Congratulations to everyone who made it through these last two (or four, or however many) years, and double congrats to everyone who actually got the diploma. I missed it by a point myself, but that’s okay, I learned a lot in the program and I hope everyone who participated in it did too! I’m going to leave this IB up for quite possibly forever so that all future IBers can partake in its awesomeness. I might eventually leave this in the care of a trusted future IBer to be updated with more helpful info, but until then, good luck to every past, present, and future IBer, I wish you success in everything that you endeavor to achieve. :)

melissamae7 answered your question: IB exams are fully underway! :D

brain is officially drained. and still have more tests D:

How is everyone doing?!

Okay, so for the cognitive perspective, when it asks about Methodology, the ONLY three research methods we can talk about are Interview, Experiment, and Verbal Protocols. The first two are easy, but since we didn’t go too far in-depth about Verbal Protocols, I figured I’d post something about them here.

Overview

Verbal protocols are the recorded verbalizations of users as they carry out their tasks. This technique uses users’ spoken comments, who verbalise how they use the system, explaining what they are trying to do and the type of problems they experience. Verbal protocols may be collected by video or simply audio tape recorder, direct notes can be also used. These self-commentaries are made while the task is being carried out in order to avoid the inevitable distortion or forgetting that could occur if the reporting were left until afterwards. These protocols are particularly useful for gaining information about the psychological or cognitive process for users’ actions, which cannot be directly observed, such as the knowledge requirements or mental processing. However, the think aloud protocol, during the performance of the task, can impose an additional task-load on the user, significant when the task is difficult. This load can alter the way the user performs the task. The post-event protocol is based upon the user’s memory after running the task. The self-confrontation is a protocol where users are asked to comment on their actions in front of the video recording after the system use.

Application

It is important that verbalisations should not interfere in any way with task performance and that users should freely report on what they are doing without any direction. Also, verbal protocols are limited by the ability of subjects to freely and honestly state why they are undertaking particular actions, without first making a conscious effort to explain these actions. When to use : To identify the likely errors that users make while learning how to use the system. To identify the expectations and preconceptions that users may bring to an interaction, revealing the internal model developed by the user concerning the way the system operates. This technique is useful for activity analysis of existing tasks, for system evaluation and for teasing out any misunderstanding or misconceptions a user has when operating a system for the first time.

Advantages

• The main advantage is that it helps to find out what the user is thinking when performing a task or operating a prototype system.
• Verbal protocols provide a basis for investigating the underlying mental process of complex tasks which cannot be studied in other way. 
• Data collection is rapid, because very few special arrangements need to be on-site, and data analysis will usually be conducted off-site. 
• The results of applying the technique will be credible and comprehensible to non-specialist observers or users.

Disadvantages

• Verbalizations may be biased because they interfere with the basic task, for instance, changing the speed or the execution method. This is mainly the case if the activity necessitates the use of short term memory.
• Verbal protocols may reflect only the results of cognitive process, rather than the process itself. Thus the depth of knowledge which can be obtained is often limited, and it may be necessary to do additional investigations.
• Language may be an inadequate descriptive technique for the process being studied. Many mental processes depend on visual, auditory, or mathematical imagery for their execution. Therefore it may be difficult to verbalize such events.
• Another disadvantage is that it is time consuming to analyse audio and video tapes afterwards.

And there you have it! :] If you have any questions, shoot me a message, I’ll be studying all day for Papers 1, 2, and 3 and I’d be happy to assist.

Here’s the interactive site, which includes the background, technology, biographies of important people, and outcomes:

http://library.thinkquest.org/12367/

Aaand here’s a timeline of events:

http://library.thinkquest.org/10927/worldwar.htm

Happy Monday!

the-king-of-france: I love your Tumblr.

Thank you so much! I hope it turns out to be as useful for you as it is for me! Heh :]

I just hit the fucking jackpot of all fucking jackpots. I was almost positive that the site wasn’t going to work, but it did; I found sample papers for ALL OF OUR CLASSES (well except Math, but whatever).

Woo!

Psych, English, History:

http://www.freeexampapers.com/past_papers.php?l=Past_Papers%2FIB%2FPsychology%2FHigher/

http://www.freeexampapers.com/past_papers.php?l=Past_Papers%2FIB%2FEnglish%2FEnglish+A%2FHigher/

http://www.freeexampapers.com/past_papers.php?l=Past_Papers%2FIB%2FHistory%2FHigher/

Chem and Bio:

http://www.freeexampapers.com/past_papers.php?l=Past_Papers%2FIB%2FChemistry%2FStandard/

http://www.freeexampapers.com/past_papers.php?l=Past_Papers%2FIB%2FBiology%2FStandard/

Latin, Spanish, French:

http://www.freeexampapers.com/past_papers.php?l=Past_Papers%2FIB%2FLatin%2FStandard/

http://www.freeexampapers.com/past_papers.php?l=Past_Papers%2FIB%2FSpanish%2FSpanish+B%2FStandard/

http://www.freeexampapers.com/past_papers.php?l=Past_Papers%2FIB%2FFrench%2FFrench+B%2FStandard/

Download them as soon as you can, I know there’s a million of them but I have no idea how long they’ll be up there! The downloads take about a minute to load up, so be patient. And I already downloaded two of the Latin ones, so I’m pretty sure they’re safe :D

You will not BELIEVE the gold mine of stuff I just found for math. Revision notes, powerpoints, worksheets, worked specimen papers…shit! I might not actually fail! :’D

Okay, here we go. Here is the most amazing site of sites, which includes revision notes and worked examples and everything else for Mathematics:

http://www.mathsnetib.com/index.php?mode=syllabus&s=IBSL&sd=4v2t0kpet1vhbkq7rv7vbj3rd6

Two revision sites with all the topics; one for Mathematics, one for Maths Studies:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/IB_Mathematics_(SL)

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/IB_Maths_Studies

And one with more specific topics for revision (Mathematics):

http://www.mathimatikos.edu.gr/formulaeIBmathematics_en.php

Here are those Mathematics worksheets/powerpoints I mentioned earlier:

http://www.ibmaths.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63&Itemid=74 (there’s some sample papers in here too)

http://www.ibmaths.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64&Itemid=73

Aaaand here’s some sample papers (both Mathematics and Maths Studies):

http://www.osc-ib.com/ib-revision-guides/default.asp?categoryid=13&pageid=156&pagetitle=IB-Maths

http://ibmaths.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71&Itemid=71

And that’s it! I feel really confident that these will be useful :] Good luck, guys!