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In 2023, after eight years of teaching in New Jersey, I moved to Singapore to teach chemistry at an international school. I was drawn by the opportunity to experience a new culture and work with a highly diverse student community. I also wanted to develop my teaching practice by teaching in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program, which my current school offers to students in their final two years of high school.

Earning the IB diploma is a prestigious distinction, which requires a student to develop skills in research, critical thinking, and self-management, in addition to academic content. The diploma is recognized for university admissions around the world and is offered by thousands of schools internationally. More than 900 high schools in the United States offer the IB Diploma Program, including more than 800 public schools. Teachers can find IB schools in the United States and around the world by searching the program’s online interactive map.

IB Chemistry vs. AP Chemistry

IB courses are often compared to Advanced Placement (AP) courses, because both offer rigorous, advanced topics to students and both may be accepted for credit or placement at colleges and universities. However, there are some key distinctions between the two programs.

AP offers a variety of stand-alone courses that are one year in length, with some courses requiring a pre-requisite 1-year foundational course. The courses are graded internally for the student’s school transcript, while a separate AP Exam score is earned externally, which typically does not affect the internal grade.

IB courses, on the other hand, are offered through a holistic diploma program (although schools are also allowed to offer them as stand-alone courses). IB courses are two years in length and are offered in two varieties, Higher Level (HL) and Standard Level (SL). Some schools may offer SL courses over one year instead of two years. For the IB Diploma Program, students take courses in six different subject groups, usually three at HL and three at SL (see Table 1). In addition, students must complete the core components, comprising the Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge, and Creativity, Activity, and Service. IB courses are graded through a combination of the external exams and internal assessments (such as the one described later in this article). The IB external assessment uses a 1-7 scale, as compared to the 1-5 scale that AP uses.

One main difference between IB and AP Chemistry is the range of topics covered. While most of the curriculum topics overlap, each program contains topics that are absent from the other. The IB Chemistry curriculum includes organic chemistry, while AP Chemistry includes some physical chemistry concepts such as solubility and phase changes. The AP and IB HL courses both require quantitative calculations for kinetics, equilibrium, acids/bases, and electrochemistry that are omitted for the IB SL course. Table 2 shows a list of topics covered in IB Chemistry. With the exception of Reactivity 1.4, all topics are covered in both SL and HL, with more time and depth in the HL course.

One of the strengths of the IB program is its emphasis on developing research skills. Research skills are built into the core courses and are also tied to individual subject courses through Internal Assessments and the Extended Essay.

IB Chemistry Internal Assessment

A key feature of the IB Chemistry course is the Internal Assessment (IA), which is an independent scientific investigation carried out by each student. Throughout this process, students develop skills not only in using specific lab techniques, but also in managing time, solving problems, conducting research, and communicating learning through writing. Students design and conduct their own experiments and write a 3,000-word report, worth 20 percent of their final grade. The investigations are internally assessed, meaning that they are graded by the students’ teachers. The school then sends a random sample of papers to the IB examiners, where they are externally moderated to ensure grading consistency. The student’s report is graded on the following four criteria:

• Research Design – research question, background information, methodology, and risk assessment
• Data Analysis – includes tables of raw data and processed data, calculations, quantitative error analyses, and graphs
• Conclusion – answers the research question with references to data, scientific context, and related published studies, and addresses the student’s confidence in the conclusion
• Evaluation – explores the limitations and weaknesses of the experiment, including discussion of random and systematic errors, and proposes feasible improvements

One way chemistry teachers in my school prepare students for the IA is with in-class lab experiments, focusing on precise data collection, uncertainty, and error evaluation. We also do a practice round of the IA that has a shorter timeframe and more scaffolding. Instead of open topic selection, all students design an experiment based around vinegar for the practice round. Going through this practice IA helps the students to gain confidence and skill in working independently and solving problems in the lab, while also improving their data analysis skills.

Students begin working on their official IA toward the end of their 11^th grade year. My school strongly encourages students to do investigations based on laboratory work, though investigations based on research databases or use of simulations are also permissible. Students begin by developing their own research questions and then they conduct literature research to learn more about their topics and develop methodologies for their studies. Students discuss ideas with teachers and must gain approval before continuing with their plans.

Topics are often selected based on personal connections and interests, or from inspiration generated by a previous IA they have seen. In most cases, the topics address ideas beyond what is in the course syllabus. Teachers set aside some class time for preliminary experimental trials, during which students can test out their proposed methods and adjust the techniques or variables as needed. This allows students to, ideally, have a working plan before the end of the semester so they can write a Research Design draft over the summer.

In my classes, food chemistry has been popular, with students investigating a range of topics including rutin concentration in green tea; iron content in spinach; calcium carbonate content in eggshells; and the effects of cooking temperature, cooking time, and storage temperature on citric acid concentration in orange juice. Studies involving pH and buffers are also common, with students investigating the effects of temperature or salt concentration on buffering capacity, and the effect of pH on degradation of turmeric. Several students have conducted kinetics experiments, looking into the effects of concentration or temperature on rates of various reactions. Others have explored the viscosity of non-Newtonian fluids, hydrolysis of aspirin, enthalpy of dissolution, and voltages in a voltaic cell. Students use a variety of lab techniques to collect their data, with titration and spectrophotometry being the most common.

Early in the 12^th grade year, my school holds a “Chemistry IA Day.” All second-year chemistry students spend one full school day in our labs instead of going to their other classes. We have approximately 100 students spread across eight laboratory classrooms, supported by our team of seven chemistry teachers and two lab technicians. The students conduct their experiments, ideally with multiple trials to ensure they are collecting reliable data. Though each student must have a unique research question and write an independent report, collaboration between up to three students on data collection is permissible.

After our IA day, students have a few weeks to write a full draft of their reports. Teachers provide both written and oral feedback on the drafts, meeting individually with each student. The students then write their final reports to be submitted midway through their 12^th grade year. Figure 1 and Figure 2 show, respectively, lab photos and portions of the written Data Analysis from a student’s final report.

Extended Essay

Students completing the full IB diploma are also required to write a 4,000-word Extended Essay (EE). They may write essays based on one of their courses, such as Chemistry, or they may write a World Studies EE, which combines any two subjects in relation to a global issue. The EE is completed separate from their classes, although students draw on learning from one or two of their classes to complete it. Students build on the vocabulary, research skills, and core concepts from their courses, while also researching and learning additional concepts that are not covered in a syllabus. As with the IA, students develop their own research questions for the EE and then conduct literature reviews. Next they analyze the research and draw their own conclusions. In scientific disciplines, students may choose to conduct experimental work to produce primary research upon which to write their paper, though this is not a required aspect of the EE.

At my school, students start proposing EE research questions to the coordinator by the middle of the 11^th grade year. They are assigned supervisors according to the subjects to which their topics relate. As they begin to see what data and information is available, they work with the supervisors to narrow and refine the research questions. Students complete the literature review and any experimental work by the end of 11^th grade, so they can write a draft EE over the summer. Like with the IA, students submit the EE draft at the start of 12^th grade, and their final EE a few months later. Supervisors provide support and feedback on the draft, and students write three separate reflections throughout the process.

Last year I supervised a chemistry EE in which a student investigated moringa seeds. He designed an experimental method to test the effect of boiling time on the phenolic concentration of the extract and also looked at the use of moringa seed husks as heavy metal adsorbers. My chemistry students who chose the World Studies EE have combined chemistry with physics to investigate the efficiency of water desalination and new battery technologies for energy storage; with biology to investigate minerals in fertilizers; and with psychology to explore fragrance compounds.

Final impressions

Transitioning to teaching IB from an American curriculum was intense. I had to teach new topics (mainly organic chemistry), adjust to different conventions in units and terminology, and brush up on lab skills so I could effectively manage the student projects. The IA was a complicated undertaking, with every student researching a different question, but it was an excellent learning experience for me and a valuable project for the students. I am fortunate to have a very supportive chemistry department, and I am thrilled with what the students can accomplish. Overall, I have been impressed with the IB Diploma Program. I appreciate its focus on holistic education with requirements in a range of subject areas along with inclusion of non-academic components, such as service.

This program, and specifically the IB Chemistry course, does a thorough job of training students in laboratory work, data analysis, problem-solving, and writing skills, which will serve them well in their future endeavors. I am glad to have made this move and to have experienced the depth of student research preparation that the IB Program offers.