Download FREE preview here! The pack contains everything you need to get a 7 in Paper Three. Example answers (with examiner comments) Practice papers Key terms glossary Explanation of all learning outcomes Tips on how to write exam questions Don’t let Paper Three bring you down!!! Paper Three is the one that most IB Psychology students struggle with and it …
Lesson Idea: Understanding thematic analysis
The aim of the activities in this lesson is to help students understand the process and purpose of conducting a thematic analysis in qualitative research. It is not necessary to study how qualitative data is analyzed in the new IB Psychology curriculum, but it could be useful to help deepen your understanding of qualitative methods (and it could be used in …
Help us, we’re drowning!
There’s a lot of content in the IB Psychology course and if your not careful, this can have a negative impact on student understanding and the development of their critical thinking skills. I’ve written about this extensively, but as I’m playing around with screencasting and making video tutorials, I thought with the help of visual aids I’d try explaining how …
Teacher Support Pack Quantitative Research Methods
Visit our online store to download a free preview of the quantitative methods pack, or download the entire resource! (LINK) This unit takes about 20 lessons and will help prepare your students for: The IA Paper 1 and 2 HL: Paper 3 This is a great unit to teach right before your students try the IA and after they have had some time …
FREE TRIAL: Try the themantic approach with these free resources…
Do you want to try the themantic approach but you’ve already started linear? No worries. These resources can help you trial teaching IB Psych’ by combining core and options topics, and it won’t cost you any time, effort or money. In fact, it could save you all three! As teachers get deeper into this new syllabus, many are realizing the …
Lesson Idea: Understanding Reflexivity
Reflexivity is a difficult concept for students to grasp. Using the study below can be a good way to help students understand how and why reflexivity is used in qualitative studies. Note: this task has been developed for the “old” syllabus. Task #1: Making Predictions Explain the aim of the study summarized below. Student’s think-pair-share about what research method they …
What is “reflexivity?”
Updated July 2020 What is reflexivity? Reflexivity is the process of continual reflection upon the research process by a researcher; at the heart of reflexivity is the idea of self-awareness. Students need to be able to “explain the use of reflexivity in qualitative research,” which means defining the term and explaining how and why it’s used in qualitative studies and using …
Kahoot: Qualitative Methodology (Old Syllabus)
This Kahoot quiz covers a selection of key terms from the qualitative research methods in the old syllabus. This can help prepare for Paper 3. The quiz focuses on general concepts, such as generalizability, transferability, participant expectations, as well as methodology (interviews, case studies and observations). Play the quiz HERE! We’re currently working on a Paper 3: Qualitative Methods Revision …
How do you “explain the problem/issue” in essay introductions?
In the new IB Psychology curriculum, students have to “explain the problem/issue raised in the question” to get 2 marks for their essays (Paper 1, Part B and Paper 2). But what does this mean and how do you do it? In this post, I’ll explain what I think it means and will show a simple framework for how students …
What is a “narrative interview?”
This material is the for the “old syllabus.” Students in the new IB Psychology syllabus (first exams May, 2019), do not need to know about narrative interviews (but they do need to know about unstructured interviews). What is a narrative interview? A “narrative” is a spoken or written summary of connected events. So a narrative interview asks questions that require …
Lesson Idea: Analyzing Focus Group Interviews
Using real examples of qualitative studies is an effective way of teaching qualitative research methods and concepts. It also helps with developing students’ ability to apply their knowledge to stimulus material (i.e. they learn how to use details from the text to support their answers). Note: this task has been developed for the “old” syllabus, but could be adapted for …
IA: Final Submission Guidelines
This post is designed to help you make sure that you’re following the basic IA requirements before submitting your final draft. The following guidelines come from the e-coursework handbook from the IB. This information is relevant as of March, 2018. Please always refer to official IB documentation and ask your DP Co-ordinator for the latest updates. Formatting Guidance The following …
Lesson Idea: Generalizability (External Validity)
The Task Read the following fictional summaries of how people have applied results from psychological studies. Identify one or more reasons why the application is misguided and might not work. #1 Social Media and Anxiety: One study in the USA showed a correlation between social media and anxiety so a school in Japan has banned the use of social media. #2 Music Class …
Lesson Idea: Understanding Sampling Methods
Task: Read the following summaries of studies and how they got their samples. Identify the type of sampling method used. Was it: (a) Random (b) Self-selected/volunteer (c) Opportunity Mental Health and War: A psychologist studying the effects of war on mental health got a list of all enlisted soldiers in the countries army using public census records. They assigned a number to …
Lesson Idea: Understanding Self-selected Sampling
This activity and lots of others are included in the student workbook in the Teacher Support Pack for Chapter 6: Quantitative Methods. Read the aims of the following proposed experiments. Some researchers want to carry out these studies but their problem is they don’t have any participants yet. Working with a partner, come up with some ideas on how they …
Lesson Idea: Understanding correlational studies
The purpose of this activity is to help you learn about correlational studies and correlation coefficients. Key Questions: What are three characteristics of a correlational study? How do correlational studies differ from experiments? How and why are correlational studies used in one or more approaches to understanding behaviour? Resources Textbook 6.1f, pg 320-321 (IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide) (Link) Correlation …
Lesson Idea: Experimental Designs
The purpose of this activity is to help you learn about design choices experimenters have and to think about the benefits and limitations of using each design. You will also learn about terminology for extraneous variables and other controls. It is designed to be studied during the Quantitative Methods unit (Chapter 6, 6.1b). It should take about 15-20 minutes. Key …
What is an “emic concept?”
This post is for the “old” syllabus (May and Nov 2018 exams) and is not needed for the new one. The LO for the old syllabus is: “Using one or more examples, explain “emic” and “etic” concepts.” An emic concept refers to an approach to research that involves studying behaviour in a single culture. This is different to an etic …
Tips for writing “Discuss research related to…” essays
In the new IB Psychology syllabus it’s fair to anticipate numerous questions that will require students to discuss research related to particular topics. This will be especially true in the options. Here are some possible questions: Discuss research related to neuroplasticity. Discuss research related to attachment. Discuss research related to bystanderism. You can find an example essay here: Sample Essay from …
Stereotype Threat
One way that stereotypes can have an effect on behaviour is by something called “stereotype threat.” This is defined as “being at risk of confirming, as a self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one’s social group” (Steele & Aronson, 1995). In other words, you feel that you might behave in a way that confirms a stereotype about a group that you …
Teaching Tip: How to access the IB Psychology discussion forum
Now that the OCC forum has closed down, the discussion forum moderated by Peter Giddens and read by the IB Psychology curriculum people has been moved to a new location. This post will help you find it. Step 1: Login Go to the login page for MyIB here. You will get to a page that looks like this one below. …
Qualitative Study Examples
There are plenty of freely available qualitative studies on google scholar. One way to find studies is to ask your students to think of a topical subject in the media that has caught their attention lately. Google search “qualitative psychology (your topic)” and see what you can find. Another approach is to find studies that could help them understand other …
Lesson Ideas: Qualitative Methods
Full credit for the ideas in this post go to Alan Law who shared these with me recently. Problem-based Approach Find and source a real example of a qualitative study and provide students with a very brief summary of the central research question of the study. Then ask students in small groups to decide what method they would use to …
Schema Theory Teaching Resources
The first topic in Social Influence Part II (support pack coming soon) is Schema Theory. This topic comes after learning about SIT and the out-group homogeneity effect as the latter is closely related to schema theory, an both topics deal with stereotypes. Here’s the first pages of the student workbook for the Schema Theory Topic (Download). Here’s the Powerpoint file that has …
How to explain the use of a research method
In both the “old” and “new” IB Psychology syllabi, students have to be able to discuss the use of research methods (and brain imaging techniques). Before we see how to do this, it’s important to make one clarification first: the IB considers the following to be research methods: Experiments (including true, natural, quasi and field experiments) Case studies Correlational studies Interviews …