International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Research Articles

Challenges and Strategies on the Content and Language Integrated Learning Approach (CLIL): A Case Study from the Turkish Context

Limited studies investigate the high school teachers’ challenges and ­strategies while teaching science and mathematics in English as the target language through the ­content and ­language integrated learning (CLIL) approach. Hence, this study aimed to ­investigate the ­challenges that science and math teachers encounter and the strategies they employ while fostering students’ development of proficiency in English as the target language in ­physics, ­chemistry, biology, and mathematics courses in the International General Certificate of ­Secondary ­Education (IGCSE) and International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP). The study utilized ­various qualitative tools such as semi-structured interviews, open-ended ­questionnaires, and lesson ­observations to analyze science and math teachers’ strategies and challenges at a case school in eastern Turkey. The study revealed that as part of the CLIL approach, the ­participant teachers indicated various challenges such as a lack of vocabulary repertoire, translation ­problems, and weak foundational knowledge. They used common strategies such as group work ­interactions, interdisciplinary activities, individualized feedback, the promotion of higher-order thinking skills, inquiry-based learning, and reinforcement of language used to deal with these ­challenges. The study presents further implications for good practices and recommendations to resolve ­challenges.

Self-Regulated Learning in the IB Diploma Programme: A qualitative comparison of strategy use by IB Diploma students with learning difficulties and those with a history of high achievement

This investigation set out to explore the self-regulated learning strategies implemented by high-achieving International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) students and those with learning difficulties in a context in which teachers were developing their practice to better align with IB philosophy. Specifically, I aimed to determine whether the strategies used by students in the two categories differed and, if so, what accounted for these differences. The sample included four DP students with diagnosed learning difficulties and six high-achieving DP students. Methods included collecting samples of independent work that reflected their strategy use; accompanying written reflections; and semi-structured interviews utilising a combination of stimulated recall and open-ended questions. Results suggest that only slight differences existed in the number and type of strategies used by participants in each category, but there were some important differences in strategy quality. These differences appeared to be related to the epistemic awareness students demonstrated, rather than their categorisation as having learning difficulties or being high-achieving. Although the IB Diploma Programme is widely considered an appropriate secondary programme for high-achieving students, its potential to enhance self-regulated learning suggests this programme may also be an appropriate option for some university-bound students with learning difficulties. As the literature review for this investigation uncovered only one previous study pertaining to IB Diploma Programme students with learning difficulties, this is a significant contribution to knowledge with implications for admissions as well as teaching and learning in IB schools. The investigation also indicates that epistemic awareness may play a more significant role in self-regulated learning than contemporary theories suggest.

The promised capitals of international high school programmes and the global field of higher education: The case of Shenzhen, China

The term ‘international school’ encompasses a broad array of institutions offering a range of different programmes. However, the differences between these programmes have scarcely been explored in the existing literature. This article focuses on three popular international high school programmes (Advanced Levels, Advanced Placement, and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme) by drawing upon in-depth interviews with international school counsellors, teachers, parents, and students in Shenzhen, China. We employed the Bourdieusian concepts of ‘promised capitals’ and the ‘global field of higher education’ to delineate differences amongst these international programmes. We argue that each international programme promises the accumulation of distinct combinations of capitals associated with different global circuits of mobility for higher education. At the same time, we also suggest that the extent to which the promised capitals are conferred is complicated by the ‘localisation’ of schools: this impacted the delivery of promises related to embodied cultural and social capital forms.

Evaluating the impact of the International Baccalaureate: an analysis in Ecuador

This study provides an evaluation of the impact of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme introduced in 2006 to 200 public schools in Ecuador. Using a combination of different methodologies in order to have a credible identification strategy, we find that the International Baccalaureate Diploma has a positive impact on academic achievements as well as on secondary school progression.

The United World College movement in practice: the role of interaction rituals in releasing positive emotional energy to ‘spark change’

ABSTRACT The arena of international schools is continuously growing. One under-researched ‘traditional’ grouping is the United World College (UWC) movement. Its idealistic long-term mission to facilitate global peace and sustainability by ‘sparking change’ in young peoples’ lives represents an important area of study. As well as preparing young people for the two-year International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme amidst a background of co-curricular experiential learning, the UWC movement offers ‘Short Courses’ each year around the world. Our paper explores, for the first time, the ‘Short Course’ and its potential to transform and build character for social change. We present five vignettes of participants’ experiences and perspectives of a ‘Short Course’, revealing how the every-day rhythm and interactions of the course rituals coupled with an intentionally deeply emotional experience can transform young people and empower them with the positive emotional energy needed to ‘spark change’ in the future.

우리나라 교과서와 International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme(IBDP) 교과서 비교·분석

This study aimed to compare and analyze the number and characteristics of modeling problems in chapters related to function contents in International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP) mathematics textbooks and Korean high school mathematics textbooks. This study implies how the textbooks contributed to the improvement of students’ modeling competency. In this study, three textbooks from IBDP and all nine textbooks from the Korean 2015 revised curriculum were selected. All the problems in textbooks were classified into real-world problems and non-real-world problems. Problems classified as real-world problems were once again divided into word problems and modeling problems according to the need to set up mathematical models. Modeling problems were further categorized into standard applications and good modeling problems depending on whether all the necessary information was included in the problem-solving process. Among the 12 textbooks, the textbook with the most modeling problems was the IBDP textbook, 'Math: Applications and Interpretation', which accounted for 50.41% of modeling problems to the total number of problems. This textbook provided learners with significantly higher modeling opportunities than other IBDP and Korean textbooks, which had 2% and 9% modeling problem ratios. In all 12 textbooks, all problems classified as modeling problems appeared as standard applications, and there were no proper modeling problems. Among the six sub-competencies of mathematical modeling, 'mathematical analysis' and 'interpretation and evaluation of results' sub-competencies appeared the most with very similar number of modeling problems, followed by the ‘mathematization’. It is expected that the results of this study will help compare the number and ratio of modeling problems in each textbook and provide a better understanding of which modeling sub-competencies appear to what extent in the modeling problems.

Uluslararası Genel Ortaöğretim Sertifikası ve Uluslararası Bakalorya Diploma Programlarında Bilimsel Akıl Yürütme ve Fen-Matematik Alan Bilgisi İlişkisi

Abstract. Scientific reasoning skills help students master scientific competencies, understand complex concepts, and equip them with the abilities to apply concepts and competencies in a variety of real-life contexts. These skills are important for students’ preparation to the international education programs. Since there are limited studies in the literature that examine the relationship between students’ content knowledge and scientific reasoning, especially in the international programs in secondary education, this research aims to investigate the extent to which the students’ achievement in the International General Certificate of Certificate (IGCSE) as well as students’ achievement in their science and mathematics courses in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP) correlate to the students’ scientific reasoning abilities. The research was conducted at a national school with IGCSE and IBDP programs. The study used Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (CTSR) to measure the scientific reasoning. The students’ performances in the CTSR and their levels of achievement in science and math in the IGCSE and IBDP were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation test and Kendall’s tau-b correlation test. The results revealed that there is a moderate correlation between scientific reasoning and content knowledge in science and mathematics.

THE INFLUENCE OF VIRTUAL LITERATURE CIRCLES ON STUDENTS’ LITERARY COMPETENCE

Background and Purpose: Despite being previously exposed to literature for many years during secondary school, Malaysian International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma students tussle to cope with the English syllabus outlined by the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO). This is mainly due to the different instructional objectives of learning literature in Malaysia as compared to the IB Diploma’s. In short, students are not trained within the remit of the two key literary competence skills, which are literary reading comprehension and analysis as they progress to a more challenging post-secondary syllabus as such the IB Diploma Programme. Hence, this study investigates how virtual literature circles provide optimal learning opportunities to promote IB Diploma students’ literary competence in reading literature. The research questions focused on the ways that virtual literature circles are able to support students’ literary competence, as well as their experiences upon participating in the discussions.
 
 Methodology: A mixed-method research design was employed in carrying out the aims of the study. Quantitative data were collected through a quasi-experimental method focusing on two groups of IB Diploma students in the experimental and control groups. One-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to determine whether there are any significant differences between the independent groups on the dependent variable, which is literary competence, whilst controlling for the effects of their initial abilities which co-vary with the dependent variable. The qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews, and the data analysis was conducted using principles of thematic analysis.
 
 Findings: This study found that virtual literature circles enhanced IB Diploma students’ literary competence by encouraging them to become critical readers of literature. It also provides students with the avenue to develop their literary reading comprehension and analysis skills in order to understand, analyse, and interpret literature critically.
 
 Contributions: This research aids in the design and implementation of virtual literature circles as a socially mediated reading approach to assisting ESL students with their literary competence.
 
 Keywords: Virtual literature circles, literary competence, literary reading comprehension skill, literary analysis skill, IB Diploma.
 
 Cite as: Ramli, N. N. (2022). The influence of virtual literature circles of students’ literary competence. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 7(2), 358-376. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol7iss2pp358-376

Comparison of Inter-Rater Reliability Techniques in Performance-Based Assessment

The aim of this study is to analyse the importance of the number of raters and compare the results obtained by techniques based on Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Generalizability (G) Theory. The Kappa and Krippendorff alpha techniques based on CTT were used to determine the inter-rater reliability. In this descriptive research data consists of twenty individual investigation performance reports prepared by the learners of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) and also five raters who rated these reports. Raters used an analytical rubric developed by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) as a scoring tool. The results of the CTT study show that Kappa and Krippendorff alpha statistical techniques failed to provide information about the sources of the errors causing incompatibility in the criteria. The studies based on G Theory provided comprehensive data about the sources of the errors and increasing the number of raters would also increase the reliability of the values. However, the raters raised the idea that it is important to develop descriptors in the criteria in the rubric.

The Relationship Betweens Predicted Grades and Final Assessment Grades in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program

The Relationship Betweens Predicted Grades and Final Assessment Grades in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program

Teaching historical thinking in practice: a study of US history teachers’ views on using primary sources in AP and IB history lessons

Analysis of primary sources has been recognised to have a significant impact on the development of students’ historical thinking. This study explored US history teachers’ attitudes and practices to using primary sources by interviewing six history teachers and observing 29 history lessons between August and November 2016 in Indiana and California. The main focus of the study was on the views of International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme and Advancement Placement (AP) history teachers. Results indicated that all teachers valued the use of primary sources and most of them used sources frequently. Notable was the deficiency of source evaluation in AP and Regular history lessons in those schools which did not offer the IB Programme. The IB teachers mentioned source evaluation as a part of the source work throughout, and emphasised the importance of the IB format and other pedagogical support provided by the International Baccalaureate Organization in the use of sources.

ONLINE TEST ANXIETY AND EXAM PERFORMANCE OF INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE DIPLOMA PROGRAMME STUDENTS UNDER E-PROCTORED EXAMS AMID COVID-19

Outbreak of COVID-19, online examination, and e-proctoring have caused more exam anxiety and affected exam performance among students’ studying in International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP). Therefore, the present research aimed to find effect of online test anxiety on academic performance of IBDP students in the subjects related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Study employed quantitative descriptive survey research design and administered survey questionnaire to 200 IB DP students who took online test during COVID-19 through convenient sampling technique. Sample included both first and final year DP students with due representation to boys and girls. Results of the study revealed a moderate negative correlation between online test anxiety and academic performance of IBDP students in STEM subjects. Regression analysis explained 14.1% variation in the STEM subject performance because of online exam anxiety under e-proctored condition. There exists a statistically significant difference between first and final year students’ online exam anxiety and STEM subject average grades. Future research may focus on conducting comfortable online examination methods with no additional exam anxieties. Keywords: International Baccalaureate (IB), Diploma Programme (DP), e-proctored test, virtual examination

Concurrency of Learning: Strategies and Challenges of Promoting Coherence in the Core in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP)

This study explored the empirical evidence with regards to concurrency of learning among the Theory of Knowledge (TOK), Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) and Extended Essay (EE), which are the core components in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). This mixed method research used a concurrency of learning questionnaire developed by the researchers as well as a focus group interview to explore and explain how concurrency of learning is promoted in the core. The research findings provide readers with insights on the strategies, good practices, challenges as well as suggestions provided by the school practitioners while achieving coherence in the core.

Multilingualism and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP): An Analysis of Language Learning in the IBDP in Light of the ‘Multilingual Turn’

This article analyses various International Baccalaureate policy documents to establish whether the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme has undergone what is described as a multilingual turn. After defining multilingualism and the multilingual turn, it outlines three main implications of what might be considered this paradigm shift for educational policies related to curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment. These implications are used as a framework for the policy analysis to follow, which argues that International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme approaches to language learning are underpinned by a monolingual bias that might delegitimate the knowledge and experience of multilingual learners.

Tensions with international mindedness: teaching in the international baccalaureate program

PurposeInternational mindedness (IM) is a core element of International Baccalaureate (IB) programs. Implementation of IM varies with the type of international school and where the IB school is situated. This article seeks to understand the tensions that three teachers experienced while teaching the IB Diploma Program history curriculum.Design/methodology/approachFor this study, three IB teachers examined their experiences teaching the history curriculum. This article offers relevant research on the difficulties in implementing IM and the following tensions: (1) situating the IB curriculum; (2) with hegemonic privilege and (3) in high-stakes testing.FindingsIM can be integrated into the history curriculum to make the history curriculum relevant for the global community. While each interviewee enjoys teaching in the IB program and believes the IB history curriculum offers opportunity for IM, they also feel the history curriculum would benefit from modification. Each interviewee's points of view bring a relevancy and an authenticity for why tensions exist when teaching IB diploma history.Originality/valueThere is a gap of research in how and to what extent teachers implement IM into the IB high school history curriculum. Further, teachers' views regarding the IB history curriculum and whether the history curriculum facilitates one's teaching IM is largely anecdotal. Thus, this study is unique in its offering three interviews by IB high school history teachers on IM and the tensions they feel when teaching about and attempting to implement IM.

Disrupting conventional conceptions of parental engagement: Insights from international schools

Recently, increases in numbers of international schools have been fuelled by a growth in numbers of aspirational families selecting them. The perception that international education affords children access to social advantages has been established in the school choice literature, but there has yet to be an examination of this trend in relation to parental engagement in international schools. Views of parents on this growing trend will be sought in a separate study, but in this paper we approach the problem through international school staff perceptions of issues relating to parents. These emerged during interviews with those responsible for implementing one part of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme: Creativity, Activity, Service. A communities of educational practice framework, adapted for parental engagement, indicated previously unidentified tensions in the international school/parent relationship. Conditions in international education markets create conditions that tip the balance of power, conventionally with the school, towards already-privileged international school parents, raising important questions about the relationship between international schools and social inequalities perpetuated by education.

Moving from Feedback to Feedforward in IBDP classrooms

There is widespread acceptance of the positive impact of constructive feedback on students’ learning progress. However, few studies investigate the role of feedforward in high-stakes learning environments. This research explores feedback and feedforward practices in International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme classrooms in Hong Kong and Australia. The article analyses 18 teachers’ practices and perceptions about feedback and feedforward. The teachers’ perceptions on feedforward were analysed using a survey and semi-structured interviews, while their teaching practices were evaluated using a lesson observation instrument. Results indicated that participants were aware of the importance of providing feedforward techniques and tools in the classroom to support students in closing the gaps between their current performance and desired performance. Not all teachers, however, incorporated feedforward in all their lessons as a learning tool or differentiation strategy to enhance students’ learning experience and assessment outcomes.

An embedded human rights logic? A comparative study of International Baccalaureate schools in different contexts

This article presents findings from a study that investigated how the global logic of human rights, as incorporated by the International Baccalaureate schools into their policies and practices, is experienced and adhered to by students who are following the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) in different contexts. In this study, the cases for comparison were a private school in Norway and a state-funded school in Poland. Although selected for their differences, they offered functional equivalence in the standardized diploma program. The study used a multiple-methods approach, including both quantitative and qualitative data. Findings reveal significant differences between students’ levels of adherence to human rights logic. Reasons for this difference point both to logic hybridity within the school organization and a diverse school learning community.

The International Baccalaureate Diploma: Assessment and perception of Ecuadorian teachers in the framework of student training

<p><span lang="EN-US">This article presents the results of an investigation directed to analyze the teachers' perception about the implementation of the curricular design of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program in the province of Chimborazo, Riobamba - Ecuador. The design that was selected was qualitative, developing the interpretive paradigm. As a sample, a total of 18 teachers were considered who during the 2018-2019 school year administered the subjects and core components of the International Baccalaureate. A mixed questionnaire was applied, the data was organized in matrices and content analysis was applied for its interpretation. As negative aspects, they reveal that their experience has been marked by insufficient training that is evident in professional training for the development of pedagogical activity, in attention to the international parameters assumed by the Ministry of Education when implementing this modality of baccalaureate. There is, as well, evidence of a lack of material resources (laboratories, internet access, specialized bibliography). As favorable aspects, there was found teamwork to achieve the objectives and the willingness of teachers to continue the program</span></p>

CAS, its contribution to the development of civic competence

Nowadays, the world has made education rethink its goals and propose new horizons for students in the 21st century. The violence observed in homes and streets, society, social problems, and inequalities have forced education to reconsider its moral function. It has also had to take a good look at affective education, the development of virtues and skills that contribute to a harmonious coexistence that aims for the common good and the construction of a peaceful world. Therefore, the acquisition of civic competence becomes a central topic to consider in current educational systems. The objective of this article is to identify the contribution made by the CAS (Creativity, Activity and Service) program to the development of civic competence. The evidence comes from a case study carried out in three Spanish educational centres that offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. The sample indicated that the program has fostered the development of civic competence in students through a commitment to and participation in their communities and through interesting experiences and projects.