IB students often joke about how they are always stressed. It is no secret that IB students have a lot to do – they have many deadlines to meet and many different types of tasks to tackle. IB students need to do their Internal Assessments for every subject (yes, including Maths), write their 4000-word Extended Essay, write their TOK essays, and be consistent in doing Creativity, Activity, and Service activities so they can compile their CAS portfolio.
Here are the main challenges which IB students face:
Time management
An obvious challenge IB students will face during the IB diploma is time management. Students have many internal and external deadlines and meeting all of them is crucial to attaining the IB diploma. Students will need to manage their time properly and study for their final exams while meeting all their deadlines for their IAs and other requirements such as the EE. Students should avoid procrastination and distractions as much as possible.
Studying the content knowledge for their subjects
The IB content knowledge is difficult because of its breadth, and not its depth. There are real world examples students will need to know for their exams that they cannot neglect. Students may find it hard to study the content knowledge for their subjects, especially if they are taking a HL subject which involves a lot of content memorisation, like Biology. Students should try make detailed notes by topic as early as possible and practice with the most recent sample questions, so they are able to tackle the real IB exam questions adequately.
Academic writing
Academic writing is a major challenge for many students as this form of writing is something that was previously unknown to them during secondary school. Academic writing requires students to write in a formal way and cite their sources. Students will need to make academic arguments in favour of a particular thesis statement and put forward evidence to support it. To get familiar with academic writing, students should look at samples of Extended Essays or IAs that have done well in the IB and take note of how these works are written.
Avoiding academic dishonesty
Some students do not realise that they have committed academic dishonesty until they do it and are caught. Students need to be careful in avoiding academic dishonesty as not doing so could cost them their IB diploma. Students need to cite their sources clearly and paraphrase properly, citing the paraphrased words as well. Universities and other educational institutions take academic dishonesty extremely seriously – students should avoid having disciplinary action taken for academic dishonesty on their record as it may affect their future employment.
Understanding what TOK is and how to use it
The IB’s brand of philosophy, TOK, has its own jargon that students need to get comfortable with using. Students will get comfortable with throwing around the terms “Ways of Knowing”, “Areas of Knowledge”, and “epistemological significance” in due time. The TOK essay requires students to have a clear and structured way of writing as well as good examples, bolstered with TOK concepts that students must call into reference. Your TOK essay may need multiple revisions – it is alright not to get it on your first try.
Get a 7 for IB Chemistry (HL/SL) with the IB Chemistry Clinic today!
As the name suggests, the IB Chemistry Clinic does not only fix a student’s grades - it helps students with critical components of the IB Programme, namely the Internal Assessment (IA) which is worth at least 20% of a student’s grade and their Extended Essay (EE) in Chemistry.
The IA and EE are a non-negotiable part of the Chemistry curriculum - without them, students will not be able to graduate with an IB Diploma. However, there are many difficulties associated with conducting experiments for the IA and EE - many replications are required and the standard for the final deliverable - the research report - is high. Students need to undertake statistical testing and present their final results coherently and concisely.
Although the IB school provides mentors for the EE and teachers at school can guide students through their IA, attention to each student is often limited in a classroom setting and many students are left to figure things out by themselves. This results in difficulty completing internal deadlines on time, especially when a student needs to juggle all their 6 subjects and the additional components of the IB, along with their CCAs and other commitments.
The IB Chemistry Clinic is here to answer all your questions - whether it is about content knowledge or fixing errors in your experimental setup as you undertake your IA journey, our skilled tutors with a strong background in Chemistry research and 30 years of experience teaching Chemistry are here to help!
Contact us at +65 9616 1651 to book your slot today!
Frequently Asked Questions
How to study for IB Chemistry?
Firstly, knowing the syllabus for IB Chemistry (either HL or SL) will help the student revise. Next, try practising with past year IB papers to get used to the exam format. If there are questions students do not know how to answer, they can revise the concepts regarding the question to help them answer them or clarify with a tutor or teacher.
What do you do in IB Chemistry?
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Is IB Chem difficult?
Is chemistry the hardest IB subject?
Is IB chemistry or biology harder?
Is IB chemistry harder than A Levels?
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