--INTERNAL ASSESSMENT--

• Produce a PORTFOLIO of THREE 800-WORD COMMENTARIES BASED ON ARTICLES from published news media. (See below)

• Each article MUST BE BASED on a DIFFERENT UNIT of the syllabus.

  • • Unit 2: MICROECONOMICS, 

    • Unit 3: MACROECONOMICS and 

    • Unit 4: THE GLOBAL ECONOMY.

• WHAT MEDIA TYPES CAN BE USED? NEWSPAPERS,  JOURNALS, and their online equivalents (but NOT from TV or RADIO). Do not choose articles or opinion pieces that contain all the analysis and evaluation already, for example, if you are evaluating a smoking ban, do not choose an article titled "Evaluation of smoking ban", or "Winners and losers of a smoking ban"....

• HOW LONG SHOULD THE ARTICLE BE? Ideally, NO MORE THAN 2 A4 SIDES WHEN PRINTED, relatively lengthy articles are difficult to sythesise and likely contain either too complex text or some form of analysis and evaluation already. If you do choose a lengthy article you will need to HIGHLIGHT the parts you have used as the ea miner will not read more than 2-sides. 

• HOW OLD CAN THE ARTICLE BE? The article must have been published NO EARLIER THAN ONE YEAR BEFORE THE WRITING OF THE COMMENTARY. (So if you are writing your IA in Feb 23, then the article's publish date can be no later than Feb 22)

• HOW OLD CAN THE ARTICLE'S EVENT BE? The CONTENT OF THE ARTICLE needs to be RECENT (Contemporary), so no historical economic events (E.g. Great Depression) that have been recently rediscussed. 

• CAN IT COVER CONCEPTS OUTSIDE THE IB SYLLABUS? No, any concept analysed MUST BE TAKEN FROM THE IB SYLLABUS STUDIED.

• CAN THE TEACHER HELP WITH THE SELECTION? No, it MUST BE THE STUDENT'S CHOICE OF ARTICLE, however, the teacher should be active in APPROVING or REJECTING the choice.

• CAN THE SOURCE BE USED MORE THAN ONCE? No, EACH COMMENTARY must be BASED ON A SEPARATE SOURCE.

• Each of the three commentaries must use a different key concept as a lens through which to analyse

• the published extracts. Students will risk losing 3 marks in criterion D if they use the same key concept

• in two commentaries and up to 6 marks if the same key concept is used in three commentaries. Please

• refer to the Economics teacher support material for further guidance.

• • Each commentary must have a COVERSHEET that records:

    • • the TITLE of the article.

      • the SOURCE of the article.

      • 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.

• • Each commentary must be NO MORE THAN 800 WORDS.

    • What's NOT INCLUDED in the word count:

      • • Acknowledgments.

        • Contents page.

        • Diagrams.

        • Labels—of five words or fewer.

        • Headings on diagrams—of 10 words or fewer.

        • Tables of statistical data.

        • Equations, formulae, and calculations.

        • Citations. (e.g ('Bounomics, 2023'))

        • References (must be in the footnotes/endnotes).

• • If students do not adhere to the following requirements, they can lose marks under criterion F: Rubric requirements.

    • • • • 1. ARTICLES: Each article must be based on a different unit of the syllabus (excluding Unit 1: Introduction to economics).

          • 2. SOURCES: Students must use a different source for each commentary.

          • 3. CONTEMPORARY ARTICLES: Students need to look for articles relating to current events, and these must be published no earlier than one year before the writing of the commentary.

--MY TIPS--

• Diagrams MUST BE RELEVANT to the article DO NOT TRY AND FIT A DIAGRAM that contributes NO MEANINGFUL ANALYSIS. In other words, FIND AN ARTICLE THAT FITS THE DIAGRAM RATHER THAN THE OTHER WAY AROUND.

• In order to score three marks, TWO DIAGRAMS ARE RECOMMENDED or a single diagram can be used to show two concepts.

• Make sure all DIAGRAMS ARE FULLY LABELED CORRECTLY, pay attention to the diagram title, axis titles, the units of measurement, and whenever possible INCLUDE DATA FROM THE ARTICLE in the diagram.

• DO NOT ADD FEATURES to the diagram that YOU DO NOT USE, for example, if you label sections of your diagrams for welfare analysis you need to refer to all of them.

• DO NOT FORGET TO include a LEAD-IN SENTENCE such as "we can illustrate this scenario/concept using the diagram below/figure 2...." 

• DO NOT FORGET to FULLY WRITE THE MEANING OF THE ACRONYMS used on your diagram, for example, do not assume the reader knows that 'MSB' is supposed to represent marginal social benefit. This issue can be solved easily by including a LEGEND ADJACENT TO THE DIAGRAM.

--MY TIPS--

• This criterion assesses the extent to which the student uses appropriate economic terminology that is relevant to the article. 

• 'APPROPRIATE' simply means using the terms found within your economics textbook however 'RELEVANT' refers to the use of terms that relate directly to the article. 

• For example, if a student working on an article about monetary policy and inflation, starts using micro terms such as market failure and scarcity, then they would most likely be deemed not relevant and inappropriate.

--MY TIPS--

• Before embarking on your IA, I would strongly suggest you CREATE A TWO-COLUMN TABLE WITH MULTIPLE ROWS

  • • • Then INSERT EACH PARAGRAPH (possibly two together if short) OF YOUR ARTICLE INTO THE SECOND COLUMN ONE AFTER THE OTHER.

      • Then IN THE FIRST COLUMN WRITE DOWN THE MAIN POINTS of EACH PARAGRAPH. 

• This way you will not only identify the economic concepts during the process but also YOUR LEFT-HAND COLUMN WILL TURN OUT TO BE A SUMMARY OF THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, the content of which should represent your IA structure and feature directly in your IA.

• If done correctly your left-hand column should contain all relevant concepts, stakeholder names, events, dates, and numbers that you need to include in your commentary to show both application and analysis.

--MY TIPS--

• In order to clearly establish the key concept as the 'Lens through which to view the article' I would strongly suggest the IA opens with the textbook general definition of the key concept, that establishes the economic context in which it will be used to analyse the article such as for an IA that is about market failure and which uses the KC of efficiency I would use something similar to this:

  • • • • • "In Economics, a market is said to be EFFICIENT when..... however due to external cost and benefits to third parties known as externalities that arise from... the final output is usually incorrect and hence INEFFICIENT, thus compelling governments to intervene... In the case of demerit goods, which are defined as...., results in overconsumption. Governments commonly use indirect taxes to..."

• After which you need to lead into your article as a prime example of this concept happening in the real world similar to this:

  • • • • • ...as was the case in Nov 2022, when the government of... implemented a 25% tax on cigarettes, with the aim of correcting the INEFFICIENCY...

• Then consistently mention the term whenever you can, using either the exact term of a synonym or even antonyms 

  • • • • • eg, 'Interdependence', 'Dependency', 'Depend on...' etc...

• Finally, refer back to the KC just once in your conclusion.

--MY TIPS--

• The MAIN ways you can evaluate in this course are the following:

  • • • • SHORT-RUN vs LONG-RUN

        • STAKEHOLDER IMPACTS

        • PROS & CONS

        • ASSUMPTIONS 

• Ideally, you will feature THREE or more of these types of evaluation, in order to attain the top level descriptor

• Each commentary is assessed individually for the first five assessment criteria (criteria A–E) and then criterion F is applied to the whole portfolio.

• The MAXIMUM for the portfolio is 45 marks: (14 marks x 3 commentaries) + 3 marks = 42 + 3 marks. The

• assessment criteria are related to the assessment objectives.

• Each commentary is assessed individually for the first five assessment criteria (criteria A–E) and then criterion F is applied to the whole portfolio.

• The MAXIMUM for the portfolio is 45 marks: (14 marks x 3 commentaries) + 3 marks = 42 + 3 marks. The

• assessment criteria are related to the assessment objectives.

• Ideally, arrange yourselves into groups of three, your teacher will distribute three anonymous IAs (All from the same section of the syllabus) as well as a copy of the IA assessment criteria and a mark sheet.

  • • Individually mark each commentary and assign it a grade, and if you drop marks make a comment as to why.

    • Once everyone in the group has had the chance to assess each commentary and award a grade, reveal your grading and try to 'Standardise' your grade. Don't forget to justify your answer.

    • Finally, the real grade will be revealed by the teacher, with examiner feedback.