This is taken from the last page of the Internal Assessment booklet. I know that if you're not careful some of you will never get that far, so I thought I'd bring it to your attention here...
Advice for Students
The following may be valuable advice when preparing work for the commentaries.
• The portfolio is worth 20% of your final mark at higher level and 25% at standard level. A good
portfolio can improve your overall grade.
• Find a suitable current article. Short articles, concerned with real economic matters, are
recommended.
• Read the article carefully and highlight or underline relevant parts.
• Define relevant terms but note that there is no need to repeat terms you have already defined in
earlier commentaries.
• Apply relevant theory—link theory to your particular extract.
• Do not simply paraphrase or summarize the article (this is a common fault).
• The use of diagrams is highly recommended. Whenever possible, use a diagram to illustrate
theory. Make sure you fully label all diagrams from the text. (If you are drawing a supply and
demand diagram for the oil market, do not simply put Price [or even P] on the y axis—give the
full information—price of oil $ per barrel). If there are figures in the extract, include them in the
commentary. If you are using diagrams from the Internet, adapt them to apply to your
commentary.
• Highlight any fallacies in arguments and try to reach a balanced conclusion.
• Try to use a common style of presentation for each of your commentaries—a common font,
size of print, style of heading. Although it is not a requirement, you are strongly recommended
to type your work.
• Use the IB Diploma Programme economics internal assessment criteria to guide your work.
• Remember that across your complete portfolio you must refer to at least three sections of the
syllabus.
Note that any interim assessment is not your final assessment. The final mark is based on your
whole portfolio. The mark is confidential. It is subject to moderation (outside examination) by the
IBO, and your teacher is not permitted to give you this information.
