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Triple A Learning IB Blogs

April 16, 2012

The HL IA: Narrowing down a fieldwork question

As with most research projects, the most challenging part of the fieldwork project is narrowing down the question. I always make sure to dedicate class time and also set aside one on one time with each of my students to help ensure that they are off to a good start with their field research focus. If they are successful, not only will they automatically gain the maximum points on criterion A, but they will also have a more enjoyable and successful experience. While the list of potential considerations is vast, here are five things students and teachers should keep in mind when narrowing down a research question….

1. What issues and contexts interests the student?
The greater the interest level, the greater the motivation.

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July 21, 2011

Inspiration for field notes…getting ready for IAs

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One of the strengths of the IB anthropology course is that it gives both SL and HL students an opportunity to experience hands-on research. For SL students, this comes in the form of an observation and critique assignment and, for HL, a fuller fieldwork project. In both cases, taking field notes is core to the assignment.

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June 17, 2010

Introducing fieldwork video

Filed under: Social and cultural anthropology — Tags: , , , — Laura Fulton @ 3:59 am

I just discovered this 8-minute video that acts as a nice introduction to fieldwork. It features 3 MIT professors who describe how and why they do fieldwork. The research contexts represent a nice diversity – a a Haitian social service agency, US cheese makers and marine biologists. Check it out.

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May 20, 2010

Facebook, sociologists and virtual research

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The number of social researchers focusing on Facebook and other social media tools seems to grow exponentially every day. Included in this is Facebook’s own in-house data research team, headed up by sociologist Cameron Marlow. This group has studied everything from ‘diversity’ on Facebook to Gross National Happiness.

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March 24, 2010

Bi-Polar perception in LEDC settlements

Filed under: Geography — Tags: — Trevor Cole @ 6:43 am
Bi-Polar perception – Settlements in LEDC’s
Positive evaluation +2 +1 0 -1 -2 Negative Evaluation
Building layout and design Varied and Interesting Poor and unimaginative

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Using Amflow – software to assess downstream change in a river’s course

Filed under: Geography — Tags: — Trevor Cole @ 6:39 am

AmFlow

River Studies Made Easy…

AmFlow is a program for recording, analysing and charting fieldwork results for fluvial (river) geomorphology. It is ideally suited for use in the IB Freshwater unit.

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March 21, 2010

Getting ready for fieldwork?

Filed under: Social and cultural anthropology — Tags: , , , , — Laura Fulton @ 7:48 pm

For those higher-level teachers seeking to enhance their repertoire of resources for fieldwork research, Paul Kutsche has a nice little book available. It is a rarity in that it focuses on field research at the undergraduate, or introductory, level rather than the usual graduate level emphasis.

Field ethnography provides guidance on how to approach field research with young students and also includes many sample papers. While these need to be modified to fit with the IB HL assignment, they are nonetheless useful examples for beginner field research.

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