DIPLOMA PROGRAMME – ECONOMICS HL/SL

ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES -
 1. Knowledge and understanding (AO1) • Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of specified content •
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the common SL/HL syllabus • Demonstrate knowledge and
understanding of current economic issues and data • At HL only: demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the
extension topics
 2. Application and analysis (AO2) • Apply economic concepts and theories to real-world situations • Identify and
interpret economic data • Analyze how economic information is used effectively in particular contexts • In the internal
assessment task: explain the link between key economic concepts and economic commentaries • At HL only:
demonstrate application and analysis of the extension topics
 3. Synthesis and evaluation (AO3) • Examine economic concepts and theories • Use economic concepts and examples
to construct and present an argument • Discuss and evaluate economic information and theories • At HL only:
demonstrate economic synthesis and evaluation of the extension topics select and use economic data using economic
theory to make policy recommendations.
 4. Use and application of appropriate skills (AO4) • Produce well-structured written material, using appropriate
economic theory, concepts and terminology • Produce and use diagrams to help explain economic theory, concepts and
real-world issues • Select, interpret and analyze appropriate extracts from the news media • Interpret appropriate data
sets • Use quantitative techniques to identify, explain and analyze economic relationships
Assessment objectives in practice Command terms are classified according to
the AO levels.
ECONOMICS AND THE EXTENDED ESSAY

An extended essay (EE) in economics provides students with an opportunity to undertake in-depth research in an area
related to the subject. Throughout the process, students will develop their research skills by selecting and using
relevant sources. Students should select and apply relevant economic theories to develop an argument in response to a
clearly defined research question based on an economics topic. The essay topic may relate to an area of the DP
economics course, but this is not a requirement and other areas of the wider subject may be explored. Students should
take a recent economic issue, policy or event, and then gather data and apply economic theories, models and tools to
evaluate it. The economic issue, policy or event must have taken place up to five years prior to the beginning of the
research process. Appropriate resources for an EE in economics could include both primary and secondary data,
obtained from economics textbooks, general economics books, newspapers and magazines, government publications,
databanks, interviews, or surveys. An EE in economics is not an extension of the internal assessment task for the
subject. Students must ensure that they understand the clear distinction between the internal assessment and the EE.
ECONOMICS AND CREATIVITY, ACTIVITY, SERVICE

The economics course highlights many economic issues that have local, national and global manifestations. Students
develop awareness of these issues, and by investigating their own examples of such issues as part of the course, they
deepen their understanding. Through CAS, students can further extend their awareness and take valuable steps in
working towards alleviating economic problems through their own actions and through motivating others to take action.
Economics students might choose to engage with CAS in the following ways.
• Plan, participate and implement an activity to help raise awareness in the community about any number of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including: poverty, reduced inequalities, decent work and economic growth,
innovation and infrastructure, responsible consumption and production.
• Establish a group within the school to promote one of the official “global days”, for example: International Women’s
Day to highlight and promote the importance of gender equity in employment (8 March) World No Tobacco Day to
highlight and raise awareness of the social costs of smoking (31 May) Earth Day to highlight and promote the role of
responsible consumption in achieving sustainability (22 April).
• Establish a Fairtrade club to raise awareness of the importance of responsible consumption.
ECONOMICS AND THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
As with other disciplines within individuals and societies, there is a variety of ways to gain knowledge in economics. For
example, data and evidence collection, experimentation, observation, inductive and deductive reasoning, can all be used to
help explain patterns of behavior and lead to knowledge claims. Students in individual and societies subjects are required to
evaluate claims by exploring questions concerning their validity, reliability, credibility and certainty, as well as individual
and cultural perspectives on them. For example, at the core of economic theories are important assumptions such as the
ceteris paribus (all other things being equal) assumption. Students must be aware of these assumptions and be able to
critically assess how these might limit reliability in the application of economic theory.
The relationship between each subject and TOK is of crucial importance and fundamental to the DP. Having followed a
course of study in individuals and societies, students should be able to reflect critically on the nature, scope and limitations of
knowledge used in human sciences, and in doing so, become the “inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people” of the
IB mission statement. During the economics course, a number of questions will arise that highlight the relationships between
TOK and economics. Some of the knowledge questions that might be considered include the following:
• Are there fundamental differences between economics and other disciplines or areas of knowledge? If so, are these
differences more than just methodological differences? • How have technological advances affected the nature and practices
of economics? • Do emotion and intuition have a role in economics? • What factors affect the reliability and validity of
economic models? • Does the inability of economics to perform controlled experiments mean that economics cannot be
scientific in its approach to understanding the world? • What are the implications of accepting that knowledge in economics
ASSESSMENT
OUTLINE – SL
ASSESSMENT OUTLINE -
HL
External assessment details—HL

Paper 1 Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes