The IB’s internal assessments may only make up around 20% of your final grade, but they give you a chance to put yourself in the best possible position when going into the final exams. The best part about the internal assessments is that you get to write about whatever you want, this means that you will always be engaged with what you are working on, but being interested in what you are writing about isn’t enough to get you that 7, stick around and you will find out which tips will.
Choosing your article:
When researching for an article to discuss, look for ones that are straightforward. Don’t choose articles that are overly analytical, because this would mean that a lot of the analysis has already been done for you. You would essentially be re-writing the article which wouldn’t help you get that 7. You also want to choose the topic you will be discussing before picking the article, it’s best to put yourself in a strong position, and the best way to do that is by choosing a topic from the syllabus that you are comfortable with.
Content of Article:
Whichever article you end up choosing has to have enough information for you to analyse. The internal assessments are meant to test your understanding of the subject and its real-world applications, if you choose an article that you can not properly analyse then you are missing the whole point of the internal assessment. You also have to make sure that the article you chose is simple. 750 words is not enough for you to analyse several different topics/policies, so you want to make sure the article is mainly discussing one topic so you don’t end up with an assignment that touches on 3 different topics but doesn’t analyse 1 properly.
How to write the assignment:
Defining key terms:
When choosing which economic concepts to define you have to be very careful as you only have 750 words. You only want to define the main economic terms you are going to discuss in your article. For example, when writing your assignment you shouldn’t be defining terms such as supply, demand, price, etc. When defining the key terms as well, do not copy the exact definition from a textbook or google, attempt to define it in relation to the concept that you are discussing.
List and explain advantages:
The more in-depth you are able to explore an advantage, the fewer advantages you will need to list. Ideally, you should have 2-3 advantages per assignment, however, in some cases, you may have only 1 that you explore very thoroughly. For each advantage discussed, there should be an accompanying diagram to illustrate what you are discussing.
List and explain disadvantages:
During this part of the essay, you want to explore the disadvantages. The main thing you need to focus on is making sure you explain why these disadvantages exist based on the material that you have covered in your studies. If the IA you are writing is on policies, it may even be wise for you to suggest different policy options, and explain why they may have a better result than the current policies which are in place. This shows the marker that you have an overall understanding of the topic that you have chosen to write your IA on.
Conclusion:
During your conclusion, you should reflect on your listed advantages and disadvantages. Chances are both arguments do not carry equal weight, and you will have to lean towards one side more. If you lean towards the disadvantages, you may want to briefly mention the alternative policy that you suggested in your disadvantages paragraph.