Ultimate Guide to the ITGS Project

The ITGS Project has undergone a number of changes since the first Guide was introduced in 2010 for first examination in 2012. An updated Guide was made available at the beginning of 2016. However, it may have gone unnoticed due to the similarity of the name of the Guide.

Since first-year students and students in November examination schools are now in the midst of developing their ITGS Projects, now seems to be the best opportunity to list all of the IB resources that are available for the ITGS Project.

IB Resources

• ITGS Guide updated (download the new guide from the OCC ITGS homepage). You know you are using the correct guide if criterion E has 7 marks and criterion E has 4 marks for the Project. The guide has the complete description and a summary of the criteria. These criteria are also the same as those in the document, Updated internal assessment criteria—SL and HL.

• Forms.zip  (downloaded from the Teacher Support Material -TSM). These forms must be used by the students to submit their ITGS Project. It is suggested that the students keep all of their work for the criteria in the Documentation folder and all work on the product in the Product folder. It is recommended that periodically entire folder is backed-up. Teachers may wish to change the .rtf format to .docx or other suitable format before giving the folder to the students.

• Format of the final student project folder. There is no entry in the Handbook of Procedures for 2016. We have been using the requirements from the Handbook of Procedures 2015 which are the same. The student must include a screencast when the product is finished (more on this later). The teacher will include the teacher marks justification form as a final step before zipping the student’s project folder for final submission.

• 3CS form is be made available through the ITGS homepage and also through the Handbook of Procedures for each exam session. This can be access from the DP Coordinators homepage.

• Teacher Marks Justification form. When you submit each students project in the sample (sample is determined by IBCA computer), it is highly advised to include your Teacher Marks Justification form in each students folder in the sample. It is the best possible way for the moderator to understand how teacher marks were awarded and also to provide feedback.

• Guidance on the appropriateness of an IT solution for the ITGS Project is available on the ITGS homepage. This document provides guidance on non-basic appropriate techniques to be considered for the Project.

• Teacher Support Material available on the ITGS homepage. The only minor problem is that this was created for 2012, criterion E and criterion G were different. When you read those projects, you have to realized that the marks for the projects will be different on those criteria. For example, where 8 marks was awarded for criterion E, it will now be 7 marks. None of the projects have the required screencast. So the maximum on criterion E will remain at 3 marks.

• Read the ITGS Subject Reports – the section on the Project, especially May 2015, Nov 2015. There will be a new report posted for May 2016 later on when the May 2016 session is closed.

• Follow the DP Coordinator’s notes for changes in ITGS. It is available on the ITGS homepage. For example the ITGS September 2015 issue is important because it explains uploading the ITGS Project to IBCA. It is important to follow the ITGS section of this publication.

• ITGS Project FAQs. See menu item on the ITGS homepage. This is a collection of questions from ITGS teachers.

• A client letter can be used at the onset of the project to ensure that the client understands what the ITGS project is all about. Instructions for use are included below.

How to use the Client agreement

I have developed the attached letter/agreement for the client . The idea is:

* the teacher would enter the information in italics and the Final Due Dates on the schedule

* the attached form would be printed twice either. One information copy for the client and one copy for the student to maintain. The letter and schedule could be printed double-sided so that the two pages do not get separated.

* the student would be required to meet with the client as shown on the schedule either on or before the Final Due Date with the materials indicated in the requirements for the Project criteria.

* the completed signed and dated schedule would be a way for the ITGS teacher to follow the progress of each project.

* the completed schedule would be submitted with the project. Please feel free to use/modify the attached doc and retain the orginal source or with the words “adapted from” and the source.

• Screencast. The screencast is the opportunity for the student to demonstrate that their product is fully functional and also to show any special features. It is also important to show all of the techniques that are explained in Criterion E. The screencast should be clearly visible and the audio track should be loud and clear. Students need to be particularly careful not to record background noise that could distract from their screencast. The screencast is particularly important in instances where the moderator may not have the software to open the product file that has been submitted.

• Product. The final product in its original file format must be saved in the Product folder. Wherever a cross-platform file format is available, the Product must be submitted in this format as well. For example, desktop publishing products may be submitted in the original format i.e. Adobe InDesign format, but they must also be submitted in PDF format. In some instances where the product is a website that was created with an online web development service, it is not possible to export the website. The link to the website must be provided and evidence from the making of the product must be submitted in the Product folder. NO Product folder maybe submitted empty.

The above points summarize the current requirements for the ITGS Project and list all of the resources that are currently available.