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The Theory of Knowledge Exhibition Prompts

The TOK Exhibition (also sometimes called the TOK IA) counts for one-third of your marks in the course. As you know, you need to choose one of the 35 IA prompts to base your exhibition on. 

This is a challenging task and I’ve created a blog post explaining how you to get all of the marks on these here). But, first you’ll need to choose ONE prompt from this list.

(A video course, to help you complete your exhibition and commentary is available to IBMastery subscribers. You can access the whole thing by taking a free trial here).

The TOK Exhibition Prompts

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 on 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?