IB History IA Tips
In this round of BartyED IB tips, Senior Tutor Edward Ashdown is going to take us through some of the common pitfalls and opportunities for candidates crafting their IB History IA.
The History IA is an opportunity for IB students to really show off their history skills, but like many humanities IAs, many students struggle with the depth of source analysis required to achieve top marks. Indeed, the multifaceted analysis of a specific historical event poses a unique challenge that IB students often miss.
Take a look at this sample History IA paragraph analysing Helena K. Rene’s 2013 title, China’s Sent-Down Generation as a source. Note that this is just one section of a comprehensive IA analysis.
Rene writes in 2013, which means that she can use a lot of sources from all over the world. But it’s also not so good as she is writing from a biased institution, the Washington Institute of China Studies. As a source, her book is also less valuable as it doesn't directly address the motivations behind the Send-Down movement. Also, it is limited by the small sample size. However, it’s detailed, and gives us insight into the administration at the time.
How this response could be improved:
The examiner is looking for clarity, wanting the value and limitations of the origin, purpose and content. Though some of those are present, they are not clearly signposted.
The paragraph lacks detailed contextual information to substantiate its claims.
The argument does not connect the source to the rest of the IA or its relevance to the question.
Now, let’s look at an improved version of this analysis:
A value of the first source’s origin is that, published in 2013, Rene benefits from hindsight and analyzes a range of sources outside of the American academic sphere. However, a limitation of the source’s origin is that Rene is on the board of directors for the Washington Institute of China Studies, created by Congress, under an American University. Rene thus works for an institution that may be biased against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Rene’s book’s purpose is to examine how the Send-Down movement interacted with the Cultural Revolution and Mao’s objectives. This is valuable as it gives an overview of the movement, its historical context, and how the movement was executed. However, the purpose is limited by not explicitly studying the motivations behind the campaign. The source’s content is valuable as Rene offers a detailed perspective on both “the general and technical aspects of public administration,” which reveals how it was carried out. However, the content is limited as it is largely based on a small sample size of 54 former sent-downs and others who were affected by the movement. Since 54 people do not represent the nearly 17 million individuals who were sent down, the validity of the content is limited.
How this response is an improvement:
The analysis follows a clearly signposted structure that addresses all the values and limitations that the examiner is looking for.
The argument is detailed, using appropriate contextual information to substantiate its points.
The student uses a broad range of evaluative language and analytically frames the source analysis for later use in the IA.
All IAs are a long and detailed analysis that poses many challenges to students, and the History IA is no different. Source analysis is one of the keys to an effective IA, and clearly signposting your response is a surefire way to get the marks you need to succeed. BartyED IB History tutors are all experienced IA tutors who cut through the IA noise and deliver results. If you’re interested in getting more tips and tricks for your History IA or individualised IB History tutoring in general, feel free to contact us today to find out more.