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If you’re in this space, it looks like you require assistance with your IB Sports Exercise and Health Science IA (SEHS IA).
Although exploring SEHS may be an enriching and engaging experience that could help you advance in your profession, it could also be a highly demanding and challenging subject.
The effort needed is enormous, and the room for mistakes is quite minimal due to the large volumes of information in both standard and higher levels.
Let us also NOT FORGET the extraordinarily technical and sometimes confusing vocabulary. In the IB SEHS IA, these are the most prominently challenging areas.
Good thing we’re here with this guide!
The SEHS Internal Assessment is the apex of your SEHS learning opportunity in several aspects. Scoring well needs excellent accuracy and comprehensive evaluation of outcomes and investigation.
As a result, the goal of this guide is to share some essential tips you can put into action to get a 24/24 on the IB SEHS IA.
Before we dig in, here is a gateway to the holy grail of writing the best IB IAs: Nail IB’s blogs, where new guides are published weekly! This space is an excellent place to be if you need assistance. It may be used more as a reference for both the framework and degree of assessment necessary to earn a solid Grade 7 in your IB IAs.
What The Hell Is IB SEHS IA?
This program lies in the category of sciences. Here, you investigate the fundamental aspects, concepts, systems, and procedures that govern each discipline, gaining a better knowledge of the natural sciences. This multidisciplinary activity allows you to investigate scientific answers to challenges faced by the world.
SEHS is a practical science program that combines academic research with hands-on experience and investigation. SEHS delves into the science that underpins athletic performance and allows students to put those concepts into practice. Anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, cognition, and nutrition are all covered in this course.
In SEHS, you need to study a variety of core and elective topics and conduct practical research in the laboratory and outdoors. The course will help you better grasp the challenges surrounding sports, fitness, and healthcare in the twenty-first century.
What Is The Aim Behind IB SEHS IA?
SEHS is the appropriate foundation for programs in higher learning connected to physical performance and nutrition, as well as for work in the sports and recreation sectors.
You will understand how researchers operate and interact, as well as the many types of different natural sciences, with a focus on a constructive knowledge approach via experimental activity, by learning and composing a thoroughly evaluated essay centred on SEHS.
The goals of SEHS IA in this regard are for students to:
- Since we navigate through interesting and demanding possibilities, this subject helps you comprehend scientific research and innovation from a broader perspective.
- A set of information, processes, and procedures unique to science and innovation.
- Implement and utilize a scientific and technological set of knowledge, tools, and procedures
- Improve skills in analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing scientific data
- Acquire a comprehensive understanding of the importance of successful cooperation and coordination in scholarly operations
- Acquire practical and exploratory scientific abilities, including the application of modern technology
- Within the application of science, acquire and use 21st-century skills in communication.
- Grow analytically mindful of the potential consequences of employing technology and science as citizens of the world
- Gain an understanding of technology and science's capabilities and limits
- Get a better grasp of the connections underlying fields of science as well as their impact on several other areas of knowledge.
IB SEHS IA Criteria Breakdown
If there is an IA, there will be a criterion it will be marked on. Here is a thorough breakdown of IB SEHS IA criteria and the factors that matter along with the marks allotted to each.
DON'T FORGET to read the pointers as they elaborate on what is expected out of you in the essay!
Criterion | Marks Allotted |
---|---|
Personal Engagement | 02 |
Exploring | 06 |
Analysis | 06 |
Evaluation | 06 |
Application & Communication | 04 |
Total | 24 |
Personal Engagement
This criterion evaluates how well you generate a valid and targeted study question by establishing and exploring a subject or issue connected to Sport, Exercise, or Health Science for an inquiry. The significant consideration in this criterion is highlighting why you are intrigued by this topic.
Understand the following 4 pointers to get this right:
- Review and discuss your topic’s significance in the context of sports.
- Make a research question that is specific and targeted.
- Describe how the problem relates to the research topic.
- Why is the topic/theme important to you?
Exploring
This criterion will evaluate how well you have devised adequate data collection strategies related to the research subject.
This information might be qualitative or quantitative in nature, primary or secondary. It can be gathered using approaches from either empirical or social scientific research. Whenever relevant, security, social, and ethical issues are reviewed.
It is essential to understand that.
More information you collect = More definitive outcomes.
To get a complete 6, conduct your research along the following lines:
- Create a strategy for gathering sufficient data to answer your research topic. You should conduct as many trials as feasible, dependent on your study subject.
- Explain your process so that others may acquire data as you did.
- Why did you choose the approaches you did?
- Demonstrate that you've considered all potential ethical or risk factors.
Analysis
This criterion evaluates your ability to acquire, collect, organize, and evaluate data in a way that applies to the research topic. To attain a definitive conclusion, the facts and figures must be accurately evaluated.
To earn the best scores, you must:
- Note that the IB gods reviewing your analysis only know a little about the essay like you do. Hence, present your information in a form understandable to everyone reading it.
- The display of information should be simple to understand so that you and others can make sense of it. Recall to use axis names and clear headings for just about everything.
- Identify relationships and correlations, then define and describe them.
Evaluation
This criterion measures the degree to which you draw a result and evaluate the inquiry in light of the sports situation.
So, in order to achieve a complete 6, you must:
- Start by looking at your findings and how it relates to sports.
- Make a decision based on the information you've gathered; it might not be what you anticipated, and that is alright. In fact, highlighting the difference between your expectation and reality might score some brownie points!
Application & Communication
This criterion analyses how well you recognize and assess one approach to integrate the research question's findings in connection to the more prominent sports environment that has been established at the beginning of the assignment.
- Provide one workable alternative to the topic or subject you've been studying.
- Describe how it might work and also what issues it could confront
- Examine what you've done: what went well, why something didn't, what worked, and what didn't.
- Make suggestions on how you may enhance your research.
You can always add an aspect of further study. However, there is one crucial thing to note here.
If you suggest "gather additional pieces of information" or "perform greater tests," the IB gods will not be pleased. Conversely, it's generally more helpful to consider which factors had not been maintained under control but may have influenced the final outcome. Along the same lines, talk about how you could manage the same factors in the long term and why it's so essential
Decoding the Flow of Your IB SEHS IA
Before we start understanding the flow your essay should follow, keep in mind that the length of your internal assessment should be between 1,500 and 2,250 words and not exceed the given number.
The IB gods might deduct marks for it if you go above or even under the given word limit.
Now, here is a trick to understanding the flow of your essay in 3 easy steps:
- Take a context of a broad sports issue
- Pick a narrow research question and follow a similar methodology
- Carry a discussion of results as it applies to both the research as well as the broader issue
Let us understand this better with the help of an IB SEHS example where the theme revolves around 'human metabolism':
Broad Issue: Human metabolism
Topic: Why is Fat the Human Metabolism's Greatest Energy Source?
Discussion to Carry: The impact of fat on human metabolism; how that affects an athlete's performance; why is fat the most remarkable energy source?
Now that you've got a question, it is time to inquire. It would be best if you learned everything you can about this subject. Thanks to scholarly articles and journals, you can be off to a fantastic start. However, you still will need to gather information.
The following are some questions that need answering in context to get the hang of your essay's flow:
- What does it mean to have a good metabolism in sports?
- Is there a different name for it?
- Is it important what kind of sport you participate in?
- Do you have a hypothesis about this?
- What causes an athlete to have high or low fat?
- How does one determine whether someone has a significant metabolism or not?
- What criteria do you use to evaluate this?
- How can you create a test to see if this is true?
Once you've gathered additional information, formulating a precise study question will be a cakewalk!
IB SEHS IA Topic Ideas
With SEHS IA, you can get the information and explanation needed to implement scientific concepts and evaluate athletic performance levels through a blend of curriculum material and practical activities. Hence, picking the right topic is crucial since you'll invest a lot of energy in it.
Here are 32 topic ideas to give you a head start! Feel free to customize it as you wish since they are listed below to provide you with some basic concepts.
- The impact of carbonated/energy/alcoholic beverages (choose any) on mid-distance marathoners' recovery efficiency.
- Investigating the influence of pre-performance activities on basketball foul shots.
- What is the impact of water balance on thermoregulation in women female sportspersons?
- What is the most optimal position of launch for javelin throwing and why?
- A study of the relationship between body fat mass measurements acquired with callipers and those acquired with a bioelectric resistivity meter.
- What are the chronobiological characteristics of respiratory functioning in elite athletes?
- The impact of wellness yoga sessions on women's overall health through menopause.
- Describe the impact of a lack of athletics and being overweight on one's health.
- Identify and discuss the commonalities and dissimilarities between the various methods for measuring heart rate and blood pressure.
- Examine the factors that have resulted in deaths during the Commonwealth Games' historical past.
- The impact of Ayurvedic medications in sports medicine practice.
- Examine the physical functioning status of teenagers participating in competitive sports.
- Beneficial and detrimental impacts of caffeine/alcohol (choose any) on sports performance.
- Relevance of sports activities on neutrophilic stability and movement.
- The effects of participating in sports on those who have a variety of cardiac problems.
- Strength training, gymnastics, and bodybuilding injury types.
- Compare and contrast the sports traumas experienced by children vs young people.
- The efficiency of flexible therapeutic bandages in the treatment of a shoulder injury.
- Injuries in rowing freestyle: placement, causation, and therapy
- The treatment of sports injuries in children and adolescents is quite specific.
- After an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury, what diagnostics and therapy are required?
- Aggressiveness in sports and a comparison of how it manifests itself among competent boxers/wrestlers (choose any).
- Performance-enhancing drugs (doping) in sports: mental and physiological factors
- Young athletes' ambition and behavioural flexibility in artistic gymnastics.
- The behavioural qualities of focus and attentiveness in shooting sports athletes.
- Athletes' mental rehabilitation after trauma: characteristics and techniques.
- Characteristics of mental training in the women's duo for acrobatic gymnastics.
- Gender issues in sports psychology.
- An examination of the body measurements of athletes in combat sports and athletics.
- In sports nutrition, the impact of specific physiologically active and nourishing supplements.
- How are athletes' diets prepared based on the sport they specialize in?
- Athletes' nutritional needs throughout training, competition, and rehabilitation.
What The IB Gods Want.
Pleasing the IB gods and learning essential things from the essay research are the only two things we want.
But what do the IB gods want?
The following evaluation goals are intended to be met by students as part of the curriculum:
- Thorough understanding and comprehension of facts, ideas, terminology, approaches and strategies for expressing scientific data.
- Communicate scientific knowledge using facts, ideas, language, procedures, and strategies.
- Develop, assess, and evaluate hypotheses, research objectives and questions, including forecasts using quantitative and qualitative data using testable theories.
- Show that you have the requisite research, practical, and personal abilities to conduct meaningful and responsible research.
5 Important Points to Note Before You Get Started!
Now that you have everything in place and a basic idea of what to do let us give you an insight into some important things you should keep in mind throughout the process.
#1 Select a section of the curriculum that piques your interest.
Although sometimes ignored, this is an essential aspect of completing your IB SEHS IA. Due to the significant work and resources required to finish a high-quality IB SEHS IA, you mustn't consider the theme you're discussing dull at any point. We've discovered that the IB SEHS IA research question based on your genuine interest rather than what you believe would get you the best grades is nearly always of superior quality. Additionally, indulging in a topic you like helps eliminate many of the tiresome aspects of the IA, incentivizing you to focus on writing a strong IA.
#2 Set a firm strategy for your research before you begin your investigation.
Regrettably, needing to terminate an IA when you're halfway through it due to problems quantifying your relationship between variables or just needing to find adequate linkages across curriculum content and IA themes is too typical. As a result, before actually devoting to a topic that may deepen, it is beneficial to explicitly sketch out an experimental research design to save time and effort.
Here are some things you should include in your research setup and design:
- Dependent and independent factors, as well as assessment methods to be used for their measurement
- Variables that can be controlled
- A comprehensive and succinct description of the experimental technique
- A section of the curriculum from which your IA topic has been picked
#3 Compose your IA while following the marking criteria.
With an IA like SEHS, which is heavily based on science and factual studies, it's too common to stray from the grading criteria in extraneous portions.
Although we urge you to continue conducting research on your IA's surroundings, the entire information data and content you offer must be valuable and detailed.
It must be tailored to your study issue and the grading criteria's demands.
Remember, if you need to score a 24/24 in IB SEHS IA, you need to stick to the criteria. Scroll up to the criteria breakdown mentioned above in the article for your reference!
#4 Research shall never stop!
The IB Sports, Exercise & Health Science IA highly values your capacity to form data into references that support and validate your IA. The importance of research in your IB SEHS IA cannot be overstated. As a rule of thumb, you must never assert any testable hypothesis or statement of expertise without citing it or pulling it out of your findings in the essay.
#5 Quality > Quantity
Although the amount of research you conduct and write is crucial, the quality of your study is much more so. While sources like online libraries have their respective place, the more significant part of your sources and references should come from scholarly or medical publications, official scientific journals, or clinical studies. These materials have previously been checked for legitimacy.
They have also been certified as trustworthy and reliable as a function of their publication. As a result, by adding them to your IA, you cancan improve its precision and credibility, thus assisting you in achieving a Grade 7 SEHS IA. Writing an IA is challenging but possible. Nail IB is here to help you at every step of it. Please stay tuned to our goldmine of IB samples and resources to get rolling!