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Economics IA Guide

The document provides guidance for students completing the internal assessment portion of the IB Economics course. It outlines the requirements for a portfolio of three commentaries analyzing news articles using economic concepts. Students must choose one article from each of three units (Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Global Economy) that is less than a year old. The commentaries should apply theory to explain and evaluate the issues in the articles. Diagrams, terminology use, analysis, evaluation, and meeting rubric standards will be evaluated. Students receive feedback and submit a final version in one PDF with article, translation if needed, and commentary.

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182 views6 pages

Economics IA Guide

The document provides guidance for students completing the internal assessment portion of the IB Economics course. It outlines the requirements for a portfolio of three commentaries analyzing news articles using economic concepts. Students must choose one article from each of three units (Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Global Economy) that is less than a year old. The commentaries should apply theory to explain and evaluate the issues in the articles. Diagrams, terminology use, analysis, evaluation, and meeting rubric standards will be evaluated. Students receive feedback and submit a final version in one PDF with article, translation if needed, and commentary.

Uploaded by

volchitsagoh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT GUIDE

Internal assessment in economics enables students to demonstrate the application of


their knowledge and understanding of economic theory in relation to real-world
situations. Both SL and HL economics students produce a portfolio of three
commentaries based on articles from published news media. Each article must be
based on a different unit of the syllabus (excluding Unit 1: Introduction to economics):

- Unit 2: Microeconomics
- Unit 3: Macroeconomics
- Unit 4: The global economy

Your portfolio accounts for 30% (SL) or 20% (HL) of your IB Economics grade.

Your commentary will do the following:

- Explain the link between a key concept to a chosen news article.


- Apply economic theory to your chosen news article.
- Evaluate the actions taken within the article.
- This means you will have a clear thesis in your commentary.
- Your evaluation may include:
- The pros and cons of the actions taken in the article
- The short-term effects vs long-term effects of these actions
- The assumptions behind your analysis vs limitations of those assumptions
- What should be happening in theory vs what is happening in practice
- Evaluating the different consequences for different stakeholders
- While doing all this, you must demonstrate economic insights into the
implications of the article (that is, it should provide evidence of your ability to
discuss current events from the point of view of an economist).

STEP 1 - CHOOSE AN ARTICLE

- The articles may be from a newspaper, a journal or the internet.


- If you use a relatively lengthy article, which is discouraged, then you must
highlight the section(s) of the article upon which the commentary is based.
- Articles used must be within the last year. If you’re using Google, make sure to
utilize the "News" tab under search results as well as click on "Tools" to limit your
search results to within 1 year.
- If the article is in another language, you must provide an accurate translation of
the whole article. You must also include the original article in their portfolio.
- Avoid articles that already contain opinion, analysis and evaluation. You are the
one that’s going to do that!
- Choose an article that implies a problem (cigarettes are unhealthy) and an action
that has been taken as a solution (the government has raised taxes on
cigarettes).

STEP 2 - CHOOSE A KEY CONCEPT

Each of the three commentaries must use a different key concept as a lens through
which to analyze the published extracts.

STEP 3 - UNDERSTAND THE CRITERIA

Your word limit is 800 words. The following does not count towards your word count:

● Acknowledgments ● Equations, formulae and


● Contents page calculations
● Diagrams ● Citations (which, if used, must be
● Labels—of five words or fewer in the body of the commentary)
● Headings on diagrams—of 10 ● References (which, if used, must
words or fewer be in the footnotes/endnotes)
● Tables of statistical data
CRITERIA A: DIAGRAMS

Make sure your labels are specific to the article. (i.e. 'Price in USD' or 'Quantity of
Bananas'). Diagrams should also show change (using arrows). Diagrams should be
drawn digitally. There should be 1-2 diagrams with detailed explanations.

CRITERIA B: TERMINOLOGY

You do not need to define all terms. Simply using economic terms appropriately
throughout the commentary will earn you full marks. If you do want to define relevant
terms, no more than two should be defined.

CRITERIA C: APPLICATION AND ANALYSIS

Your commentary should be making connections between theory and the article. It is
good to include small quotes, references, and details to make this connection. The
theory should be used throughout the commentary.
CRITERIA D: KEY CONCEPT

For this criteria you will need to explain the relevant pieces of the key concept to
demonstrate you understand it. A non-IB Economics student should be able to read
your commentary and understand the key concept in addition to the theories you are
writing about.

CRITERIA E: EVALUATION

Going into depth is the most crucial aspect to evaluation. For example, if you are talking
about a stakeholder, it should be for the whole paragraph. Typically the last two to three
paragraphs of your commentary should be dealing with evaluation and analysis, since
they make up a large part of your marks. Your evaluation needs to be well balanced.
Explore both sides of the argument, but make a final judgment for your conclusion.

CRITERIA F: RUBRIC REQUIREMENTS

One mark for each other following:


- Each commentary is based on a different unit of the syllabus.
- Each article is taken from a different and appropriate source.
- Each article was published no earlier than one year before the writing of the commentary.
STEP 4 - WRITE THE ROUGH DRAFT

Time to start! This is an approximate guide you can use:

Introduction paragraph (100 words)


- Briefly introduce the article, defining a maximum of 2-3 key terms (only if necessary).
- Identify the key concept that will be the focus of your commentary. Highlight the
key concept in bold every time you use it.
- Briefly (1-2 sentences) state which economic theories you will apply to the article.
- Briefly state the main argument that you will make in your evaluation.

1st Diagram + Analysis/Application paragraph (150 words)


- Analyze the central problem in the article using a diagram.
- Make sure all labels in the diagram are explained in this paragraph.
- Make sure you are including relevant details or quotes from the article and
specifically addressing the changes in your diagram.
- You won't have the word count to explain everything, so prioritize the important
stuff.
- Link your explanation back to the key concept

2nd Diagram + Analysis/Application (150 words)


- Analyze and explain the response to the issue expressed in the article using
another diagram. Only come up with your own response if there’s none in the
article. All the same advice applies as with the first diagram.

Evaluation (400 words)


Provide your arguments and balance them with counter-arguments while referring back
to the quotes/evidence in the article. Some possible things you could evaluate:
- The pros and cons of the solution
- The short-term effects vs long-term effects
- The assumptions behind your analysis vs limitations of those assumptions
- What happens in theory vs in practice
- The different consequences for different stakeholders
Remember to reach a conclusion and to prioritize your arguments based on what is
most relevant in the context of the article. As always, link back to the key concept. Your
concluding paragraph will be short and that is OK. Reinforce the main points of your
evaluation.
STEP 5 - CREATE A TITLE PAGE

Your title page will not be fancy. You will write:


● the title of the article
● the source of the article (including date of access to the site if from the internet)
● the date the article was published
● the date the commentary was written
● the word count of the commentary
● the unit of the syllabus to which the article relates
● the key concept being used

STEP 6 - CREATE ONE SINGLE PDF

In a single PDF, you need the cover page, then the original article, (if applicable) the
English translation of the article, and then your commentary.

STEP 7 - RECEIVE FEEDBACK AND EDIT

STEP 8 - HAND IN FINAL VERSION

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