Forum Index
»
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
AP, DE, or IB?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
It certainly would be hard to execute well as a teacher |
Anonymous
That’s a pretty useless class for high school students to take. Theory of Knowledge and Creativity, Activity Service are the equivalent of three-ish classes. Add the the Extended Essay, and that’s a lot of busy work for a doubtful benefit, unless you count the endless grind as a positive. Something’s gotta give so partly because of the special requirements, regular classes are not that rigorous, and IB students tend to have weak extracurriculars. There are better alternatives. |
Anonymous
I thought TOK was one semester and CAS was not a class - is that wrong? I think the extended essay sounds great. I would love my kid to get more extended writing in. |
Anonymous
yes, anything that requires focusing on knowledge, truth, judgements and opinions is just "busy work". |
Anonymous
If it's not AP, it's "busywork," apparently! |
Anonymous
Theory of knowledge is two semesters, Creativity Activity Service is not a class but the recommended amount of time is 150 hours, Extended Essay is about the same time involvement, so they would be roughly the equivalent of three classes, spread over two years. Some will like these extras and think the program is great some would not and consider them busywork. In my view ToK and CAS are useless, EE has some benefit, but the format is not the best, although that’s a different discussion. The rigor of the regular classes is impacted by all these extras so over three years you end up with three advanced classes (HL) and six regular classes (SL). If you’re willing to trade a solid math or science class for the Theory of Knowledge fluff, that’s fine, but I’d argue it’s a bad idea. |
Anonymous
I know, it’s great because it teaches “critical thinking”! And provides a “well rounded” education! Or… (insert whatever snippet found in the IB marketing materials). |
Anonymous
| It’s sounds like a philosophy class. I can certainly see why hard science people wouldn’t want to take it — but of course no one is forcing them to do so. IB seems better suited to humanities-focused students anyway. |
Anonymous
| God, why can't the IB hater find a new hobby? Hey, IB hater, did you know there might be Maryland people in DC schools? Why don't you go to their boards and ask about it? |
Anonymous
That's truly unfortunate given that epistemology is crucial to the foundations of science. Whether ToK is an adequate epistemology course is another issue. |