Internal Assessment in Economics The Rubric “What your IB audience wants to hear”

The IA is a test of your critical thinking skills Economists are social scientists first and always in this course Economists use economic theory (concepts, models and theory) to understand complex events in the economy Complexity defies proof so the best economists can do is make judgments based on analysis and evaluation of the best possible evidence; economists must recognize the limitations of the theories they use The IA is testing your skill at applying and evaluating economic concepts, models and theory

What does your audience want? AO1 AO2 AO3 AO4 Let’s examine what this mean s

What does AO1 mean? Scientists know that concepts have no meaning until they are defined and explained. Consequently, in your commentary (essay) you must use terminology correctly. Further, because words are limited and you want to show your skill at applying many economic concepts, TERMS and DEFINITIONS SHOULD BE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NEWS ARTICLE. (i.e. no “textbook definitions” please!) Example: “The market for cigarettes is thought to fail when it provides more cigarettes (a demerit good) than the amount deemed optimal by UAE society; when third party health care costs from smoking are considered, UAE society wants fewer cigarettes.”

What is AO2? You assume the reader doesn’t understand the economic concepts and you explain the to them (AO1)! But you MUST do this in context to APPLY the concept. In your commentary you explain how concepts work in the CONTEXT of the NEWS ARTICLE. You use words like increase, decrease, rise and fall to show how it works. Example: Did you FULLY explain the theory behind why the supply curve for cigarettes moved after the application of a tax? Did you say that less could be supplied at every price ceteris paribus (or did you simply say the curve moved to the left)? Did you use the CORRECT terminology in your explanation (or did you confuse demand with quantity demanded)?

What is AO3? In your commentary did you compare two concepts such as a tax reduction or subsidy as a way to encourage production (more output is better)? Did you “drill down” into the concept of Demand using PED? Did you “explode” demand into its determinants to compare the strength of the factors? Did you compare something against an established criteria such as more is better, or a Pareto Optimum, or efficient resource allocation? Evaluation implies “weighing” positives against negatives, pros versus cons, and so on. Circle + dots = Face; not realistic but combined with a curve it can represent emotions

What is AO4? Are your diagrams neatly labeled and big enough to see? Do you explain the diagram in a consistent and scientific way using A C R E ? If you are evaluating concepts, do you use the results of your diagrammatic analysis to make a decision, e.g. “winners and losers” from incidence of a tax?

Putting it all together… Criterion and AO A: AO2, AO4 B: AO1 C: AO2 D: AO2 E:AO3 F: AO4

Criterion A: Diagrams The diagrams are large, ½ page, and are accompanied by text that explains the diagram. You should full explain at least one key diagram using ACRE. One diagram is sufficient but by all means use more if you can. If only one diagram is used it MUST be fully explained (and awesome). Diagrams support Criterion D in the analysis of the economic event. Don’t “hold back” on diagrams but at least one diagram needs to be fully explained.

Criterion B: Terminology L 1 – “Relevant” means the terminology is reasonably used and correct. L2 – “Appropriately throughout” means there is a progression or increase in the scope of terminology. This is usually because the news article permits a greater range of terminology. Consistently confusing terms such as demand and quantity demanded would be L0. A commentary that talks only about basic demand and supply would be L1. A commentary that adds discussion of PED, PES, Taxation, etc. would be L2.

Criterion C: Application L1 – economic concepts are applied to the news article, e.g. the effect of a tax on cigarettes is shown as a leftward shift. The application offers limited support to the task of evaluation. L2 – economic concepts are applied that build on each other, ideally resulting in the possibility of synergy, e.g. the role of PED on the success of a tax on cigarettes to reduce consumption, leads to a discussion of the incidence of a tax (HL) or its effects of stakeholders (HL and SL). This application provides information that helps evaluate the tax. L2 can also be achieved by applying a range of concepts to the news event. Your goal is that the concepts support evaluation (D) but you can also achieve L2 by using a range of concepts.

Criterion D: Analysis L3 – effective analysis (explanation) supports synergy (makes it possible to combine different concepts) to reveal an insight (something new), e.g. the analysis of the PED of tobacco shows that a tobacco tax may not reduce the quantity demanded, while education of consumers to health benefits of not smoking might have better results. This supports the judgment (E) that education is a better approach. HL students will find that using HL concepts can turn L2 into L3 because the additional depth can support evaluation.

Criterion E: Evaluation This is the tip of the iceberg with Criterion A, C and D supporting this task. (Weak effort on A, C or D makes it difficult to achieve L3 and L4 on Criterion E.) Here, the reader is looking for you to show your skill at weighing the ideas in the commentary and is going to measure how well you do this job. L4 – you take the ideas from your analysis and weigh them, looking at pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, plus and minus (dichotomous analysis) and then make a judgment or decision.

Criterion F: Portfolio requirements must all be met for 3 marks

Internal Due Dates IB1s In principle, the final draft is due two weeks after I give you feedback on the rough draft. Rough draft due dates: – Micro section – after December BREAK 2012 – Macro section – after BIG BREAK (September 2013) – International section – December Break 2013 – If doing a development section you can talk with me to arrange a time but the COMPLETE PORTFOLIO OF THREE, (AS IN ONE TWO THREE) ESSAYS IS DUE IN FEBRUARY