Core Components
Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS)
CAS is one of the three core courses in the IB Diploma Program.
This course aims to allow students to enhance their creative thinking, intra
and interpersonal development, and self-discovery through hands-on experience.
The three strands of the course work together in a balanced manner to provide
an addition to the academic IB program experience. In CAS, Creativity is where
students express themselves through their artistic talents including, but not
limited to, fine and performance art; Activity involves physical application
such as dance, performance, sports and so on that increases the students’
opportunities to work in collaboration with others; and Service is summarized
as voluntary service that benefits the community (others) while providing
personal growth for students. Students must show evidence that they have met
all the seven Learning Objectives (LO) below over the two-year program period
when executing the strands in order to successfully complete the CAS course and
earn the IB Diploma.
LO 1: Identify own strength & develop areas for growth.
LO 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing
skills in the process.
LO 3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.
LO 4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experience.
LO 5: Demonstrate skills and recognize the benefit of working
collaboratively.
LO 7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.
Theory of Knowledge (TOK)
The Theory of Knowledge course is one that truly embodies the IB
program with all its values and learner outcomes. The course truly challenges
the students to look once again at all that they have learned and to become aware
of themselves as thinkers. The course focuses on several central questions such
as "What is knowledge?” and "How do we know what we know? Due to this,
students will continually be asked to reflect critically on how and what they
have learned. With questions surrounding beliefs, certainty, culture, evidence,
interpretation, intuition, and truth being examined throughout the duration of
the course, allowing the students to take what they have learned outside the
TOK classroom and into the real world. Not only does the course allow the
students to become critical thinkers, but it gives birth to individuals who
question everything around them, allowing themselves to build their own
knowledge throughout their entire life. During the course, class time will
largely be devoted to examining questions and engaging in discussions based on
reading as well as the students’ own knowledge and experiences. Moreover, students
will be required to synthesize their thoughts in both speaking and writing.
Extended
Essay (EE)
Based
on the "IB Extended Essay Guide,” the extended essay is an in-depth study of a
focused topic chosen from the list of available Diploma Programme subjects for
the session in question. This is normally one of the student’s six chosen
subjects for those taking the IB diploma, or a subject that a course student
has a background in. It is intended to promote academic research and writing
skills, providing students with an opportunity to engage in personal research
in a topic of their own choice, under the guidance of a supervisor (an
appropriately qualified member of staff within the school). This leads to a
major piece of formally presented, structured writing, in which ideas and
findings are communicated in a reasoned and coherent manner, appropriate to the
subject chosen. It is mandatory that all students undertake three reflection
sessions with their supervisor, which includes a short, concluding interview,
or viva voce, with their supervisor following the completion of the extended
essay. An assessment of this reflection process is made under criterion E
(Engagement) using the Reflections on planning and progress form.
The extended essay is assessed against common criteria,
interpreted in ways appropriate to each subject.
Subject Groups
Group1 – Studies in Language and Literature
Arabic/English A Language & Literature SL/HL
Language & Literature comprises the study of a range of
texts and text-types, literary and non-literary, in various media. It involves
the close study of language itself as well as the ways whereby it defines
culture and identity, and is defined by them.
Diverse approaches will be taken: literary theory,
sociolinguistics, media studies and the analysis of critical discourse.
Students study a range of non-literary texts, plus four or six literary works,
at SL and HL respectively. Time spent teaching and learning at each level are
in a similar ratio. In line with the international flavor of the IB, these texts
are drawn not only from the target language but promote understanding of a
range of cultures by including some in translation.
The course offers
interesting possibilities to help complete the CAS program: through learning
about characters in such a range of texts, students can enhance their aptitude
for empathy for real people, thus helping them to plan and reflect on the
experiences and effects of their projects. The TOK course encourages IB
students to reflect on their general learning, and the ways whereby knowledge
is constructed, and the Language & Literature course similarly encourages
them to think about the nature of human experience and the ways that one’s
personal vision is created and conveyed to others.
The Learner Portfolio is an individual
collection of student work compiled during the course, and is a mandatory and
central element of Language A: Language and Literature. Although it is not
assessed, it is a basis for assessment, a collection of evidence of the
student’s work, and a space to explore and reflect on the studied texts and the
student’s responses to them.
Group 2 – Language Acquisition
French ab initio
Ce cours de langue ab initio est un cours d’acquisition de la
langue française destiné aux apprenants qui ne connaissent pas cette langue ou
qui en ont un aperçu très limité. La durée d’enseignement de ce cours est de
150 heures réparties sur deux années consécutives. Cinq thèmes seront traités
avec quatre sujets chacun; par conséquent un total de 20 sujets variés seront
couverts dans ce cours de langue ab initio. Le programme ainsi conçu initie les
apprenants à:
- développer leur capacité à communiquer en français dans des
contextes différents
- développer leur sensibilisation internationale
- favoriser leur curiosité, leur créativité et l’apprentissage des
langues tout au long de la vie
- avoir une prise de conscience des liens entre les différentes
cultures
Au cours de leur apprentissage, les apprenants seront amenés à
passer par différentes formes d’évaluations, les préparant, entre autres, à
l’évaluation qui aura lieu à la fin de la deuxième année. Cette dernière est
composée d’une:
- évaluation interne (orale)
- évaluation externe constituée de 2 épreuves
En somme, ce programme, comme tous les programmes de l’IB
d’ailleurs, a pour mission de former des apprenants ouverts d’esprit, informés,
chercheurs, communicatifs, altruistes et intègres.
Group 3 – Individuals
and Societies
Business Management HL/SL
The Business Management course outline shows the distribution of
the topics in year 1 and year 2. The course is divided into five units.
Unit 1 : Business Organization and Environment
Unit 2 : Human Resource Management
Unit 3 Finance and Accounts
Unit 4 Marketing
Unit 5 :Operations Management
The course also shows examples of topics and their links to the
following: TOK, international mindedness, development of IB, approaches to
learning, and the resources used to build and develop it.
Psychology SL
The IBDP psychology course is designed to develop understanding of
the diversity of human behavior and mental processes. The curriculum provides a
holistic approach that covers biological, cognitive, and sociocultural levels
of analysis. In addition, the course requires an in-depth study of one area in
psychology.
Students are expected to develop their critical thinking and
research skills throughout the course and are required to complete an "Internal
Assessment” where they research and plan an experiment. The ethical concerns
raised by the methodology and application of the psychological research are key
considerations in IBDP psychology.
Group 4 - Sciences
Chemistry HL
The IB DP Chemistry HL course connects academic study with the
acquisition and development of practical, investigational, and digital
technology skills. It promotes critical analysis of scientific literature while
developing the students’ manipulative and experimental skills through
classwork, Group 4 collaborative project and internal assessment. Topics
include quantitative chemistry, structure of the atom, periodicity, chemical
bonding, energetics, kinetics, chemical equilibrium, acids and bases, redox
reactions, organic chemistry, and instrumental analysis. The course shows
examples of links to TOK, ATL, NOS, international mindedness, and the
development of the IB learner profile which are essential in the 21st century
scientific endeavor and are important life-enhancing, transferable skills.
Biology HL
The content of this course prepares learners for IB internal
assessments and external examinations. At the end of this course, learners are
expected to develop an understanding of the scientific method and of the international
collaboration among scientists in the 21st century. The course also introduces
a breadth of subjects at the higher level ranging from the single cell to the
interactions of cells within ecosystems, nucleic acids, inheritance of traits,
natural selection and evolution, and links these subjects to Nature of Science
and Theory of Knowledge. Moreover, learners will develop questions and design
collaborative and individual investigations to answer these questions through
data collection and analysis. Investigations, internal assessments, and the
Group 4 project expose learners to the practical skills and methods used the
laboratory, as well as the communication and collaboration skills implemented
by researchers in the scientific community.
Physics HL
The aim of this course is to engage the students in critical
thinking and problem solving by challenging them to examine what they already
know and learn new concepts and develop new thinking strategies. This course is
designed to be inquiry-based on investigation, discussion, interpretation,
evaluation, research, and application (conceptual and mathematical) of new
knowledge to the understanding of the world around us.
Many of the nature phenomena and problems facing our planet can be
investigated and solved by looking at them through the perspective of Physics.
Our course will challenge students to think about these issues from a global
international scale.
The students will be required to demonstrate knowledge and to
think through the use of written assessments, lab reports, and oral
assessments.
Group 5 - Mathematics
Analysis and approaches SL
This course is designed for learners who already have knowledge of
basic mathematics and who can use their skills to apply simple mathematical
techniques in a correct way. The majority of these students are expected to
have a strong math background that can help them in real life situations as
they prepare for their future studies such as Business, Economics …
Analysis and approaches HL
This course is designed for learners who have a strong background
in mathematics who can think critically and possess a high level of analytical
and technical skills. The majority of the learners are expected to have math as
a major subject in their university studies such as Engineering, Mathematics,
Physics …