Inquirer Ferguson—one of my IB learner personalities—considers that my gathering of first-hand research for the Business Management Internal Assessment demonstrates that I am an Inquirer. The IB describes this attribute as follows: “We nurture our curiosity, developing skills for inquiry and research. We know how to learn independently and with others. We learn with enthusiasm and sustain our love of learning throughout life.” However, I must admit that this did not come without its fair share of challenges. Throughout my years in school, I have rarely—if ever—conducted first-hand research. This was my first and most important challenge: learning how to gather information effectively that could later be used to arrive at a conclusion. Overcoming this challenge meant careful planning, which was achieved by doing the Research Proposal.
Secondly, another challenge I faced was that of filtering and interpreting information; once I had finished my interview with Pablo Zorrilla, I didn’t really know how to deal with what I had obtained. To do so, I decided to write the key points I heard from the conversation, then read the transcript for any missing information that could be useful. By following these two steps, I successfully overcame the challenge of dissecting useful information.
Considering this, I would say that this piece of evidence is helpful for my feature because it has helped me initiate my path in first-hand research. I’m going to study Economics, Management, and Computer Science. It is therefore very likely that during my studies (and beyond), I will probably need to conduct more serious first-hand research. Luckily, this part of my IB studies has made me more confident in my own ability to gather information and use it to further my goals.
Song!
I remember that the above chart had a big impact on me. The differences across cultures in these three countries are enormous in several dimensions. For example, the power distance is much larger in Mexico than in South Africa and in the United States. Similarly, both the US and South Africa score much higher in individualism than Mexico. To me, this graph helps explain why Mexico is far behind these two countries in many respects.
I would say that this project helped me understand myself in the context of my surroundings. When I studied for one year in France, I sometimes felt profoundly different from my French classmates. After studying Hofstede’s dimensions in Business Management while also considering a psychological and global perspective on the characteristics of different populations, I realized that there are many factors that influence how a person thinks. In my personal case, I understood that my upbringing has been very influential in the construction of my character. Click on the image on the right to enjoy an extended—sung—description of how this project fosters Open-mindedness.
Evidence 3: JOOK Unit 1 Project
Thinkers
This was one of my first works for the subject. I believe the evidence embodies the Thinker IB attribute because its development involved critical and creative thinking as a means to act on a complex business and environmental issue. Please see the video provided to hear an in depth reflection about the implications of this project on me.