ToK Exhibition

OVERVIEW
● 1 prompt (see below), 3 objects
● Should be connected to the Core theme or one of the optional themes
(Knowledge and Indigenous Societies or Knowledge and Politics)
● Students should produce a single file containing their TOK exhibition. This
must include:
• a title clearly indicating the selected prompt and prompt number
• images of the three objects
• a typed commentary on each object that identifies each object and its
specific real-world context, justifies each object’s inclusion in the
exhibition and links to the prompt (maximum 950 words)
• appropriate citations and references.
PROMPTS (Choose 1)
1. What counts as knowledge?
2. Are some types of knowledge more useful than others?
3. What features of knowledge have an impact on its reliability?
4. On what grounds might we doubt a claim?
5. What counts as good evidence for a claim?
6. How does the way that we organize or classify knowledge affect what we know?
7. What are the implications of having, or not having, knowledge?
8. To what extent is certainty attainable?
9. Are some types of knowledge less open to interpretation than others?
10. What challenges are raised by the dissemination and/or communication of
knowledge?
11. Can new knowledge change established values or beliefs?
12. Is bias inevitable in the production of knowledge?
13. How can we know that current knowledge is an improvement upon past
knowledge?
14. Does some knowledge belong only to particular communities of knowers?
15. What constraints are there in the pursuit of knowledge?
16. Should some knowledge not be sought on ethical grounds?
17. Why do we seek knowledge?
18. Are some things unknowable?
19. What counts as a good justification for a claim?
20. What is the relationship between personal experience and knowledge?
21. What is the relationship between knowledge and culture?
22. What role do experts play in influencing our consumption or acquisition of
knowledge?
23. How important are material tools in the production or acquisition of knowledge?
24. How might the context in which knowledge is presented influence whether it is
accepted or rejected?
25. How can we distinguish between knowledge, belief and opinion?
26. Does our knowledge depend on our interactions with other knowers?
27. Does all knowledge impose ethical obligations on those who know it?
28. To what extent is objectivity possible in the production or acquisition of
knowledge?
29. Who owns knowledge?
30. What role does imagination play in producing knowledge about the world?
31. How can we judge when evidence is adequate?
32. What makes a good explanation?
33. How is current knowledge shaped by its historical development?
34. In what ways do our values affect our acquisition of knowledge?
35. In what ways do values affect the production of knowledge?
The chosen IA prompt must be used exactly as given; it must not be altered in any
way.
Here is a prompt decoder guide

OBJECTS
The objects may be digital rather than physical objects. For example, students could
include a photograph of an object, such as a historical treaty, where it would not be
practical/possible for them to exhibit the physical object. Students may also use
digital objects such as a tweet by a political leader. However, they must be specific
objects that have a specific real-world context—objects that exist in a particular time
and place (including virtual spaces). They may be objects that the student has
created themselves, but they must be pre-existing objects rather than objects
created specifically for the purposes of the exhibition.
Context of an object
The specific real-world context of each object is extremely important to the task. It is,
therefore, important that students identify specific objects to discuss rather than
using generic objects and generic images from the internet. For example, a
discussion and photograph of a student’s baby brother is an example of an object
that has a specific real-world context, whereas a generic image of “a baby” from an
internet image search is not.

Examples
• A tweet from the President of the United States
• An image of the painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso
• The student’s own extended essay (EE)
• A basketball used by the student during their physical education lessons
• The graphic novel The Colour of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa
• A painting that the student created in their DP visual arts course
• A refillable water bottle provided to each student in a school as part of a
sustainability initiative
• A news article from the popular website Buzzfeed
• A photograph of the student playing in an orchestra

ToK Concepts
Justification, values, certainty, truth, perspective, interpretation, evidence,
explanation, culture, power, responsibility

WORD COUNT
The maximum overall word count for the TOK exhibition is 950 words. This word
count includes the written commentaries on each of the three objects. It does not
include any text contained on/within the objects themselves or the
acknowledgments, references (whether given in footnotes, endnotes or in-text) or
bibliography.
Extended footnotes or appendices are not appropriate to a TOK exhibition.

EXAMPLES of OBJECTS and COMMENTARIES (scroll down to page 3)

GRADING CRITERIA