General Guidelines
The PYP Exhibition is an opportunity for you to put all of your learning into action! It is a special Unit of Inquiry where most of the decision making is handed over to you.
You will...
choose what you want to learn about
decide how to find out about your issues of interest
decide how to sort through the information and summarize what you have learned
choose how to present your findings using writing, the arts and/or technology.
decide how to TAKE ACTION.
Choose The Right Issue
Choose an issue or a problem which really interests you - the last thing you want is to be bored over the next few weeks!
The sorts of issues which other students have chosen for their Exhibition include animal rights, gender equality, child workers, poverty in the local area and different types of pollution. These are just a few ideas; there are endless possibilities.
Things to keep in mind when choosing your topic:
How available are the resources for my topic? Are my interests kid-friendly?
Are there places and people that I can connect with that are based in Hanoi? If your issue occurs here in Hanoi then that will make your life much easier when you come to find out about it.
Topics from the previous Exhibition:
Develop A Deep Understanding
This is a huge project so you are expected to acquire a deep understanding about your issue before you present your findings.
In order to get a really deep understanding you should look at your issue through several of these PYP concepts. Your teacher may advise you which ones to focus on however one expectation is to inquire into different people's perspectives about the issue.
FORM : What is (your issue) like?
FUNCTION: How does (your issue) work?
CHANGE: How is (your issue) changing? How has (your issue) changed?
CONNECTION : How is (your issue) connected to other things?
CAUSATION: What is the cause of (your issue)?
PERSPECTIVE: What are the different points of view about (your issue)?
RESPONSIBILITY: What is your responsibility about (your issue)? What are you going to do about it to make things better
Document The Learning Process
You will keep track of your learning each week by documenting your progress in your Process Journal. Each of you will be expected to write a summary of the work you did during the week that was done independently or collaboratively with your group members. You may include pictures that show you and your group working. You will be allotted one A4 size page each week that you can use to print pictures on. Documenting when you have used the skills during the Exhibition is also a required element needed in your Process Journal.
What About Academic Honesty?
What if we want to use images from the internet?
When performing research, we expect you to...
1. Use photos that you are free to use or share. You can do this by finding photos that are labeled for reuse in Google's Advanced Search. There are also photo-finding sites like CC Search where you can find reusable images that are licensed under Creative Commons. Try it!
2. Attribute your image. Give credit to the owner of the image by identifying the following:
name of the image
the owner of the image
the link to the website where you found the image.
Present Your Learning
This is what the IB says must be in your presentation:
It is a requirement that the exhibition is shared with members of the wider school community. There are many formats a sharing event could take, for example, an interactive display, a performance, a debate, or a combination of formats.
The exhibition should include the following.
- Examples of written work in a variety of formats and styles: poetry, reports, persuasive texts
- Oral presentations, individually or in groups, to the school community
- Uses of technology including ICT, working models, designs, science experiments
- Performances or compositions in any medium: dance, music, drama, visual arts, film, video, mixed media
At UNIS Hanoi if you study Vietnamese or French this language must be seen or heard during your final presentation. If you want to include another language you know, that is wonderful, but not a must. Your presentation must include English of course.
How does the IB describe the role of the student?
Students will:
- have an understanding of the purpose and requirements of the exhibition from the outset of the process (guidelines and planning instructions should be provided by the teacher or mentor)
- participate in selecting a real-life issue or problem for the exhibition
- develop the inquiry by helping to decide on a central idea, lines of inquiry and student questions
- collaboratively plan learning and assessment experiences; these should involve independent and collaborative work and students should be involved in all stages of the planning and staging of the exhibition
- carry out an open-ended inquiry into a real-life issue or problem
- demonstrate an understanding of the components of the PYP, in particular the IB learner profile; the students involved in the exhibition should be given an opportunity to demonstrate their learning and the development of the attributes of the IB learner profile
- demonstrate an understanding of the five essential elements—knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action
- select and utilize a variety of strategies and resources to meet the outcomes of the inquiry; wherever possible, students should use a variety of source materials, such as first-hand experiences, interviews, surveys, field visits, artifacts, science investigations, working models, not just book and/or Internet research be academically honest when referring their sources of information
- communicate effectively with teachers, peers and parents
- reflect on the components of and processes involved in the exhibition; they should keep a journal or portfolio of their planning, draft pieces of work, sketches and photographs of work in progress as well as the final product
- carry out self-assessment and peer assessment
- celebrate their learning by presenting the exhibition to the school community.
IB PYP Exhibition Guidelines (2008) pp. 2-3