What is it?

• The IA is a unique partnership between the student, the instructor, and the IB examiner. While neither the instructor nor the student ever has contact with the examiner, all are working from the exact set of criteria in constructing, guiding, and evaluating the finished product.
• The IA can be a paper, project, oral exam, workbook, or series of experiments, depending on the individual IB class.
• Oral work in languages
• fieldwork in geography
• laboratory work in the sciences
• investigations in math
• artistic performances and portfolios
• The IA is heavily criterion-referenced and is marked internally by the course instructor. THEN, the IB then selects a sample of all completed IA’s per class and these are forwarded to IB

How is it scored?

• Examiners throughout the world for “moderation.” Moderation in this case means reviewing the accuracy of the internal marking.
• Grades are then extended to all students completing the IA. For example, if a paper is rated internally at a 20 and is moderated at an 18, then all papers rated at a 20 (those not included in the sample) will receive a score of 18.
• Experienced IB teachers who have been through prior IA moderation are often very accurate criterion-referenced markers. In such cases, the moderator will simply confirm the teacher’s internal marking with an occasional point added or taken away.

-modified from Pennsylvania International Academy  

Want to know more about each course?  Check out the IB Subject Briefs!

IB Literature           

IB Language B (Foreign) SL   

IB Math HL             

IB Math SLIB Math Studies

IB Biology SL         

IB Chemistry SL           

IB Physics SL

IB History HL

IB Film HL              

IB Music    

IB Theatre    

IB Visual Arts