Greetings children,
I hope you are up for thinking about the power of metaphorical language, which we know is ubiquitous. For Lakoff and Johnson’s original article, “Language, Thought, and Culture,” you can find the link on this web page under the “Language Links” to the right.
Where else do we see examples of metaphorical language in our studies of science, math, history, art, social sciences, and literature? How do we create our reality with these expressions?
Kind Regards,
Papa Coey
Dear students,
First, I commend you for being open-minded, asking important questions, and for challenging your assumptions about what is known. ToK is a challenging, yet rewarding course, which allows us to think critically and develop greater confidence when we make claims about what is known.
Second, I would like for each of you to subscribe to this web site using the subscribe option at the top of the page.
Last, I invite you to peruse the resources available here and consider making suggestions to enhance this web site so that it is as much yours as it is mine.
Your assignment will be published as soon as everyone subscribes to this web site!
Kind Regards,
Coey
Knowledge issues are:
• open-ended questions that admit more than one possible answer
• explicitly about knowledge in itself and not subject-specific claims
• couched in terms of TOK vocabulary and concepts: the areas of knowledge, the ways of knowing and the concepts in the linking questions—belief, certainty, culture, evidence, experience, explanation, interpretation, intuition, justification, truth, values
• precise in terms of the relationships between these concepts
Assignent 1: Review the above information, and in your own words explain the concept of “knowledge issue.” It’s tough, but embrace this challenge! (Due today!)
Knowledge issue examples:
Assignment 2: Visit one of the “reliable” sources of knowledge you or your classmates identified, and look for a real-life situation containing a “knowledge issue.” What is the real situation? And, most importantly, what open-ended question needs to be asked? (Due Tuesday at 11:59pm)
Assignment 3: Reply to two classmates posts by asking additional questions, using the language of ToK and “knowledge issues.” (Due Thursday evening for our Friday review)
Post comments and replies to this post.
Gracias!
Coey
Happy New Year Class of 2012!
I hope you are well and enjoying this luxurious holiday from school. You must be getting a little bit bored by now, so I thought I would take this opportunity to remind you that your final ToK essays are due fairly soon–I think in February.
For those of you who are registered as diploma candidates, I would ask you to look over your ToK essay again, especially looking at the conclusion you wrote, and consider making changes. Theory of Knowledge, after all, is meant to be reviewed over your two year IB diploma program experience.
Have you encountered new life experiences or ideas which relate to your ToK topic?
Are there subjects you have studied which would make useful examples to draw upon?
If you make ANY changes, you will need to verify that these are your original ideas and not ideas plagiarized from the internet. If you can not verify the changes as original, then I can’t sign off on your essay, and you won’t earn the IB diploma. It’s best to write about personal examples that way no plagiarism is possible.
Examiners mark essays against the title as set. Respond to the title exactly as given; do not alter it in any way.
Your essay must be between 1200 and 1600 words in length.
1.
Knowledge is generated through the interaction of critical and creative thinking. Evaluate this statement in two areas of knowledge.
2.
Compare and contrast knowledge which can be expressed in words/symbols with knowledge that cannot be expressed in this way. Consider CAS and one or more areas of knowledge.
3.
Using history and at least one other area of knowledge, examine the claim that it is possible to attain knowledge despite problems of bias and selection.
4.
When should we discard explanations that are intuitively appealing?
5.
What is it about theories in the human sciences and natural sciences that makes them convincing?
6.
‘It is more important to discover new ways of thinking about what is already known than to discover new data or facts’. To what extent would you agree with this claim?
7.
‘The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know’. Evaluate this claim with reference to different areas of knowledge.
8.
Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of using faith as a basis for knowledge in religion and in one area of knowledge from the ToK diagram.
9.
As an IB student, how has your learning of literature and science contributed to your understanding of individuals and societies?
10.
‘Through different methods of justification, we can reach conclusions in ethics that are as well-supported as those provided in mathematics.’ To what extent would you agree?
We can use mathematics successfully to model real-world processes. Is this because we create mathematics to mirror the world or because the world is intrinsically mathematical?
Using the links on the Mathematics sidebar, research Phi, the Fibonacci Series, and the Mandelbrot Set, and consider examples to include in your response. As is the case in most ToK prompts, the issue is not simple, so consider a variety of perspectives in your response.
In light of the questions above, is mathematics invented or discovered?
Perhaps you know about the term “greenwashing” but it is new for me. In honor of our recent Earth Day, I want to share this environmental slanted corporate marketing concept. It’s a great language issue similar to our study of euphemisms. So, what is greenwashing? What kind of critical thinking do we need to defend ourselves against greenwashing?
Check out this three minute video from “The Media Show” (you need sound and the first 30 seconds has only audio)
Also check out this “Greenwash of the Week.” It doesn’t strike me as great journalism, but what do you expect from a two-minute YouTube video? Anyways, it does make the concept of “greenwashing” much clearer “-)
Visit this BBC site and discover the human mind by indulging in these creative interactive teaching tools.
What sex is your brain? Total recoil? What kind of thinker are you? What is OCD?
Are these surveys scientific? Is there a way to verify the validity of the conclusions? Does it matter? How much about the our minds can we know through the process of self-examination?
Take this learning style quiz at Edutopia and answer these questions.
1. What is your learning style according to the quiz results?
2. Do you agree with the results? Why or why not?
3. What are the limitations of Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences?
4. What are the assumptions of this theory?
5. Comment on at least three of your classmates posts and be sure to include questions.