Alright, so you’re new to IB Economics, or you’re not new but you feel lost! This blog post is for you!
IB Economics can be overwhelming to navigate. There’s a lot of learning outcomes and lots of things you need to keep track of: units, command terms, assessment criteria, calculation formulae, real-world examples, IA requirements etc…
It can be a headache 🤕 and truly mind blowing 🤯
I hear you!
But! If there’s one document you need to help you navigate this course it’s the IB Economics Subject Guide published by the IBO themselves!
This is the Bible/Quran/Torah/Vedas/Analects/Tao Te Ching/Holy Book of IB Economics.
Seems pretty common sense to share this with students, right? However, you’d be surprised at the number of students I tutored over the past few years who have NEVER been given this document by their teachers 🤦🏽♂️
I get it! It’s a big document with too much information! But it’s (in my honest opinion), much much much more important than the textbook! So many teachers I have seen over my career focus too much on getting students to buy and use the textbook! The textbook becomes the centre of the learning process, and I don’t think that’s correct (there, I said it 😤).
The subject guide should be the centre of the learning process, with the textbook as one source of information, along with news articles, a trusted YouTube channel (like mine: the IB Econ Guru) and of course past papers and mark schemes!
So, what are the most important parts of this subject guide?
1. pgs 12-14 for definitions of the nine key concepts and how they relate to the course
2. pgs 18-19 for explanations of each of the command terms and how they connect to the assessment objectives
3. pgs 22-24 for the main learning outcomes under the first two sub-units: ‘1.1 what is economics?‘ and ‘1.2 how do economists approach the world?’
4. pgs 25-29 for the main learning outcomes under the first real-world issue: ‘How do consumers and producers make choices in trying to meet their economic objectives?’
5. pgs 29-34 for the main learning outcomes under the second real-world issue: ‘When are markets unable to satisfy important economic objectives – and does government intervention help?’
6. pgs 35-41 for the main learning outcomes under the third real-world issue: ‘Why does economic activity vary over time and why does this matter?’
7. pgs 41-44 for the main learning outcomes under the fourth real-world issue: ‘How do governments manage their economy and how effective are their policies?’
8. pgs 45-50 for the main learning outcomes under the fifth real-world issue: ‘Who are the winners and losers of the integration of the world’s economies?’
9. pgs 50-54 for the main learning outcomes under the sixth real-world issue: ‘Why is economic development uneven?’
10. pgs 59-66 for information about the different exam papers and the assessment criteria used
11. pgs 67-73 for information about the internal assessment requirements and assessment criteria
12. pgs 74-75 for a glossary of the command terms used in exam questions!
Phew 😮💨 that’s a lot of reading! But yeah, duh 🙄
In my experience, I have found that the most successful students are the ones who know this document, the IB Economics Subject Guide, better than their classmates! Textbooks can be full of too much information that you really do not need (that does not make them useless, it’s just something you need to keep in mind when leaning on them).
Alright, so there you go! A quick tour of the IB Economics subject guide! If you have any questions, please leave a comment! Also, if you want to thank me for my awesome work on this blog and on my YouTube channel please consider buying me a coffee!
Peace out ✌️
