ib chemistry course work assessment criteria1

8/6/2019 IB Chemistry Course Work Assessment Criteria1

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IB Chemistry Coursework Assessment CriteriaThis sheet is designed to help you do the very best you can on your chemistry internal assessments. It is divided into

each of the assessment areas and describes exactly what you need to include to get completes for each of the

assessment criteria. The words highlighted in bold are suggested sub-headings for your report. Dont underestimate

the importance of clear layout and presentation; whilst there are no marks explicitly awarded for this, it makes it

much easier for your teacher to understand what you are trying to say and thus award you the marks.

Design:

The planning part of the investigation. You should include a statement of the research question, a section outlining

the variables (it is worth mentioning explicitly at this point how you intend to control each of your controlled

variables) and an experimental section that includes a list of apparatus (including its accuracy where appropriate

this should either be the accuracy quoted by the manufacturer or half the smallest increment), a labelled diagram of

the experimental setup and a method written as a step by step list of instructions that makes absolutely explicit

what you will do and how each of your variables will be controlled. You should not write a hypothesis. You should

note that in addition to collecting numerical data, you should always collect qualitative observations what you saw

happen as this often proves critical in identifying errors. It is worth considering including a section entitled

something like justification of method in which you explain the rationale behind the design choices you made.

Level/marks Defining the Problem and

Selecting the Variables

Controlling Variables Developing a method for

collection of data

Complete: 2 You have written a clear andappropriate research question

(along the lines of How does X

affect Y ?) and mentioned all

relevant variables including:

independentvariable - thething you will change

dependent variables - thething you will measure tosee the effect of changing

your independent variable

controlled variables things that would affect

the dependent variable if

changed but that you will

keep fixed (generally at

least five, all of which must

be relevant).

For each controlledvariable you should write asentence explaining why it

would make a difference.

You have written a method

that makes it clear how you will

control each of your variables.

In practice this means:

The independent variableshould say which variations

you intend to use.

The dependent variableshould say exactly how youwill measure it.

For each of the controlledvariables it should be clear

exactly how it will be

controlled. For example,

temperature can be

controlled by doing it at

room temperature and

recording this and saying

you will do this.

You have designed a method

(written in clear, detailed

instructions) that allows you to

collect enough relevant data. In

practice this means:

Your dependent variablemust be relevant to the

independent variable youare studying.

You must say exactly howyou will change your

independent variable and

plan at least 5 variations

You must plan to collect atleast 3 repeat sets of data

Your method must work ie following the

instructions exactly as you

write them must lead to

collecting enough data

Partial: 1 You have written anunclear/unfocussed research

question OR have missed some

important variables or included

some irrelevant ones

Your method makes some

attempt to control variables

but does not make it clear

enough how they will ALL be

controlled.

Your method, whilst collecting

relevant data, does not collect

enough data ie fewer than 5

variations or fewer than 3

repeats

Not at all: 0 You have not written aresearch question AND have

not mentioned any/enough

relevant variables.

Your method, if followed does

not control the variables you

have mentioned.

Your method does not collect

data that is relevant to your

research question.


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Data Collection and Processing:

This section deals with your collection of data and your analysis. You should have two sections, one labelled

observationsand another analysis. In the observations section you should include your tables of data collected

during the experiment both quantitative and qualitative, each table should have a clear heading leaving no doubt as

to what the table shows. The analysis section will include any calculations you needed to perform on your data

including averages (you should write out the calculations for one set of data to demonstrate the correct approach

with only the results of further calculations necessary best presented in table form), you will almost certainly then

need to produce a scatter graph with line/curve etc of best fit and error bars. It is very important that each of your

processed results includes the uncertainty (i.e. Kc = 0.0143 (+/- 12%) ) and that you demonstrate how you calculated

this.

Level/marks Recording Raw Data Processing Raw Data Presenting Processed Data

Complete: 2 You have recorded allappropriate quantitative

(numbers) and qualitative

(written) data in a table. You

must:

Write units in the columnheadings not the body of

the table. They are bestwritten in brackets.

Include the accuracy towhich readings were taken

eg Volume (ml, +/- 0.05

ml)

Write the actual value ofyour independent

variables, not the one you

intended, for example you

may have planned to use a

concentration of 1.0M but

actually used 1.15M. Be consistent with the

accuracy of your recordings

(generally to 2 or 3 d.p.)

Your table must be clearlylaid out with appropriate

headings and a title

You must process the raw data

correctly. In practice this

means:

All calculations performedcorrectly with answers

given to appropriate

accuracy (same s.f. as your

least accurate input) You must have an

accurately drawn and

labelled graph complete

with line/curve of best fit

Your processed data must be

clearly presented including

errors and uncertainties. In

practice this means:

Results of calculationsshould be presented in a

clearly labelled table

You must calculate theuncertainty present in each

result and quote this (eg

1.72 (+/- 3.4%) ) and

write a short paragraph

explaining how you

calculated this.

Include error bars on thegraphs you draw

Partial: 1 You have recorded appropriatedata but with some mistakes

such as:

Incorrect units given Unclear column headings Units in table body No accuracy given

You have made some mistakes

in doing your calculations or

have not done a graph

You have presented your

processed data well but have

not included error calculations.

Not at all: 0 You have either not recordedappropriate/relevant data or it

is recorded unclearly. This

might include:

Data not in a table Headings unclear or

incorrect

Structure of table difficultto read

You have either not done your

calculations or graph or have

done them with major

mistakes.

Your data is not well

presented. I.e:

Not in a table No errors given Incorrect type of graph

drawn


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Conclusion and Evaluation:

This section is to do with reaching and explaining a conclusion and reflecting on the overall effectiveness of your

investigation. You should include a conclusion that states the pattern you observed in your results and correctly

applies your understanding of chemistry to explain this pattern and an evaluation section that indentifies the

limitations of your experiment and makes concrete suggestions for improvement. Your evaluation needs to refer

explicitly to the data you collected, evaluations such as my experiment is reliable because I didnt make any

mistakes have very little value.

Level/marks Concluding Evaluating Procedures Suggesting ImprovementsComplete: 2 You must reach a justified

conclusion. You should:

State a conclusion basedon a correct interpretation

of your results.

State in detail the patternyour results give. For

example a strong/weak,

direct/inverse,

linear/curved relationship

Explain in detail why thisshould be using correctly

applied chemistry

knowledge

Where the patternobserved is not what

should have happened, try

to identify reasons for this

Find, where possible, aliterature value for your

results, calculate the

percentage difference

between this and your

results and then discuss

how this relates to the %

uncertainty in your results.

You must comment on how

effective your experiment was

and identify

weaknesses/limitations. You

should

Where possible compareyour results to the

published values or the

documented trends

Comment on quality ofyour results the size of

the errors, the presence ofoutliers, the strength of

your trends and patterns

Reflect on the impact ofthe above two points on

the reliability of your

conclusions.

Identify the main sourcesof systematic and random

error in the investigation

Make specific and realistic

suggestions for improvements

to your method or suggestions

for further investigative work.

You should:

Relate each improvementto the

weaknesses/limitations

identified in the previous

section

Make specific detailedsuggestions forimprovements using

different equipment or

setting up the experiment

differently or using an

entirely different method.

It is not enough to say takemore time or do more

repeats etc

Partial: 1 You have stated a conclusionbut have not justified

(explained it with chemistry) it

or have justified it incorrectly.

You have correctly identified

some weaknesses/limitations

but have not evaluated your

results against external

sources.

You suggested some

improvements but they were

only simple or superficial

Not at all: 0 You have either not reached aconclusion or have not reached

the correct conclusion based

on the data you collected.

The weakness and limitations

you identified are irrelevant.

You did not suggest any

relevant/realistic

improvements

ib chemistry course work assessment criteria1

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