Internal assessment
For the new IB Diploma Computer Science syllabus to start teaching in August 2025, and for first examinations in May 2027.
Unit and lesson overviews will be gradually published as developed.
Guide to the IA
I had a Guide to the IA for the previous syllabus that was a very popular download. I want to thank all the teachers and students who sent me messages over the years for the encouragement. It’s clear that there was a need for such a thorough guide and many people found it very helpful.
For the new course, my co-authors and I have developed a similar guide in the Hachette book, “Computer Science for the IB Diploma” which contains a 40 page chapter for the Internal Assessment.
For each of the 5 criteria, it includes:
- The official IB assessment criteria text
- Top tips and common mistakes
- Exemplar samples based on real student IA’s (and separate to the IB authored samples)
- Detailed checklists
Those who found my guide to the IA for the previous syllabus useful, should find the chapter in the Hachette textbook very helpful for navigating the new IA.
Suggested timeline for the IA
The following is my anticipated breakdown of the 35 hours of class time for this IA…
Important note: I am not planning to deliver these lessons as one uninterrupted sequential block. For instance, lesson 1 will be delivered by itself with at least a two week gap before lesson 2 so students can research into their ideas at home before needing to submit a proposal.
| Lesson | Teaching and learning |
|---|---|
| 1 | Assessment overview Advice on project selection Review of exemplar projects Research ideas |
| 2 | Submit project proposal |
| 3,4 | Scenario, context, success criteria |
| 5,6 | Intial planning UML, structure diagram, gantt |
| 7-12 | System overview 1 lesson for each of… UX diagrams Flowcharts UML overview Extras such as case diagram, DFD, networking diagram, ML modeling etc Functional testing Structural testing |
| 13-30 | Self directed programming time |
| 31-33 | Development documentation and video |
| 34,35 | Evaluation |
AI in the Computer Science IA
The Computer Science IA is no different than any other IB assessment.
It is subject to the same Academic Integrity Policy as everything else, including Appendix 6: Guidance on the use of artificial intelligence tools (2023).
It states: …students need to be aware that the IB does not regard any work produced—even only in part—by such tools to be their own. Therefore, as with any quote or material from another source, it must be clear that any AI-generated text, image or graph included in a piece of work has been copied from such software. The software must be credited in the body of the text and appropriately referenced in the bibliography. If this is not done, the student would be misrepresenting content—as it was not originally written by them—which is a form of academic misconduct.
Does this mean I can use LLM generated programming code in my IA?
That’s the same as asking: Can you use code sourced from Google, Stackoverflow, or Github? Sure! If it is approproiately referenced, you can use some externally sourced code. Would you want your entire IA to be code from these sources? No!
Externally sourced code, properly cited and in moderation, is perfectly fine and expected. That said, the vast majority of the programming code should be your own independently produced work. The IA is an opportunity for you to showcase your personal programming expertise, not your ability to copy-and-paste someone elses code.
TL;DR…
AI tools can be used and are treated the same as any other resource that students may use: They should be fully and properly cited and referenced at all times, failure to do so risks breaching the Academic Integrity Policy.