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= = This site is no longer maintained. This IA guide is for the old IB History course, last examinations 2016. For the IA guide for the new course (From 2017), go to:  [|ibhistoryia.weebly.com] The Internal Assessment (IA) is a historical investigation, so in the process of inquiry you will learn and apply the skills of professional historians.

The IA is important to your overall success in IB History. It is worth 25% of the final assessment for SL students, and 20% for HL students. The historical investigation will be internally assessed by your teacher and externally moderated by the IB.

The IA is highly structured. You can do very well on this part of your IB History course if you do the following:
 * Read these instructions and **//follow them//**.
 * Pick a topic you are interested in.
 * Read widely, do in-depth, high quality research

The IB History guide lists a few possible topic ideas for the IA;


 * a historical topic or theme using written sources or a variety of sources
 * a historical topic based on fieldwork, for example, a museum, archeological site, battlefields, places of worship such as mosques or churches, historic buildings
 * a historical problem using documents (this could include newspapers)
 * a local history study
 * a historical study based on oral interviews
 * a historical investigation based on interpreting a novel, film or work of art
 * a historical investigation of cultural issues.

When choosing a topic for the IA, your research question should not be too broad nor too narrow. The title of your IA should be phrased as a question. Your topic should be approved by your teacher prior to doing the research.

Choose a topic where there is some historical debate & opinion, otherwise you might struggle to score highly in Section D (Analysis of evidence)

Sources:
You must have a broad range of sources, primary and secondary, preferably from a range of perspectives. Always make sure that you are able to access enough sources on your topic first. Gather information for both sides of the debate. Sometimes it can be good to work backwards: start with a really good source and build your question up from there. Aim for a minimum of 6 - 8 sources. Avoid reliance on internet sites that do not show the author, or are not referenced (often weak unsubstantiated historical writing that limit your ability to analyse properly). You will need to select TWO sources to analyse using OPVL in Section C. These sources need to be highly significant in the answering of your question. You will need to be able to justify as to why these sources are significant.

Choose a subject that interests you. Become an expert in that content area and historiography.

It's only 2000 words, but it takes time to do this properly.

Please work your way through //each// section on this website and again: f o l l o w _ t h e _ i n s t r u c t i o n s If anything is unclear, ask your teacher.

** Sample IAs online: **
Nine sample IAs online, including marks and comments by moderators. Mr Hyer's website: How significant was Fidel Castro’s role in the Missile Crisis of 1962? Sample IAs on "IB survival"

About this site:
This wiki was created by @vanweringh and a group of international IB History teachers. (September 2013, updated July 2014)