Oncoming changes #
As of February 2023 (Recently, IB coordinators have received a note from the organization that new syllabus will be delayed, but we don’t for how long), the new DP computer science course will be launched. It introduces substantial changes compared to the current curriculum.
| Type of assessment | Format of assessment | SL | HL |
|---|---|---|---|
| External | 2 hours 45 minutes (70%) | 4 hours (80%) | |
| Paper 1 | A problem-solving paper that includes questions requiring the reading, understanding, interpretation and writing of code in Java or Python. | 1 hour 15 minutes (35%) | 2 hours (40%) |
| Paper2 | This paper focuses on applying theory and practice to real-world contexts, and includes a structured question framed by a given technology context. | 1 hour 30 minutes (35%) | 2 hours (40%) |
| Internal | 45 hours (30%) | 45 hours (20%) | |
| Computational solution report | An individual computational solution development project. Students produce a report that details the development of a computational solution following the software development life cycle (SDLC) process. | 35 hours (30%) | 35 hours (20%) |
New syllabus #
Although a computer science IB guide has not been released yet, Subject Brief and computer science updates give a good account of what will change (you can visit them for more in-depth explanation).
New syllabus content will consists of:
- Systems in theory (theoretical underpinnings of the course)
- Systems in practice (the practical application of the theory)
- Systems in context (which connects the theory and practice to real-world scenarios and applications)
In principle, it gives “teachers greater flexibility to create their own learning pathways for the two-year programme.” Whether it is true or not, we’ll see. Nevertheless, replacing Topics (4 on SL and 7 on HL) seems interesting and possibly opens a path for more interconnection.
Note!
The new computer science course also favors programming languages over pseudocode. A certain level of fluency in Java or Python will be required. For more see the next section.
The removal of the option topics #
Previous four to-choose-from topics, that is, databases, modelling and simulation, web science, object-oriented programming will no longer be available.
Paper 2 now “focuses on applying theory and practice to real-world contexts, and includes a structured question framed by a given technology context”.
However, OOP will be incorporated into syllabus as the basis, while databases will be a part of the content for HL students.
What is also worth noticing is the introduction of the new study areas - security and system vulnerabilities.
Goodbay Paper 3! #
Paper 3 will be removed, starting from February 2023.
Although for some interesting, Paper 3 was tough and students along with their techear complained about it. The difficulty of Paper 3 can be inferred from the grade boundaries.
Closing thoughts #
I have touched upon the new curriculum. Indeed, there are some other aspects that may have been discussed - inluding new word limit for IA (3,000) - I admit that. However, I believe I outlined the most important parts of the new computer science course so that you have a good overview of what will change.