What is TOK?

Theory of Knowledge is one of the components of the IBDP core and it aims to make students aware of the interpretive nature of knowledge, including personal ideological biases . It offers students the opportunity to reflect critically on diverse ways of knowing and on areas of knowledge and consider the role and nature of knowledge in their own culture, in the cultures of others and in the wider world 

Why do we study TOK?

We study TOK because it teaches us to be aware of ourselves as thinkers, encouraging us to become more acquainted with the complexity of knowledge. TOK also provides coherence, by linking academic subject areas as well as transcending them.  It therefore demonstrates the ways in which we can apply our knowledge with greater awareness and credibility. 

Example 1

Real-Life Situation: Artificial Intelligence can defect what age you are from a photograph. 

Knowledge Questions: 

To what extent are the results accurate? 

To what extent does AI become a problem-

Example 2

Real-Life Situation: In chemistry, we experimented.  We used the scientific method to conduct this experiment although the results did not match our hypothesis which could have occurred due to minor errors in our method. 

Knowledge Question:

To what extent is the scientific method reliable? 

Example 3

Real-Life Situation: Dog owners often train their dogs to have them behave properly and for their convenience. However, is this valuable knowledge, or is it for the owner's convenience?

Knowledge Question:

To what extent is some knowledge more valuable than other?

is for Area of Knowledge

The 8 areas of knowledge are disciplines in which knowledge can be based although these areas may overlap. 

Mathematics                          The Arts

Natural Sciences                    Ethics 

Human Sciences                     Religious Knowledge System

History                                      Indigenous Knowledge Systems

is for Biology

Biology is one of the main fields in the natural sciences. TOK can be applied to biology by looking at the theory of evaluation and asking why it is scientific.

is for Chemistry

Chemistry is one of the main fields in the natural sciences. TOK can be applied to chemistry by looking at the properties and behavior of matter and asking why it is scientific.

is for Decisions 

In TOK there are a lot of decisions to be made. One is about your exhibition and essay. You have to decide on your topic and the examples you will use.

is for Emotion

Emotion is one of the 8 ways of knowing. In an ideal world, emotion shouldn't play a role in the natural sciences since it can lead to biased findings and studies. In reality, the formulation of a hypothesis can be influenced by the emotions of a scientist toward a subject. 

is for Food

Food is something that can be discussed in your TOK exhibition. If it relates to your prompt you can discuss food. For example, you can discuss how Chicken Flavor Soup Base Mix is knowledge that belongs only to particular communities of knowers. Relating to  

Prompt 14: Does some knowledge belong only to particular communities of knowers?

is for Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei was an influential thinker in the field of natural sciences. He helped get the scientific revolution underway, in particular with his emphasis on empirical observation of experiments as a way of ascertaining their results. He also developed Copernicus's heliocentric theory which links to historical development in the TOK knowledge framework. 

is for History

History is one of the eight Areas of Knowledge in TOK. History is the study of the past, including events, people, and societies. Uses history to demonstrate the element of scope within the knowledge framework.

is for Information

In TOK there will be a lot of information being presented. There will be information about the prompts, essay questions, AOK, and more. The class is about knowledge and with knowledge comes information.

is for Justification 

Justification is an important part of both TOK and the natural sciences. Any conclusion made in the natural sciences needs to be justified using facts and statistics. A knowledge question could be:

Could the results of an investigation justify the means used to reach them?

is for Knowledge Framework

The Knowledge Framework is a way of unpacking the AOKs and provides a vocabulary for comparing AOKs. The five strands of the knowledge framework are scope/applications, language/concepts, methodology, historical development, and links to personal knowledge. 

is for Language & Concepts

Language and concepts are one of the strands of the knowledge framework. This can be applied to the natural sciences since scientific language is distinctive and there is lot of special vocabulary. For example, there are conventions for naming organisms such as animals and plants by using biominal nomenclature with Latin names. 

is for Methodology

Methodology is one of the strands of the knowledge framework. An example of methodology in the natural sciences is the scientific method which consists of systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypothesis. 

is for Natural Sciences

The Natural Sciences is one of the 8 areas of knowledge in TOK. This is a branch of science that deals with the physical world, e.g., physics, chemistry, geology, and biology.