The inaugural QAHS Theory of Knowledge (TOK) Exhibition was launched on Tuesday 15 June, 2021 and the Year 11 cohort was treated to a mini-exhibition from guest speaker, Mr Nigel Stratton, B. Bus, Senior Data Analyst for LifeFlight (formerly CareFlight Australia).
TOK fulfils the critical thinking component of the IB programme and asks the students to explore and reflect on the nature of knowledge and the process of knowing via the question: How Do We Know? The TOK Exhibition provides an opportunity for Year 11 students to creatively showcase these thinking skills and demonstrate how TOK manifests in the world around us, by responding to an "Exhibition Prompt."
Nigel regaled the students with a fascinating and discussion-provoking presentation in response to the Exhibition Prompt: How important are material tools in the production or acquisition of knowledge? Students learned how BASIC coding used to programme the Apple II computer in the 1980s, has evolved into a toxic form of public discourse via tweeting cyberbots attacking personal identity. Armed with this example of a mini-exhibition, together with the task description, the students now embark on finding three objects of their choice, to respond to an Exhibition Prompt. We'll look forward to watching how they link these ideas, and what they produce for viewing in Term 4.
Julie Bertwistle
TOK Coordinator