TOK Presentation Checklist -- Based on Mr.

Hoyes TOK Presentation Checklist,

http://mrhoyestokwebsite.com/Presentations/Compulsory%20Documentation/TOK
%20Presentation%20Checklist.pdf, accessed 25 November 2012.

Complete this checklist yourself and turn it in. I strongly suggest that you give your presentation to a friend
and have them complete the checklist to give you another perspective.
My real life situation is:

My knowledge question is:

Criterion A: Identification of Knowledge Question

Goal: The presentation identified a knowledge issue that was clearly relevant to the real-life situation
under consideration.

Is my real-life situation grounded in real-life, not a hypothetical situation that is more

like a thought experiment that is detached from real life?
Do I limit my description of the real life situation after a minute or two so that I can get
to the most important business at looking at the knowledge issues?
Do I have a clear knowledge question that is framed in the form of a question and
clearly stated on a slide or visual prop?1
Is my knowledge question clearly about knowledge and open-ended?
Does my knowledge question ask a question using TOK words such as How can we
know whether something is art? Or What roles do emotion and reason play in the
scientific method? Or Is there any knowledge which is too dangerous to pursue?
Is my question clearly linked to a current affairs/real life situation? This doesnt have
to be something in the news but can be something from my persona/school life that
has happened (relatively) recently.
Do I spend about one minute (but no more than one or two minutes) at the start of the
presentation introducing the real life situation and giving the audience some
background information about it?

Criterion B: Treatment of Knowledge Issues

Goal: The presentation showed a good understanding of knowledge issues.

Have I explored these knowledge questions thoroughly and explained them in detail?
Do I support/prove my overall answer with a persuasive, sensible argument that is
broken down into a series of clear and well-argued steps?

1 According to the TOK guide, Knowledge issues are questions that directly refer to our
understanding of the world, ourselves, and others in connection with the acquisition, search for,
production, shaping and acceptance of knowledge.
Am I looking at what knowledge is, how knowledge is acquired, or how we know what
we know INSTEAD of just giving two sides of a controversial issue or trying to answer
whether we should or shouldnt do something?
Have I explored strengths of my knowledge claims2?
Have I explored weaknesses of my knowledge claims?
Have I indicated the assumptions underlying my counterclaims and indicated why
these assumptions are problematic?
Do I have counterclaims to give multiple ways of looking at my knowledge issue(s)?
Have I explored strengths of my counterclaims?
Have I explored weaknesses of my counterclaims?
Have I indicated the assumptions underlying my counterclaims and indicated why
these assumptions are problematic?
As I explore claims and counterclaims, do I relate this analysis back to my real life
situation?
Do I give enough detail so that my audience knows why different people have
different views, instead of just listing those views?
As I analyze my main knowledge issue, do I identify other knowledge issues that
arise?
Have I reviewed my notes from last semester (or skimmed through the first six
chapters of the TOK textbook) to make sure that I have used TOK words in my
presentation like believe, know, justified, certain, doubt, bias? (But have I made sure
that Ive explored these ideas instead of just included the words to check off a smiley
face for this box?)
Have I explored how this issue might tell us something about how knowledge works
in different Ways of Knowing?
Have I explored how this issue might tell us something about how knowledge works
in different Areas of Knowledge?

Criterion C: Knowers Perspective

Goal: The presentation, in its distinctively personal use of arguments and examples or otherwise,
showed clear personal involvement and fully demonstrated the significance of the topic.

Have I included a specific slide (probably in the introduction) that explains why this is
a significant issue and the different ways in which it could be significant?
Have I explained/made it clear why this issue is of personal importance/relevance to
me and have I presented the issue in a way that makes it clear that I am personally
engaged in it? (Note: Talk to Ms. Godley if this is a particularly sensitive topic for
hints about how to handle this criterion.)

Have I included some original arguments and examples (possibly including personal

2 Knowledge claims are those statements, arguments and beliefs that are often presented as
being a fact and true, valid and well grounded. Prince Alfred College IB Theory of Knowledge
Oral Presentation Guide, https://docs.google.com/viewer?
a=v&q=cache:39selyjuv5AJ:sctok.wikispaces.com/file/view/Prince%2BAlfred%2Bcollege
%2Bguide%2Bto
%2Bpresentations.pdf+tok+presentation+guides&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiy-
RZOxWvSWpNP3FfExomONXZ_MWsZXC9PQrDEi52GHkz6cOHjwP0qxPe-
FJSHbXHwXQCLLQPMP0HjQRDt03UnGiOJeNeyv8WusdcCByO1dOeK76SWOOBawaQXWi0lFyah3uJx
&sig=AHIEtbQlgSJL1nPQtsQq4ANhOJQXTHMr3w
examples from school or my life at home) that make it clear that I have thought about
this issue for myself and have applied what I have learned in TOK to new issues
outside of my TOK class?
Have I tried to reconcile different points of view or explain precisely why they are
incompatible?
It is clear what my own perspective is in relation to analyzing the knowledge issue?
Have I indicated a way that I (or the viewer) can find a way to navigate the claims and
counterclaims to come up with a way to start to answer the knowledge issue?
Do I avoid copping out at the end of my presentation by wimpily saying that everyone
is entitled to their own opinion on this? Note: You do not have to choose one point
of view as "correct," but you should avoid the rather vacuous "so there are different
points of view all of which are equally valid" approach. Do not be afraid to give your
own opinion; you can point out that there are problems with your opinion, but be
honest and say what you really think!3

Criterion D: Connections
Goal: The presentation gave a clear account of how the question could be approached from different
perspectives and considered their implications in related areas.

Do I have diverse viewpoints and approach every knowledge issue from multiple
viewpoints?
Have I made explored the similarities and differences between (at least two) different
ways of viewing this issue? Remember, different ways of viewing the issue could
mean comparing how two people who come from different cultures, religions or
backgrounds have a different perspective on this situation but a more sophisticated
form of comparison would be how this issue could be approached from the
perspective of two different AOKs. For example, what counts as proof from the
perspective of the Natural Sciences, vs. what counts as proof from the perspective of
Math.
Have I looked at how claims can be looked at differently from another cultural,
linguistic, or experiential perspective?
Have I been careful to avoid generalization, e.g. saying things like all men /
Samoans / obese people / scientists / animal rights activists / mathematicians will feel
this way?
Have I explored the implications of the perspectives that I have considered this can
be done by having an explicit slide at the end of the presentation but a more
sophisticated way of including implications would be in the main body of the
presentation while exploring each different perspective / AOK / WOK or example in
depth? For example, if I am against homosexuality because I think it is unnatural
then I must also be against airplanes and cars, Pepsi, clothes and iPods as these are
unnatural too.
Have I avoided accepting dictionary or textbook definitions, or at least addressed the
limitations of blindly accepting these definitions?

Have I spent at least one or two minutes applying the knowledge issues that Ive
explored to other real life situations or Areas of Knowledge?
Have I subjected my own views to critical examination?4

3 Nine Tips on Good TOK Presentations, by Nick Alchin, http://

www.adastranet.net/forum/48/alchin48.htm (Accessed November 25, 2012)
Other Things to Consider

Is my presentation about 10 minutes long or 10 minutes per person in a group?

Do my PowerPoint slides (if there are any) summarize what I want to say in five or
less bullets per slide and avoid being too text-heavy?
Am I showing that I am interested in the topic and trying to connect with the audience,
or am I just reading from a screen or from an essay?
If Im using video clips or music, do they truly add to my presentation? Is it limited to
a minute or two, so that it doesnt take up time that I need to use to develop my
analysis? (Video or audio shouldnt replace or limit your own thinking and analysis.)
Have I given Ms. Godley the presentation planning document, or will I have it done
before the presentation? (Note: this is only required for FD candidates, and
everyone in the group does their own.)
If I have audience participation/interaction during the presentation, does it help further
my analysis or does it seem more like Im trying to use up time? (Remember that
there will be time for discussion during the Q and A session after my presentation.)
Does my conclusion try to summarize (briefly, in 1-2 sentences) what I have said, and
ends with a forward-looking view? Note: this might be a summary of the main
principles you have identified or some issues which have arisen and which have not
been answered. Do not just reiterate your arguments. The end should "feel" like a
conclusion and not like "well, that's it."5
Am I ready for questions from the class after my presentation? (People are generally
kind, so its rarely intimidating.)
Is my presentation well organized?
Does my presentation interest and engage my audience?
Is my presentation thought provoking?
If Im in a group, are all members of the group presenting/contributing equally?
I dont need to have in-text citations, but do I tell my audience where the
information/ideas are from? (I should provide Ms. Godley with a bibliography.)
Did I critically evaluate the views of the different people/groups/organizations instead
of just listing their views?
Are my treatments of claims and counterclaims balanced? (I may indicate that one
side or another is stronger, but do I at least give a good shot at showing the strengths
and weaknesses of each and not just set up a straw man?
Am I totally sure that Im not just giving two sides of a controversial issue, but instead
focusing on how the contrasting beliefs have been formed as a process or focusing
on how knowledge is acquired/processed/etc.?

4 Larry Ferlazzo, Presentation on Preparing for the TOK Oral Presentation,

http://theoryofknowledge.edublogs.org/

5 Nine tips on good TOK presentations by Nick Alchin, http://www.adastranet.net/forum/48/alchin48.htm

(accessed November 25, 2012)