Assessment criteria flashcards

Topic 5: Assessment criteria

What are the four MYP Individuals and Societies criteria?

A: Knowing and understanding. B: Investigating. C: Communicating. D: Thinking critically. Equally weighted, each 0–8 (four bands plus level 0), total 0–32. Most assessment is classroom-based; there is no SL/HL split.

What does top-band criterion A evidence look like?

Factual and conceptual knowledge applied accurately to unfamiliar contexts, using discipline terminology precisely — connecting facts through a conceptual framework, not just listing them.

What does criterion B (Investigating) reward?

A clear, specific research question and a systematic research process, using a range of source types and evaluating each source's reliability and relevance before drawing conclusions.

What does criterion C (Communicating) reward?

Organising, documenting and communicating learning in a format suited to the task and discipline: a clear argument, evidence integrated where it supports each point, correct referencing and accurate terminology.

What does criterion D (Thinking critically) reward?

Analysing and evaluating issues and the investigation itself, considering different perspectives and interpretations, and reaching a well-substantiated conclusion rather than treating one account as the whole picture.

How do you evaluate a source using origin and purpose?

Origin: who made it and when. Purpose: why and for whom. Value: what it can genuinely tell a researcher for this question. Limitation: what it cannot reliably tell. Value and limitation usually come from the same fact about origin and purpose.

Give a value and a limitation of a government press release issued the week before an election

Value: a primary, dated record of what the policy officially is, when and by whom it was announced. Limitation: likely to show the policy in the best light, so unreliable for judging its effectiveness or public reception.

How do you compare the usefulness of two sources?

Use a shared criterion tied to the research question (for example, which is more useful for understanding public reaction), weigh the origin, purpose, value and limitation of each against it, and reach a judgement.