Exam Tip #5 – Tackling the Paper 1 case study
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With just over 2 weeks to go before the Easter holidays, May 2011 candidates will be busy preparing for their final IB exams. Here’s this week’s ‘top tip’ for the B&M exams…
Exam Tip #5 – Tackling the Paper 1 case study
1. Make a copy of the Reach Out case study - one as an original reference and one to write notes on. You may want to photocopy this on A3 paper so that there is more space for you to make notes at the sides. Key theories, decisions, constraints, opportunities or problems can be written in the margins for future reference.
2. Read through the Reach Out case study carefully to get an overall feeling and idea about the business, the people involved (Laura, Andrew and Neil) and the problems the business faces. Do this twice!
3. Make sure that you understand all the issues arising from the Reach Out case study. Use a dictionary to look up key terms or words that you do not understand.
4. Use one copy of the case study to highlight all possible key terms (my students have found 87 in the Reach Out case study). Make sure that you can define each and every one of these terms in the context of the case study. Definition questions will appear in the examination.
5. Higher Level students should identify and apply the relevant sections of the syllabus exclusive to them, e.g. stakeholder conflict (Unit 1.4), Organizational planning tools, such as fishbone analysis (Unit 1.6), Change management (Unit 1.8), and Corporate culture (Unit 2.6).
6. Try setting some exam-style questions from past exam papers (in the context of Reach Out). Your teachers will also have a set of questions that you can tackle.
7. Students should obtain a soft copy of the case study in ‘pdf’ format from their teacher. This helps to make searching much easier. They can also convert the pdf file to Word format using free online software from www.pdftoword.com – this makes it easier for students to add notes or referencing to the case study.
Whilst tackling the pre-issued case study, it is important to remember to:
• Avoid copying large chunks of the case study, even if these are in quotation marks, since this wastes time and does not really reveal a candidate’s level of understanding.
• Support written answers with information and quantitative data presented in the case study, including use of the information in the appendices.
• Refer to the mark allocations for each question when writing your answers.
Good luck!
© Paul Hoang and IBID Press
Click here for details of the upcoming IB Student Revision Workshop in Hong Kong
Click here for Exam Tip #4
Click here for Exam Tip #3
Click here for Exam Tip #2
Click here for Exam Tip #1
Take the three Reach Out quizzes to test your understanding of the pre-seen case study:
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