IA Overview

Purpose of internal assessment

Internal assessment is an integral part of the course and is compulsory for both SL and HL students. It enables students to demonstrate the application of their skills and knowledge, and to pursue their personal interests, without the time limitations and other constraints that are associated with written examinations. The internal assessment should, as far as possible, be woven into normal classroom teaching and not be a separate activity conducted after a course has been taught.

The internal assessment requirements at SL and at HL are the same.

Time allocation

Internal assessment is an integral part of the design technology course, contributing 40% to the final assessment in the standard level (SL) course and 30% to the final assessment in the higher level (HL) course. This weighting should be reflected in the time that is allocated to teaching the knowledge, skills and understanding required to undertake the work, as well as the total time allocated to carry out the work. It is recommended that 50 hours of teaching time should be allocated to the work. This should include:

• time for the teacher to explain to students the requirements of the internal assessment

• class time for students to work on the internal assessment component and ask questions

• time for consultation between the teacher and each student

• time to review and monitor progress, and to check authenticity

The design project

The internal assessment requirement for design technology is the same for SL and HL. It is worth 40% of the final assessment for SL and 30% of the final assessment for HL, and consists of one task—the design project.

The design project is an open-ended task in which a student must identify, analyse, evaluate and redesign an existing product to meet the needs of an intended user(s). As part of the project, students need to develop a physical fidelity model for testing and evaluation purposes.

To complete the design project, students must employ the design thinking process, an iterative, non-linear problem-solving approach that places a strong emphasis on empathy, collaboration and iterative prototyping to address user problems (see image below, which shows the design thinking process). This method encourages students to revisit and repeat stages as needed, fostering flexibility and responsiveness to new insights or changes in project requirements. The iterative nature of the process enables continual refinement and improvement of the intended solution. Subject-specific vocabulary is crucial to provide clarity and accuracy to the students’ written material and its use is rewarded across all of the assessment criteria.

Technical requirements

Students must ensure the internal assessment complies with the following before it is submitted:

• The internal assessment should comprise a maximum of 35 A4 pages and no more than 3,500 words (excluding annotations).

• A front cover, contents pages and appendices are not required. Examiners will not read them or consider any information contained within them.

• A4 portrait layout must be used throughout the design project with exception of the detailed dimension drawings in criterion D.

• All text should be equivalent to Arial font size 11 pt and headings equivalent to Arial font size 14 pt.

• Each annotation must not be more than 10 words. Informative annotations state schematical details only and do not describe a process or methodology of making the product. Annotations that are longer than 10 words will be considered as descriptive and therefore part of the word count.

• Annotations must be legible, preferably typed. Handwritten annotations must be clear and equivalent to Arial font size 11 pt. They should feature alongside the developmental drawings or sketches to aid the communication of ideas in support of sketches and drawings of modelling development. To ensure clarity when scanned, black ink is strongly recommended.

• References can be any style (Harvard, APA etc.) but must be consistent. You should cite figures and tables so you can reference them in your IA, but there is no need to provide a List of Tables or List of Figures at the end. You should include a reference list and/or bibliography on the last page of your IA to list any secondary sources used.

• Put a header detailing the Criteria and section heading at the top of each page, plus a page number at the bottom, and ensure the page number is consistent with the actual pages in the IA (start the page count at page 1 and follow).

The design project offers ample opportunities to explore a diverse array of products using the different paradigms within the scope of design technology. Design thinking approaches are applied to a usercentred perspective in the development of a product from various domains, such as product design, fashion design or textiles, electronic product design, and others. By adopting a user-centred approach, students can place the needs, preferences and experiences of the end-users at the forefront of their design project.

The design project should demonstrate a level of complexity that aligns with the expectations of a Diploma Programme (DP) course.

It is important to note that the selected product being redesigned should correspond to the complexity and appropriateness of the project. I.e. it is unlikely for a student to achieve higher bands on the assessment criteria by attempting to redesign a simple problem with an overly complex solution.