THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE/THEORIE DE LA CONNAISSANCE (TOK)

 

 

Check out the print resources in the Penturn Library by searching our OPAC. Then, consult our online databases. For additional information, try the links below. *New links are regularly added to this site, so check back often. The teaching and learning resources listed below have been selected for staff and student use.

 

The TOK Guide

 

• Theory of Knowledge (TOK): Guide /Théorie de la connaissance: Guide pédagogique: from IBO - includes a brief guide to the Nature of the Subject, Aims and Objectives, Diagrams, TOK Questions and Assessment.

 

Prescribed Essay Titles for 2007 to May 2008

 

• Prescribed Essay Titles for November, 2007 and May, 2008
• Sujets imposés – Sessions de novembre 2007 et mai 2008

 

The TOK Essay

 

• Theory of Knowledge Essay: how to write a really great TOK essay : excellent pages by Eileen Dombrowski at Pearson College, BC, Canada. Eileen Dombrowski is an examiner of Theory of Knowledge for the International Baccalaureate Organisation and author of Theory of Knowledge - a Students Handbook. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Essay advice first printed in Forum 44, November 2000, pages 3-5. Six Steps to Writing a Good TOK Essay: A Student Guide.
• Ten Tips on writing a good Theory of Knowledge Essay (1) by Nicholas Alchin
• Ten Tips on writing a good Theory of Knowledge Essay (2): by Ric Simms, who is a Chief Examiner of Theory of Knowledge for the International Baccalaureate Organization. The above advice was originally published at a TOK Conference in Munich, 2006.

 

The TOK Presentation

 

• Ten Tips on Theory of Knowledge Presentations : by Nicholas Alchin; Nicholas Alchin is the Chief Assessor of Theory of Knowledge for the International Baccalaureate Organisation and author of Theory of Knowledge - Student's Book. London:Hodder Murray,2003. The above advice was originally published at a TOK Conference in Madrid, 2003.

 

Print Resources

A selection of books held in our collection.

 

Ways of Knowing 

In this 24 page pdf document analyzing the Problems of Knowledge and linking questions, Amy Scott illuminates the discussion with her insightful commentary.

 

 

Primary knowledge tools

 

Emotion

 

• Emotional Intelligence:From Daniel Goleman's Blog (find this and "Social Intelligence" by D.Goleman on shelf in Penturn Library)
• Theories about emotion  from ChangingMinds.org

 

Reason  (See About.com for further information about reason, critical thinking and skepticism.)

 

 

• Ancient Greek Persuasion Tactics (from the Wayback Machine)
• "Fallacies" at The Nizkor Project - a long list of fallacies in arguments
• Rhetoric Online (Aristotle) (academic)
• Logic, Argument and Persuasion by Professor Barry Eckhouse (academic)
• The Fallacy Files : by Gary Curtis one of the best on logic
• Practical Reason  : From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy  
• Skepticism on the Web 
• The Skeptic's Dictionary
• Critical Thinking on the Web : From Austhink - a list of highly reputable online sources.

 

Perception  "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes" - Marcel Proust

 

• Grand Illusions
• Illusion and Paradoxes: Seeing is Believing a collection of Perception Puzzles, Visual perception, Optical Illusions and Paradoxes by Antonio Zamora. The site Scientific Psychic contains lots of unscientific information for fun and education.
• Project Lite - atlas of visual phenomena: from Boston University.
• Optical Illusions:Akiyoshi KITAOKA, Professor, Department of Psychology, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan. 
• Optical Illusions and Visual Phenomena by Michael Bach Frieberg University, Germany 
• Visual Perception from York University's Peter Kaiser is a professor emeritus of Psychology - the site also contains an excellent print bibliography.
• Visual Perception Notes : by Daniel Chandler (a wonderfully erudite explanation of the meanings of PERCEPTION)

• Visual Cognition Lab : from the University of Illinois

   

Language

 

• Endangered Languages from UNESCO
• Language and Culture: human communication by Dr. Dennis O'Neill
• Non-Verbal Communication : from the University of California (video resources)
• Online resources for endangered languages (OREL)
• Body Language from Changingminds.org  also Understanding body language
• Speech and Language Resources

 

Areas of Knowledge

 

• Natural Science: from Amy Scott's excellent & comprehensive TOK resource site - great online links to science articles, books, and audio interviews.
• Human Science: from Amy Scott's excellent TOK resource site. "Human sciences are concerned with human society and the institutions, relationships, and ideas involved in social life. Fields include anthropology, sociology, political science, economics, history, law, psychology, criminology, and social psychology."
• History : from Amy Scott's exceollent TOK resource site. What is the past? from R. Abel "Man is the Measure" (find book on shelf in Penturn Library).
• The Arts: from Amy Scott's excellent TOK resource site. Visual Arts
• Ethics: from Amy Scott's excellent TOK resource site. "Ethics or "Know thyself" - How should we live? What is right behavior? Does an ethical life bring personal happiness? Ethics Overview: Definitions: Ethics (from Greek ethikos) is one of four branches of philosophy, the others being metaphysics (What is the nature of existence and being?), epistemology (what can we know and how do we know it?) and finally logic. The study of ethics is undertaken in an attempt to clarify values, to define, that which is right from that which is wrong, and to guide us in how we should behave. What is the difference between ethics (what is) and morality (what ought to be)?"
• Maths Page: from Amy Scott's excellent TOK resource site. Mathematics as Art: A collection of websites from University of Haifa demonstrating mathematics as art. See also: Mathematics as Language:Cut the Knot site which offers many perspectives on mathematics as a language.

 

  

GENERAL REFERENCES

 

 

 

• TED: Ideas Worth Spreading 
• PhilosophyOnline - by Gareth Southwell (TOK teacher) - clear explanations and definitions of key concepts.
• Pathways to Philosophy : From the University of Sheffied's Department of Philosophy - an excellent distance-learning site. Resources include e-books for downloading.
• Episteme Links: Philosophy resources on the Internet : Includes over 16,000 categorized links to philosophy resources on the Internet and has several additional features.
• The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy : The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a non-profit organization run by the editors. Articles in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy are currently from three sources (1) original contributions by specialized philosophers around the internet, (2) adaptations of material written by the editors for classroom purposes, and (3) adaptations from public domain sources (typically from two or more sources for per article).
• Philosophy Sites on the Internet : Official site of the Philosophy Department of Tel-Aviv University – a comprehensive and highly recommended site; systematically organized into 13 discrete sections.
• Philosophy Pages : This site offers helpful information for students of the Western philosophical tradition. Elements on this site include: The Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names; A survey of the History of Western Philosophy. Detailed discussion of several major Philosophers; Summary treatment of the elementary principles of Logic ; Links to other philosophy Sites on the Internet.
• The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy : The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a dynamic reference work and is a publishing project of the Metaphysics Research Lab at the Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI) at Stanford University. The concept of a dynamic reference work was implemented in the design of the Encyclopedia by Edward N. Zalta (Director of the Metaphysics Research Lab).

 

  

SPECIAL REFERENCES

 

• The World Question Centre: From the Edge. "The mandate of Edge Foundation is to promote inquiry into and discussion of intellectual, philosophical, artistic, and literary issues, as well as to work for the intellectual and social achievement of society."
• The Human Mind :from the BBC Science & Nature - Learn about psychology and get inside the human mind.
• Critical Thinking : From the "Inthinking Site" which includes language, perception, ethics and other ways of knowing connected with the IB TOK syllabus. Thhe critical thinking section is maintained by Richard van de Lagemaat.
• Ethics Updates : "An amazing resource for anyone teaching or studying ethics. Lots of case studies, practical examples, forums, videos of talks, and links to online papers covering all aspects of ethics both pure and applied;" from the University of San Diego.
• The Structure of Ethical Dilemmas : from the work of Dr.Kelley Ross, 2005.
• Philosophy Documents : From the Royal Grammar School, UK - Topics include: Arguments for God's existence; Main moral theories; Relativism; The problem of induction; Logical Positivism and much much more.
• Internet History of Science Sourcebook : by Paul Halsall, Fordham University, USA - a subset of History Sourcebooks, 2006. Highly Recommended.
• Project Lite : Atlas of Visual Phenomena - Light enquiry - perception.
• Bogus or Hoax Internet Sites(TOK)
• Urban Legends Reference Pages

 

  

ONLINE JOURNALS

 

• The Philosophers Magazine Online
• The Skeptic
• Think
• Edge The Edge Foundation, Inc., was established in 1988 as an outgrowth of a group known as The Reality Club. Its informal membership includes of some of the most interesting minds in the world. The mandate of Edge Foundation is to promote inquiry into and discussion of intellectual, philosophical, artistic, and literary issues, as well as to work for the intellectual and social achievement of society.