Mathematical studies SL guide
Assessment
Internal assessment
Purpose of internal assessment
Internal assessment is an integral part of the course and is compulsory for all students. It enables students to
demonstrate the application of their skills and knowledge, and to pursue their personal interests, without the
time limitations and other constraints that are associated with written examinations. The internal assessment
should, as far as possible, be woven into normal classroom teaching and not be a separate activity conducted
after a course has been taught.
Internal assessment in mathematical studies SL is an individual project. This is a piece of written work based
on personal research involving the collection, analysis and evaluation of data. It is marked according to seven
assessment criteria.
Guidance and authenticity
The project submitted for internal assessment must be the student’s own work. However, it is not the intention
that students should decide upon a title or topic and be left to work on the project without any further support
from the teacher. The teacher should play an important role during both the planning stage and the period
when the student is working on the project. It is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that students are
familiar with:
?
the requirements of the type of work to be internally assessed
?
the IB academic honesty policy available on the OCC
?
the assessment criteria—students must understand that the work submitted for assessment must address
these criteria effectively.
Teachers and students must discuss the project. Students should be encouraged to initiate discussions with the
teacher to obtain advice and information, and students must not be penalized for seeking guidance. However,
if a student could not have completed the project without substantial support from the teacher, this should be
recorded on the appropriate form from the
Handbook of procedures for the Diploma Programme
.
It is the responsibility of teachers to ensure that all students understand the basic meaning and significance
of concepts that relate to academic honesty, especially authenticity and intellectual property. Teachers must
ensure that all student work for assessment is prepared according to the requirements and must explain clearly
to students that the project must be entirely their own.
As part of the learning process, teachers can give advice to students on a
first draft
of the project. This advice
should be in terms of the way the work could be improved, but this first draft must not be heavily annotated or
edited by the teacher. The next version handed to the teacher after the first draft must be the final one.
All work submitted to the IB for moderation or assessment must be authenticated by a teacher, and must not
include any known instances of suspected or confirmed malpractice. Each student must sign the coversheet for
internal assessment to confirm that the work is his or her authentic work and constitutes the final version of
that work. Once a student has officially submitted the final version of the work to a teacher (or the coordinator)
for internal assessment, together with the signed coversheet, it cannot be retracted.
Mathematical studies SL guide
41
Internal assessment
Authenticity may be checked by discussion with the student on the content of the work, and scrutiny of one or
more of the following:
?
the student’s initial proposal
?
the first draft of the written work
?
the references cited
?
the style of writing compared with work known to be that of the student.
Authenticity must be verified by the signing of the relevant form from the
Handbook of Procedures for the
Diploma Programme
by both student and teacher.
By supervising students throughout, teachers should be monitoring the progress individual students are
making and be in a position to discuss with them the source of any new material that appears, or is referred to,
in their projects. Often, students are not aware when it is permissible to use material written by others or when
to seek help from other sources. Consequently, open discussion in the early stages is a good way of avoiding
these potential problems.
However, if teachers are unsure as to whether a project is the student’s own work they should employ a range of
methods to check this fact. These may include:
?
discussing with the student
?
asking the student to explain the methods used and to summarize the results and conclusions
?
asking the student to replicate part of the analysis using different data
?
inviting the student to give a class presentation of his or her project
The requirement for teachers and students to sign the coversheet for internal assessment applies to the work of
all students, not just the sample work that will be submitted to an examiner for the purpose of moderation. If the
teacher and student sign a coversheet, but there is a comment to the effect that the work may not be authentic,
the student will not be eligible for a mark in that component and no grade will be awarded. For further details
refer to the IB publication
Academic honesty
and the relevant articles in the
General regulations: Diploma
Programme
.
The same piece of work cannot be submitted to meet the requirements of both the internal assessment and the
extended essay.
Group work
Group work should not be used for projects. Each project is an individual piece of work based on different data
collected or measurements generated.
It should be made clear to students that all work connected with the project, including the writing of the project,
should be their own. It is therefore helpful if teachers try to encourage in students a sense of responsibility for
their own learning so that they accept a degree of ownership and take pride in their own work.
Time allocation
Internal assessment is an integral part of the mathematical studies SL course, contributing 20% to the final
assessment in the course. This weighting should be reflected in the time that is allocated to teaching the
knowledge, skills and understanding required to undertake the work as well as the total time allocated to carry
out the work.
Mathematical studies SL guide

Mathematical studies SL guide
Assessment
Internal assessment
Purpose of internal assessment
Internal assessment is an integral part of the course and is compulsory for all students. It enables students to
demonstrate the application of their skills and knowledge, and to pursue their personal interests, without the
time limitations and other constraints that are associated with written examinations. The internal assessment
should, as far as possible, be woven into normal classroom teaching and not be a separate activity conducted
after a course has been taught.
Internal assessment in mathematical studies SL is an individual project. This is a piece of written work based
on personal research involving the collection, analysis and evaluation of data. It is marked according to seven
assessment criteria.
Guidance and authenticity
The project submitted for internal assessment must be the student’s own work. However, it is not the intention
that students should decide upon a title or topic and be left to work on the project without any further support
from the teacher. The teacher should play an important role during both the planning stage and the period
when the student is working on the project. It is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that students are
familiar with:
?
the requirements of the type of work to be internally assessed
?
the IB academic honesty policy available on the OCC
?
the assessment criteria—students must understand that the work submitted for assessment must address
these criteria effectively.
Teachers and students must discuss the project. Students should be encouraged to initiate discussions with the
teacher to obtain advice and information, and students must not be penalized for seeking guidance. However,
if a student could not have completed the project without substantial support from the teacher, this should be
recorded on the appropriate form from the
Handbook of procedures for the Diploma Programme
.
It is the responsibility of teachers to ensure that all students understand the basic meaning and significance
of concepts that relate to academic honesty, especially authenticity and intellectual property. Teachers must
ensure that all student work for assessment is prepared according to the requirements and must explain clearly
to students that the project must be entirely their own.
As part of the learning process, teachers can give advice to students on a
first draft
of the project. This advice
should be in terms of the way the work could be improved, but this first draft must not be heavily annotated or
edited by the teacher. The next version handed to the teacher after the first draft must be the final one.
All work submitted to the IB for moderation or assessment must be authenticated by a teacher, and must not
include any known instances of suspected or confirmed malpractice. Each student must sign the coversheet for
internal assessment to confirm that the work is his or her authentic work and constitutes the final version of
that work. Once a student has officially submitted the final version of the work to a teacher (or the coordinator)
for internal assessment, together with the signed coversheet, it cannot be retracted.
Mathematical studies SL guide
41
Internal assessment
Authenticity may be checked by discussion with the student on the content of the work, and scrutiny of one or
more of the following:
?
the student’s initial proposal
?
the first draft of the written work
?
the references cited
?
the style of writing compared with work known to be that of the student.
Authenticity must be verified by the signing of the relevant form from the
Handbook of Procedures for the
Diploma Programme
by both student and teacher.
By supervising students throughout, teachers should be monitoring the progress individual students are
making and be in a position to discuss with them the source of any new material that appears, or is referred to,
in their projects. Often, students are not aware when it is permissible to use material written by others or when
to seek help from other sources. Consequently, open discussion in the early stages is a good way of avoiding
these potential problems.
However, if teachers are unsure as to whether a project is the student’s own work they should employ a range of
methods to check this fact. These may include:
?
discussing with the student
?
asking the student to explain the methods used and to summarize the results and conclusions
?
asking the student to replicate part of the analysis using different data
?
inviting the student to give a class presentation of his or her project
The requirement for teachers and students to sign the coversheet for internal assessment applies to the work of
all students, not just the sample work that will be submitted to an examiner for the purpose of moderation. If the
teacher and student sign a coversheet, but there is a comment to the effect that the work may not be authentic,
the student will not be eligible for a mark in that component and no grade will be awarded. For further details
refer to the IB publication
Academic honesty
and the relevant articles in the
General regulations: Diploma
Programme
.
The same piece of work cannot be submitted to meet the requirements of both the internal assessment and the
extended essay.
Group work
Group work should not be used for projects. Each project is an individual piece of work based on different data
collected or measurements generated.
It should be made clear to students that all work connected with the project, including the writing of the project,
should be their own. It is therefore helpful if teachers try to encourage in students a sense of responsibility for
their own learning so that they accept a degree of ownership and take pride in their own work.
Time allocation
Internal assessment is an integral part of the mathematical studies SL course, contributing 20% to the final
assessment in the course. This weighting should be reflected in the time that is allocated to teaching the
knowledge, skills and understanding required to undertake the work as well as the total time allocated to carry
out the work.
Mathematical studies SL guide

Mathematical studies SL guide
Assessment
Internal assessment
Purpose of internal assessment
Internal assessment is an integral part of the course and is compulsory for all students. It enables students to
demonstrate the application of their skills and knowledge, and to pursue their personal interests, without the
time limitations and other constraints that are associated with written examinations. The internal assessment
should, as far as possible, be woven into normal classroom teaching and not be a separate activity conducted
after a course has been taught.
Internal assessment in mathematical studies SL is an individual project. This is a piece of written work based
on personal research involving the collection, analysis and evaluation of data. It is marked according to seven
assessment criteria.
Guidance and authenticity
The project submitted for internal assessment must be the student’s own work. However, it is not the intention
that students should decide upon a title or topic and be left to work on the project without any further support
from the teacher. The teacher should play an important role during both the planning stage and the period
when the student is working on the project. It is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that students are
familiar with:
?
the requirements of the type of work to be internally assessed
?
the IB academic honesty policy available on the OCC
?
the assessment criteria—students must understand that the work submitted for assessment must address
these criteria effectively.
Teachers and students must discuss the project. Students should be encouraged to initiate discussions with the
teacher to obtain advice and information, and students must not be penalized for seeking guidance. However,
if a student could not have completed the project without substantial support from the teacher, this should be
recorded on the appropriate form from the
Handbook of procedures for the Diploma Programme
.
It is the responsibility of teachers to ensure that all students understand the basic meaning and significance
of concepts that relate to academic honesty, especially authenticity and intellectual property. Teachers must
ensure that all student work for assessment is prepared according to the requirements and must explain clearly
to students that the project must be entirely their own.
As part of the learning process, teachers can give advice to students on a
first draft
of the project. This advice
should be in terms of the way the work could be improved, but this first draft must not be heavily annotated or
edited by the teacher. The next version handed to the teacher after the first draft must be the final one.
All work submitted to the IB for moderation or assessment must be authenticated by a teacher, and must not
include any known instances of suspected or confirmed malpractice. Each student must sign the coversheet for
internal assessment to confirm that the work is his or her authentic work and constitutes the final version of
that work. Once a student has officially submitted the final version of the work to a teacher (or the coordinator)
for internal assessment, together with the signed coversheet, it cannot be retracted.
Mathematical studies SL guide
41
Internal assessment
Authenticity may be checked by discussion with the student on the content of the work, and scrutiny of one or
more of the following:
?
the student’s initial proposal
?
the first draft of the written work
?
the references cited
?
the style of writing compared with work known to be that of the student.
Authenticity must be verified by the signing of the relevant form from the
Handbook of Procedures for the
Diploma Programme
by both student and teacher.
By supervising students throughout, teachers should be monitoring the progress individual students are
making and be in a position to discuss with them the source of any new material that appears, or is referred to,
in their projects. Often, students are not aware when it is permissible to use material written by others or when
to seek help from other sources. Consequently, open discussion in the early stages is a good way of avoiding
these potential problems.
However, if teachers are unsure as to whether a project is the student’s own work they should employ a range of
methods to check this fact. These may include:
?
discussing with the student
?
asking the student to explain the methods used and to summarize the results and conclusions
?
asking the student to replicate part of the analysis using different data
?
inviting the student to give a class presentation of his or her project
The requirement for teachers and students to sign the coversheet for internal assessment applies to the work of
all students, not just the sample work that will be submitted to an examiner for the purpose of moderation. If the
teacher and student sign a coversheet, but there is a comment to the effect that the work may not be authentic,
the student will not be eligible for a mark in that component and no grade will be awarded. For further details
refer to the IB publication
Academic honesty
and the relevant articles in the
General regulations: Diploma
Programme
.
The same piece of work cannot be submitted to meet the requirements of both the internal assessment and the
extended essay.
Group work
Group work should not be used for projects. Each project is an individual piece of work based on different data
collected or measurements generated.
It should be made clear to students that all work connected with the project, including the writing of the project,
should be their own. It is therefore helpful if teachers try to encourage in students a sense of responsibility for
their own learning so that they accept a degree of ownership and take pride in their own work.
Time allocation
Internal assessment is an integral part of the mathematical studies SL course, contributing 20% to the final
assessment in the course. This weighting should be reflected in the time that is allocated to teaching the
knowledge, skills and understanding required to undertake the work as well as the total time allocated to carry
out the work.
Mathematical studies SL guide