Humanities
Curriculum Guide

Description

The aim of humanities in the MYP is to encourage students to gain and develop knowledge, conceptual understanding, research skills, analytical and interpretive skills, and communication skills, contributing to the development of the student as a whole. Humanities as a subject aims to encourage students to respect and understand the world around them, and to provide a skills base to facilitate further study. This is achieved through the study of individuals, societies and environments in a wide context: historical, contemporary, geographical, political, social, economic, religious, technological and cultural.

(IB MYP Humanities Guide 2005)

Humanities objectives

A Knowledge
Knowledge is fundamental to studying humanities, and forms the base from which to explore concepts and develop skills. At the end of the course, the student should be able to:
• know and use humanities terminology in context
• demonstrate subject content knowledge and understanding through the use of descriptions and explanations, supported by relevant facts and examples, and may show other ways of knowing.

B Concepts
Students should be able to develop an understanding of the following key humanities concepts.
• Time
• Place and space
• Change
• Systems
• Global Awareness.

C Skills
The development of skills in humanities is critical in enabling the student to undertake research and demonstrate their understanding of knowledge and concepts. Students should be able to demonstrate the following skills during the humanities course.
• Technical skills
• Analytical skills
• Decision-making skills
• Investigative skills.

D Organization and presentation
Students should be comfortable using a variety of formats to organize and present their work (including oral presentations, essays, reports, expositions) and using a variety of media and technologies. They should understand that their presentation is creating a new perspective on humanities. At the end of the course, the student should be able to:
• communicate information that is relevant to the topic
• organize information in a logically sequenced manner, appropriate to the format used
• present and express information and ideas in a clear and concise manner, using appropriate language, style and visual representation
• use referencing and a bibliography to clearly document sources of information, using appropriate conventions.

Humanities assessment

Periodically during the year, students are awarded a level of achievement for each criterion. For each assessment criterion a number of band descriptors are defined, which indicate the progress of the student. Students and parents will be made aware of all the band descriptors during the year.

Criterion	Level	Band descriptor for the highest level possible
A Knowledge	0-10	Level 9-10 The student shows an excellent command of a wide range of terminology, and uses it appropriately. An extensive range of relevant facts and examples are used to show understanding. Descriptions are accurate and detailed and explanations are fully developed.
B Concepts	0-10	Level 9-10 Application of concepts is appropriate and sophisticated. The student demonstrates conceptual awareness and understanding by explaining in detail connections to the subject matter. The student applies concepts effectively to other situations.
C Skills	0-10	Level 9-10 The student selects and uses a wide range of relevant information. Work shows a high level of critical analysis. Arguments, decisions and judgments are fully supported and well balanced. The student demonstrates sophisticated investigative skills.
D Organization and presentation	0-8	Level 7-8 The student communicates information that is always relevant. The student organizes information into a well-developed and logical sequence, appropriate to the format required. Presentation and expression are clear, concise and effective, and the language, style and visual representation used are always appropriate to the audience and purpose. All sources of information are documented according to a recognized convention.

Assessment criteria; rubrics

Course outline