Moderation represents a seriously weak link in an otherwise excellent program.
While the philosophy behind moderation is sound, the practice is not. Work gets sent to supposedly moderated moderators who have been 'trained' in the process. Whatever they decide from this point on is written in stone and cannot be changed.
There has been a constant battle between teachers and the IBO regarding the variable nature of the moderators standards, however the IBO always closes ranks.
There are many (and I mean a lot - about one third of teachers who attended an IB group 4 conference three years ago had had their student's grades slashed by up to 50%) teachers bewildered and frustrated by the situation. Work that was presented and moderated as being totally suitable for the criteria applied one year may be criticised that it does not meet the very same standards the very next year.
Once a teacher's experimental work is moderated, the marks are then 'adjusted' across the board. This is clearly unfair on all parties involved. There seems to be a adjustment factor applied, with high scoring students losing many marks and average scoring students losing far fewer. To slash a students marks, sight unseen, is simply not right. There are very few legal systems in place that do not allow for some kind of appeal, but with the IBO there is nothing in place.
This is no consolation to the students of group 4 subjects I know.
This year was the last year that the old criteria were applied. To be fair to the IB they have stressed the need to be rigorous is the application of the criteria, to the point of absurdity in some cases.
They have even made moderation videos available for teachers, to press home their point.
Ways forward?
For anyone involved in teaching the subjects, the message is clear - all practicals MUST be suitable and appropriate for the criteria applied. Students MUST be given their own opportunity to plan, record and analyse experiments. Teachers have to mark the work as rigorously as possible.
However, I personally (and I suspect many of my colleagues) would like to see something done on the part of the IBO to address concerns from the very people that support them - the schools and the students, without whom they wouldn't exist.
Any problems are usually stonewalled and discussion regarding decisions taken are impossible. Next year the group 4 project is to be the ONLY source of information for personal skills criteria. However, if a student takes two sciences they don't necessarily have to have input into the GP4 for both subjects. Now where is the sense in that?