outsignificant responsibilities for the IB, such as principal examiner and subject examiners for the Diploma Programme examinations and teacher workshop leaders. They are also subject experts for Math and Psychology. In addition,they have been leaders and teachers at progressive international schools and various international schools across the country consult with them.
The three day programme started with a session on TOK [Theory of Knowledge] where both students and teachers unpacked the IB Diploma TOK prescribed titles for the May 2020 exam. Students were actively involved in various activities with the primary purpose of enhancing and honing skills such as critical thinking, challenging and examining knowledge claims and making reasoned evaluation.
In addition, parallel sessions were held on exploring the extended essay criteria and academic writing skills and research methodology. Referencing and citation was an integral part of these sessions.
A workshop was also conducted exclusively for teachers on understanding and applying the assessment criteria in their subjects. Educators were guided to unpack the grade descriptors and assessment criteria to better understand the Diploma assessments and communicate the learning and assessment objectives to their students that will enable them to think critically and evaluate effectively.
The subject workshops for students and teachers were in Math and Psychology and focused on internal assessment, subject content and subject specific assessments.
The workshops were effective and engaging and will be followed by similar sessions in November and December this year and continue till April next year. In addition, the consultants will be advising teachers and students off-site as well.
