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It’s time for another “Best” list to add to All Mid-Year 2016 “Best” Lists In One Place.

I’ll also be adding this post to All Of My Theory Of Knowledge “Best” Lists In One Place!
Here are my previous TOK-related “Best” lists:

The Best Theory Of Knowledge Resources — 2010

The Best Theory Of Knowledge Resources In 2011 — So Far

The Best Theory Of Knowledge Resources In 2011

The Best Theory Of Knowledge Resources In 2012 — So Far

The Best Theory Of Knowledge Resources In 2012 — Part Two

The Best Theory Of Knowledge Resources In 2013 – So Far

The Best Commentaries On The New IB Theory Of Knowledge Teaching Guide

The Best Theory Of Knowledge Resources In 2013 – Part Two

The Best Movies For IB Theory Of Knowledge Classes – What Are Your Suggestions?

The Best Posts On IB Theory Of Knowledge Oral Presentations

The Best Theory Of Knowledge Resources In 2014 – So Far

The Best Theory Of Knowledge Resources In 2014 – Part Two

The Best Posts On Teaching TOK “Knowledge Questions”

The Best Theory Of Knowledge Resources In 2015 – So Far

The Best Theory Of Knowledge Resources In 2015 – Part Two

Here are my picks from the past six months:

Atul Gawande gave the commencement address at CalTech this month, and The New Yorker published his speech under the headline “A Mistrust Of Science.”

Here’s an excerpt:

The-scientist-has-an

The whole piece would be useful in IB Theory of Knowledge classes when discussing science. I especially like his discussion of pseudoscience (you might also be interested in Video: Bill Nye On Pseudo-Science.

TOK Connection: “Pearls Before Swine” Does Another Version Of “Who’s On First?”

Here’s What My Theory Of Knowledge Students Will Be Doing For Their “Finals” – What Are You Doing?

I’ve described in one of my New York Times posts how I use illusions with English Language Learners, and I obviously use them in IB Theory of Knowledge classes when studying Perception. I learned from Michelle Henry about a series of illusions created by Mexican painter Octavio Ocampo who, I’m embarrassed to say, was not familiar with prior to seeing this work. Go take a visit — they’re amazing!

Police Body Cameras: What Do You See? is a new very impressive interactive at The New York Times. After first soliciting the reader’s general feelings about the police, the interactive shows several staged police encounters from different cameras and angles – asking you to judge what you think you saw. Then, those judgments are compared to other what others said and their feelings about the police. It’s extraordinarily useful to just about any class, and will be a superior addition to my Theory of Knowledge lesson on perception,Videos: Here’s The Simple Theory of Knowledge Lesson On Perception I Did Today. That post shares several other videos showing the same event from different angles.

Over 2,500 Categorized Resources For IB Theory Of Knowledge Classes

You may, or may not, be familiar with the BBC’s “A History of Ideas.” It’s a show with 72 one-hour podcasts and 48 accompanying short video animations about philosophy. You can access all the podcasts and videos on the BBC site, which is particularly nice since a lot of the other material on the BBC won’t play in the United States. All the video animations are also on YouTube.

Lesson Plan | I Remember: Teaching About the Role of Memory Across the Curriculum is from The New York Times Learning Network, and is great for IB Theory of Knowledge classes.

NPR Videos On Serendipity In Science

Great Idea From Adam Grant: Student Mini-Talks That Challenge “Conventional Wisdom”

Five Videos Demonstrating The McGurk Effect

Videos On Milgram & Stanford Prison Experiments – Not Blocked By YouTube Safety Mode

A Handy Compendium of 2015 TOK posts, downloadable is a series of posts by Eileen and Theo Dombrowski. Eileen is co-author of one of the most popular IB Theory of Knowledge textbooks.

I think TOK teachers might find these next two links particularly helpful:

Oral Presentation Suggestions For IB Theory of Knowledge Classes

Part Two – Oral Presentation Suggestions For IB Theory of Knowledge Classes

Here’s a new video on the famous ethics “trolley problem.” I’m adding it to The Best Videos About The Famous “Trolley Problem.”

Here’s A Nice Lesson I Did On Ethics In My Theory Of Knowledge Class

Killing Baby Hitler & Student “What If?” Projects

The Best Resources For Teaching & Learning About Plato’s Allegory Of The Cave

My 2014 post, New “Fillable” PDF Forms For IB Theory Of Knowledge Presentations & Essays, has been very popular, with TOK teachers from around the world not wanting to brave the IB website just to download some simple forms. Instead, they’ve just gone to that post, and I haven’t heard any objections from IB about my making them available. In January, though, I heard from TOK teacher Vladi Stanojevic that, in their infinite wisdom, IB  decided to make some changes to the Presentations form (the Essay form appears to be the same):

Here’s the new “fillable” PDF Presentations form.

It’s very similar to the old one, except it doesn’t have space for the candidates names. It does seem odd that they have entirely removed any space for student names, but I’ve given up trying to figure out IB decisions….

I’ve previously posted a lot about the work of Harvard professor Michael Sandel. Here’s an older video clip of an interview he did on NBC. I use it in my IB Theory of Knowledge class when we’re studying Ethics.

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I’ve previously written about the great work of Professor Philip Tetlock, and you can find my past posts about him at The Best Resources On The Importance Of Knowing What You Don’t Know. The Washington Post published an article about his recent work – check out The secrets the world’s top experts use to make really good predictions. As far as I’m concerned, here’s the “money quote” from that piece, and it’s perfect for IB Theory of Knowledge classes:

beliefs-are-hypotheses