IBDP Chemistry Curriculum Update: First Teaching in August 2023

The new DP chemistry course will be launched in February 2023 for first teaching in August 2023. First assessment will take place in May 2025.

An overview of this IBDP Chemistry Curriculum update is detailed in the Chemistry Subject guide.

Overview of the new course

With a larger emphasis on skills and the interdependence of concepts, settings, and content, a relevant and effective chemistry education must mirror societal change in order to allow deep learning and student understanding.

Structure and reactivity serve as the two main organizing principles for the chemistry curriculum. The idea that structure determines reactivity, which in turn modifies structure, connects each of these concepts. Each of these concepts is further separated into subjects and subtopics.

 Skills in the chemistry industry.

Significance of Conceptual learning

The course emphasizes the significance of linking learning with conceptual understanding and attempts to generate understandings that connect factual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge. This entails a constant, non-linear process of acquiring new information, developing understandings, and spotting misconceptions.

Students who have conceptual understanding will be able to transfer and apply knowledge to new or different contexts in inventive, generative, independent, and dynamic ways. They will also be able to be conscious of and critical of their own knowledge.

More Emphasis on skill development

The guide's inclusion of a section titled "Skills in the study of chemistry" emphasizes the practical character of the subject. These are organized into many categories and framed by the approaches to learning (ATL) skills, including inquiry skills and methodologies suitable for this level of study.

IBDP Skills in the study of chemistry.

Exemplary Practical and Collaborative Work

The DP chemistry course continues to place a strong emphasis on practical work. Teachers are invited to create their own practical lesson plans that will give students opportunities to develop a wide range of investigative and practical skills as well as a greater comprehension of the subject's material and related ideas. To give students the chance to engage in a variety of tasks, from closed to open inquiry, from hands-on experimentation to the use of simulations and modeling, and to appropriately include technology, the practical scheme of work should be broad and balanced.

The interdisciplinary collaborative sciences project tackles issues from the real world that can be investigated using the variety of topics covered by the sciences group.

Changes to the assessment model

External assessment

There will only be two external exams given to all students.

  • In Paper 1A, there are multiple-choice questions from the curriculum, and in Paper 1B, there are questions about data analysis. These publications offer the chance to evaluate some of the experimental methods and methods.

  • Paper 2 has both short-answer and extended-response questions that integrate knowledge, concepts, and skills into a relevant chemistry environment.

The choice subjects have also been removed, among other adjustments (materials, biochemistry, energy and medicinal chemistry). Some of the content from the four available options was included to the course at either a standard or higher level.

Internal assessment

The "scientific investigation" (internal assessment) will change as well, giving students the chance to work together and help one another in small groups. If the independent or dependent variables are different and the data acquired is specific to each student, then students may share similar approaches when appropriate.

The number of words in each student's report will remain at a maximum of 3,000.

With 50% of the marks allotted for Conclusion and Evaluation, the revised criteria will place a stronger focus on higher-order thinking abilities.

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