Understanding the TOK Exhibition (DP IB Theory of Knowledge): Revision Note
Understanding the task
Purpose of the ToK exhibition
The ToK exhibition assesses how well you can explore ToK in the real world through three specific objects
The objects are chosen by you and should have specific contexts
You use the objects to explore one of the exhibition prompts
The prompts ask you to explore aspects about knowledge through your objects, e.g. how knowledge is produced, shared, trusted, challenged or restricted, or why certain knowledge claims gain authority while others are doubted or ignored
Your exhibition should:
be built around a single IA prompt and remain focused on the prompt
use three real-world objects (or images of objects)
Each object should come from a clearly defined real-world context, i.e., they have a specific time/place/ purpose/culture/audience
For example, a watch is not an object with a real-world context, but the pocket watch I inherited from my grandfather is
Each object must be linked to the same prompt; a good test is whether every object paragraph could finish the sentence: “This object helps to answer the prompt because…”
use 950 words to explore the prompt through the objects
Your writing should explain how the object helps you respond to the prompt
Your writing should not be descriptive; description should only be used as evidence to support your claims, e.g. the inscription of my grandfather’s name on the pocketwatch adds personal value to the watch for my family as a community of knowers, but is irrelevant to knowers outside that community
Assessment of the exhibition
The exhibition is the internal assessment component of ToK, which means it is marked by your teacher and externally moderated by the IB
While your teacher will mark your exhibition, moderation means that you should still write for an external reader who has not been in your lessons and does not know you or your thought processes
You should make your justification explicit, rather than assuming the examiner will see the ToK point you intended to convey
Holistic marking
Holistic marking means that your exhibition is judged as a complete piece of work, based on the overall impression of how well you explore how ToK manifests in the real world via one of the prompts and your three objects
This is different to tick-box marking, where you might be awarded separate marks for separate features
Because the exhibition is marked holistically, the examiner is looking for the same strengths to show up consistently across the whole exhibition, such as:
clear, repeated focus on the IA prompt
strong justification for why each object was chosen
explanations that use the object’s real-world context as evidence
links to knowledge, i.e., how knowledge is formed, trusted, shared or challenged, rather than descriptions of the objects
This means that you cannot rely on having one strong object if the other objects are weak, or are only described
It also means you do not gain marks for following a particular structure; what matters is whether your writing makes your thinking clear and convincing throughout
The marking criteria
The assessor will make a holistic judgement on how successfully your exhibition shows ToK in the world around us
The exhibition is marked using a set of marking criteria that are summarised below:
Level | Description |
|---|---|
9-10 | Three specific real-world objects are clearly identified and contextualised, links to the chosen prompt are clearly made and well explained, and each object’s contribution is strongly justified using appropriate evidence and explicit references to the prompt. Writing is convincing, lucid and precise. |
7-8 | Three objects and contexts are identified, links to the prompt are stated and explained but may lose precision in places, and justifications are clear but not consistently sharp or fully evidenced. Writing is focused, relevant and coherent. |
5-6 | Three objects are identified, links to the prompt are made but may be implied rather than explicit, and there is some justification with evidence and references to the prompt, but it is uneven or partially relevant. Writing is adequate, competent and acceptable. |
3-4 | Three objects are presented but contexts may be unclear or generic, links to the prompt are basic, and justification is unconvincing or unfocused. Writing is simplistic, limited and underdeveloped. |
1-2 | Objects are generic or not clearly contextualised, links to the prompt are minimal or tenuous, and the commentary is mostly descriptive or unsupported assertion. Writing is ineffective, descriptive and incoherent. |
0 | The work does not meet the standard described above, or it is not based on one of the official prompts. |
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