TOK Exhibition Guide

Ensure this is completed and checked by your teacher before beginning to write your
exhibition. This will save you a lot of time.

The Task:
“Students are required to create an exhibition of three objects that connect to one of the 35 “IA
prompts” provided. Students must select just one IA prompt on which to base their exhibition,
and all three objects must be linked to the same IA prompt. Students are required to create an
exhibition comprising three objects, or images of objects, and an accompanying written
commentary on each object.”

What is an exhibition?
An exhibition is not an essay.
An exhibition is not an essay. Your goal for this task is not to answer the question.
It is to make connections between TOK and the real world.
In simple terms, interpret the prompt in three different ways, and use an object to demonstrate
each different interpretation of the prompt.

Objects that demonstrate these aspects:

1. Lucy, evidence for evolution that is not accepted by many people.
2. Texas School Book Depository, the building from which most historians believe
President Kennedy was shot.
3. My childhood house where I saw a ghost

Assessment Criteria:

 Does the exhibition successfully show how TOK manifests in the world around us?
 The exhibition clearly identifies three objects and their specific real-world contexts.
Links between each of the three objects and the selected prompt are clearly made and
well-explained.
 There is a strong justification of the particular contribution that each individual object
makes to the exhibition. All, or nearly all, of the points are well-supported by
appropriate evidence and explicit references to the selected prompt.
STEP 1: Choose a prompt. The chosen IA prompt must be used exactly as given; it must not be
altered in any way.

1. What counts as knowledge?

2. Are some types of knowledge more useful than others?
3. What features of knowledge have an impact on its reliability?
4. On what grounds might we doubt a claim?
5. What counts as good evidence for a claim?
6. How does the way that we organize or classify knowledge affect what we know?
7. What are the implications of having, or not having, knowledge?
8. To what extent is certainty attainable?
9. Are some types of knowledge less open to interpretation than others?
10. What challenges are raised by the dissemination and/or communication of knowledge?
11. Can new knowledge change established values or beliefs?
12. Is bias inevitable in the production of knowledge?
13. How can we know that current knowledge is an improvement upon past knowledge?
14. Does some knowledge belong only to particular communities of knowers?
15. What constraints are there on the pursuit of knowledge?
16. Should some knowledge not be sought on ethical grounds?
17. Why do we seek knowledge?
18. Are some things unknowable?
19. What counts as a good justification for a claim?
20. What is the relationship between personal experience and knowledge?
21. What is the relationship between knowledge and culture?
22. What role do experts play in influencing our consumption or acquisition of knowledge?
23. How important are material tools in the production or acquisition of knowledge?
24. How might the context in which knowledge is presented influence whether it is accepted or
rejected?
25. How can we distinguish between knowledge, belief and opinion?
26. Does our knowledge depend on our interactions with other knowers?
27. Does all knowledge impose ethical obligations on those who know it?
28. To what extent is objectivity possible in the production or acquisition of knowledge?
29. Who owns knowledge?
30. What role does imagination play in producing knowledge about the world?
31. How can we judge when evidence is adequate?
32. What makes a good explanation?
33. How is current knowledge shaped by its historical development?
34. In what ways do our values affect our acquisition of knowledge?
35. In what ways do values affect the production of knowledge?
STEP 2: Give 3 different interpretations or aspects of the prompts.

 What different definitions could there be for the key terms?

 Why is this question important?
 What knowledge is at stake?
 What different responses could there be to this question?
 What examples can I think of?

Example (for a prompt that I made up):

Prompt: Can other people know us better than we know ourselves? (Again, I made this
prompt up. Do not use it!)

Thought process:

1. What different ways can you ‘know’ a person? Know their personality, know their biology,
know their psychology, know their history, know their strengths and weaknesses etc…
2. Why does this matter? We interact with ourselves and other people every day. To want
extent do I act on autopilot? How does this affect how we judge each other and ourselves? How
does this knowledge affect a person’s responsibility and ethical decision etc…
3. What knowledge is at stake? Personal experiences, medical knowledge, law and ethics,
business etc…

Different interpretations / aspects of the prompt:

1. We may have subconscious tendencies that we are unaware of. For example,
psychologists can know more about my tendencies than I do.
2. Nobody can be more aware of my personal experiences than I am. For example,
when I was 12 I accidently burnt down the garden shed. Nobody else knows this
about me (true story)
3. Other people can apply their own knowledge to situations that I haven’t
experienced. This gives them a better understanding of the situation that I am in
than I do. Parents know more about what is best for their children than the children
the:mselves.
STEP 3: For each aspect of the prompt, think of an object that demonstrates this aspect.
Specific real-world context – Not generic
Each contribute something different – What knowledge is at stake ?

Prompt Number and Title: Can other people know us better than we know ourselves?
Aspect of Object 1 Object 2 Object 3
Prompt
We have
subconscious
tendencies
that we may
not be aware Knowledge at stake
of (KAS): Knowledge about
a person’s likelihood to
obey orders.

CONTEXT: The Milgram

experience
demonstrated that many
people, contrary to the
way they see
themselves, are capable
of electrocuting
someone to death

LINK TO PROMPT:
Psychologists know how
our minds work better
than we do
Nobody can be
more aware of
my personal
experiences
than I am.

KAS: Knowledge that I

burnt down a shed
(accidently!) when I
 was 12.

CONTEXT: Nobody
knows that I burnt
down this shed.
Likewise, I have many
other dark secrets…

LINK: Someone else

cannot claim to know
me better than I know
myself, as there are
things about me that
only I know
If someone
has
experienced
an event
previously,
they may have
a better
understanding KAS: Knowledge that
of my situation certain unpleasant
than I do things are beneficial.

CONTEXT: This Infant

Panadol that my
daughter hates the
taste of but that I
force her to take
when she is ill
because I know what
is best for her.

LINK: I have
experienced the flu
more times than my
daughter, therefore I
know her situation
better than she does
and I give advice
accordingly.
OVER TO YOU:
Chosen Prompt:

Breaking it down:

 What different definitions could there be for the key terms?

 Why is this question important?
 What knowledge is at stake?
 What different responses could there be to this question?
 What examples can I think of?

Prompt Number and Title:

Aspect of Prompt Object 1 Object 2 Object 3