Internal Assessment (IA)

Duration: 10 hours of scheduled lesson time + independent work on the investigation

Weighting: 20% of your final IB physics grade

What the IA involves: 

• Independently designing and completing an experimental investigation

• Completing a first draft write up of your investigation

• Improving your first draft using the formal written feedback provided by Ms. Deakin

• Submitting your final draft for assessment by Ms. Deakin and moderation by IB

The key documents you need to start the IA process are below.

1. Ideas to help you form your research question

2. The marking criteria IB use to grade your investigation 

3. A checklist of things you must include in your write up to ensure you meet each marking criterion

More detailed guidance on specific aspects of your IA are below.

1. Use the referencing guide below to ensure you do not commit plagiarism - reference properly!! 

2. The examiner comments on model IAs has come directly from IB: read through the comments carefully to see how students obtain top marks in each criterion.

3. Read the important information on word count, and what counts towards this limit. 

4. The suggested IA structure is a guide only: there is no 'correct' way to format your write up, but this is a 'can't go wrong' approach if you would like to use it. The guide also includes very helpful information on how to format data tables and graphs. 

Need help with data analysis?

Data analysis can be tricky. If your values and uncertainties involve sin, cos or tan, watch the video below! 

If you have forgotten how to plot graphs using excel, I have made a PPT to remind you on the basics!

Handling errors and uncertainties guide

Old but still useful...

The examples below are from the legacy IB course (2016-2014) and have a slightly different marking rubric to your IAs - you may still use them for inspiration on what a good/bad IA looks like as the marking rubric has not changed much. The biggest difference is that you are no longer graded on your 'personal engagement' with the investigation.