Introduction

Welcome to your essential companion for navigating the IB Diploma Programme’s Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course. This guide contains 101 purpose-built prompts designed to be used with Generative AI tools like Gemini, ChatGPT, or Claude. It is tailored to the current TOK curriculum (first assessment 2022) and aims to unlock AI as a powerful partner for both teaching and learning.

How to Use This Guide:

1. Copy and Paste: Simply copy a prompt and paste it into your chosen AI chat interface.
2. Add Context: For best results, customize the prompts. Add specific details like, “…for my class of 25 students,” “…using the example of the discovery of penicillin,” or “…focusing on my TOK exhibition object, which is my grandfather’s passport.”
3. Iterate and Refine: Use the AI’s first response as a starting point. Ask follow-up questions to refine the output until it perfectly suits your needs.

This guide is structured to support every stage of the TOK journey, from initial lesson planning to final exam revision. Let’s begin exploring the nature of knowledge, together.

Section 1 – Educator Prompts (50)

These prompts are designed to assist TOK teachers with planning, resource creation, assessment design, and student enrichment.

Group A: Curriculum & Lesson Planning (15 Prompts)

1. Act as an experienced IB TOK curriculum planner. Generate a semester-long pacing guide for a DP Year 1 TOK class, breaking down the Core Theme (“Knowledge and the knower”) and two Optional Themes (e.g., “Knowledge and technology,” “Knowledge and language”) into weekly topics and suggested activities.
2. Create a detailed 90-minute lesson plan on the key concept of “perspective.” The lesson should include a starter activity, a central case study analysis (e.g., comparing two different historical accounts of the same event), a group discussion protocol, and a concluding reflective exit ticket.
3. Design a concept map that visually links the Area of Knowledge (AOK) of History with the core concepts of evidence, interpretation, and objectivity.
4. Generate a table comparing the methodologies used in the Natural Sciences versus the Human Sciences. Include columns for key methods, the nature of the data collected, the role of the observer, and common challenges.
5. Develop a unit plan for the AOK of The Arts. The plan should include essential questions, learning objectives, potential artworks for analysis (from diverse cultures and media), and a summative assessment task.
6. Suggest three engaging, real-world “hooks” or opening provocations to introduce the Optional Theme of “Knowledge and politics.”
7. Create a reading list of 5-7 accessible articles, videos, or podcast episodes that explore the relationship between knowledge and indigenous societies.
8. Outline a project-based learning (PBL) activity where students explore the AOK of Mathematics. The project should challenge the idea that math is purely objective and universal.
9. Generate a list of 10 debatable “big questions” that connect the Core Theme (“Knowledge and the knower”) to students’ own lives and experiences as learners.
10. Act as a differentiation specialist. For a lesson on the concept of “truth,” suggest three distinct activities for students with different learning needs: one for kinesthetic learners, one for advanced learners ready for philosophical texts, and one for visual learners.
11. Create a plan for integrating the TOK Exhibition throughout the first year, including milestones for object selection, commentary drafting, and peer feedback sessions.
12. Generate a list of potential “knowledge questions” that arise from a common high school science experiment (e.g., a titration or a plant growth experiment).
13. Design a lesson that introduces the 12 key TOK concepts (evidence, certainty, truth, etc.) using a single, rich stimulus, such as a famous photograph or a short documentary film.
14. Outline a strategy for teaching the TOK Essay, including workshops on deconstructing prescribed titles, developing strong arguments, and finding effective real-world examples.
15. Create a “TOK Learner Portfolio” template that students can use throughout the two-year course to document their reflections, questions, and analysis of real-world situations.

Group B: In-Class Delivery & Resources (15 Prompts)

1. Generate a worksheet with three short, contrasting case studies that illustrate the problem of “justification” in the AOK of the Arts.
2. Create a Socratic seminar discussion guide based on the May 2023 TOK prescribed title: “Is it problematic for knowledge to be produced by experts? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.”
3. Design a “gallery walk” activity. Provide 5-7 short text/image stimuli, each related to the Optional Theme of “Knowledge and language,” and for each stimulus, provide one open-ended question for students to discuss.
4. Write a script for a 5-minute introductory video explaining the difference between a first-order knowledge claim and a second-order knowledge question.
5. Create a role-play scenario for a group of four students. The roles are: a natural scientist, a historian, an artist, and a mathematician. Their task is to debate the meaning of the word “explanation” from their unique perspectives.
6. Generate a set of 10 “thought experiment” prompts for students to write a one-paragraph response to, exploring concepts like certainty and evidence. (e.g., “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? How does a scientist vs. a philosopher answer this?”).
7. Create a “jigsaw” reading activity. Provide four short, simplified summaries of different philosophical perspectives on the nature of truth (e.g., correspondence, coherence, pragmatic).
8. Design a graphic organizer that helps students deconstruct a news article, identifying the author’s perspective, the evidence used, underlying assumptions, and any potential biases.
9. Generate a list of 5 provocative statements related to the AOK of Mathematics to be used in a “four corners” debate (e.g., “Mathematics was discovered, not invented.”).
10. Create a vocabulary-building game (like Pictionary or charades) using key TOK terminology. Provide a list of 20 essential terms.
11. Write a sample analysis of a single object (e.g., a smartphone) for the TOK Exhibition, demonstrating how to link its real-world context to an IA prompt like “What is the relationship between knowledge and culture?”.
12. Generate a list of discussion prompts that compare and contrast how “power” influences the production of knowledge in politics versus the natural sciences.
13. Create a template for a “TOK Journal Entry” that guides students to reflect on a concept they learned in another IB subject (e.g., Biology, Economics) through a TOK lens.
14. Design a student-led presentation task where groups are assigned one of the 12 key TOK concepts and must teach it to the class using a real-world example from the last year.
15. Generate a simple, step-by-step guide for students on how to turn a real-world situation into a compelling second-order knowledge question.

Group C: Assessment & Feedback (10 Prompts)

1. Act as an IB TOK Examiner. Generate 5 distinct TOK Exhibition IA prompts that are in the same style as the official IBO prompts.
2. Create a rubric for a student presentation on the Optional Theme of “Knowledge and technology,” with criteria for analysis, use of examples, and connection to TOK concepts.
3. Generate 5 multiple-choice questions that test students’ understanding of the difference between deduction and induction as methods of reasoning.
4. Act as a TOK essay marker. I will provide you with a student’s introduction to a TOK essay. Provide specific, constructive feedback on its clarity, argument, and engagement with the prescribed title, using the official TOK essay assessment instrument as a guide.
5. Create a peer-feedback checklist for students to use when reviewing each other’s TOK Exhibition commentary drafts. The checklist should focus on the clarity of the argument and the strength of the link between the object and the IA prompt.
6. Generate two short-answer questions that require students to compare the concept of “certainty” in the AOK of History with the AOK of Mathematics.
7. Design a formative assessment task in the form of a “silent debate” where students respond in writing to a central question and then to each other’s points. Use the prompt: “To what extent is emotion a reliable way of knowing?”
8. Create a sample TOK essay outline for the prescribed title: “How can we distinguish between knowledge, belief and opinion? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.”
9. Generate a bank of “comment starters” for providing written feedback on TOK essays, categorized by assessment criteria (e.g., “Understanding and Interpretation,” “Analysis,” “Examples”).
10. Design an “unseen commentary” task for TOK Exhibition practice. Provide an image of an object (e.g., a protest poster) and an IA prompt, and ask students to write a 300-word analysis in 45 minutes.

Group D: Enrichment & Interdisciplinary Connections (10 Prompts)

1. Suggest 5 recent documentary films that would be excellent for exploring different TOK themes or AOKs. For each, provide 3 discussion questions.
2. Act as a university admissions officer. Write a short paragraph explaining how the skills developed in TOK (e.g., critical thinking, argumentation, perspective-taking) are valuable for any undergraduate field of study.
3. Design a project where students create a “TOK Takedown” of a piece of popular media (a viral video, a conspiracy theory, an advertisement), analyzing its knowledge claims and persuasive techniques.
4. Generate a list of 10 potential guest speakers for a TOK class (by profession, not name), and for each, suggest the topic they could speak about (e.g., “A data scientist on the ethics of algorithms,” “A lawyer on the nature of evidence”).
5. Create an interdisciplinary lesson plan connecting the TOK AOK of The Arts with the IB Biology topic of perception. The lesson should explore how our biological senses shape our aesthetic judgments.
6. Suggest a “TOK field trip” idea (real or virtual) for each of the five AOKs (e.g., a virtual tour of the CERN laboratory for Natural Sciences, a visit to a local courthouse for History/Human Sciences).
7. Generate a reading list of 5 works of fiction (novels or short stories) that powerfully explore TOK concepts like memory, truth, and perspective.
8. Design a collaborative project between a TOK class and a Visual Arts class to create a physical exhibition based on one of the TOK Optional Themes.
9. Create a “TOK in the News” weekly challenge. Provide a template for students to find a news story and write a 150-word analysis connecting it to a specific TOK concept.
10. Generate a list of 5 podcasts that are well-suited for TOK students, explaining what makes each one relevant to the course.

Section 2 – Student Prompts (50)

These prompts are designed to help students understand concepts, practice skills, revise content, and prepare for their formal assessments.

Group A: Understanding Core Concepts (15 Prompts)

1. Explain the concept of “certainty” as if you were talking to a 12-year-old. Use one example from mathematics and one from everyday life.
2. What is the difference between a first-order knowledge claim and a second-order knowledge question? Give me three examples of each.
3. Summarize the key characteristics of the Natural Sciences as an Area of Knowledge in a bulleted list.
4. Explain the “problem of induction” using a simple, real-world example.
5. Create a simple table that compares and contrasts “knowledge by acquaintance” and “knowledge by description.”
6. What is a “paradigm shift”? Explain the concept using the historical example of the shift from a geocentric to a heliocentric model of the solar system.
7. I don’t understand the TOK concept of “justification.” Can you explain it and give me three different ways a belief can be justified?
8. In the context of the AOK of History, what is the difference between a source’s origin and its purpose? Why do historians need to consider both?
9. Explain the concept of “objectivity.” Why is it often considered a goal in the human sciences, but why is it so difficult to achieve?
10. Create a short, simple dialogue between two people arguing about whether a piece of modern art (like a plain white canvas) is “really art.” The dialogue should highlight the role of interpretation and values.
11. What is meant by “ethical considerations” in the production of knowledge? Provide one example from the natural sciences and one from the human sciences.
12. Explain the Optional Theme of “Knowledge and technology” in one paragraph. What are the central questions it explores?
13. Summarize the main idea behind the “coherence theory of truth” and give an example of a situation where it might be used.
14. What is the difference between correlation and causation? Why is this distinction important for knowledge in the human sciences?
15. Explain the TOK concept of “perspective.” Help me understand it by analyzing how a tourist and a local resident might have different perspectives on the same city.

Group B: Practicing & Applying Skills (15 Prompts)

1. Here is a news headline: “[Insert a real, current headline].” Analyze this headline for me. Identify the loaded language, underlying assumptions, and the perspective it promotes.
2. I need to find a third object for my TOK Exhibition. My first two objects are a family recipe book and a scientific calculator. My IA prompt is “How do our values influence our knowledge?”. Suggest three different types of objects that could work as my third object and briefly explain why.
3. Act as my study partner. Let’s have a debate. I will argue that emotion is essential for making good ethical decisions. You take the opposing view. Start the debate.
4. I have to give a presentation on the AOK of The Arts. Help me brainstorm three interesting and non-obvious real-world examples to use.
5. I found this quote by George Orwell: “The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world.” Help me unpack this quote. What TOK concepts does it relate to? Suggest one AOK where this claim seems strong and one where it seems weak.
6. I am writing my TOK essay on the title “[Insert a prescribed title].” Help me formulate three strong claims (arguments) that I can use as the basis for my body paragraphs.
7. Analyze the following advertisement [describe a real ad, e.g., a car commercial showing a family driving through a beautiful landscape]. What knowledge claims is it making, and what persuasive techniques (e.g., appeal to emotion, use of authority) is it using?
8. I am struggling to find a “real-world situation” for my TOK essay. My chosen AOK is History. Can you suggest three historical events or controversies that would make good examples?
9. Help me write a 300-word reflection on how my understanding of the scientific method has been challenged or deepened by TOK.
10. I am exploring the Optional Theme of “Knowledge and language.” Find me one example of a word that exists in another language but has no direct equivalent in English. Explain what this tells us about the relationship between language and thought.
11. Act as a critical friend. I will tell you my main argument for my TOK essay. Your job is to find a counter-argument that I need to address. My argument is: “[Student provides their argument].”
12. I need to practice identifying knowledge questions. I’m watching a documentary about climate change. What are three good knowledge questions I could ask about how the knowledge in this documentary is produced and presented?
13. Help me create a mind map to explore the prescribed title: “Are the arts best seen as a system of knowledge, a system of values, or a system of beliefs? Discuss with reference to the arts and one other area of knowledge.”
14. I need to explain the role of “power” in the AOK of the human sciences. Can you give me a specific example, perhaps from the field of psychology or economics?
15. Let’s practice for the TOK Exhibition. My object is a vaccination certificate. My IA prompt is “What is the relationship between personal experience and knowledge?”. Help me brainstorm the key points I should make in my commentary.

Group C: Revising & Consolidating (10 Prompts)

1. Create a set of 10 digital flashcards for the AOK of History. The cards should define key terms like historiography, primary source, secondary source, hindsight bias, and perspective.
2. Generate a one-page revision guide (in Markdown format) for the Optional Theme of “Knowledge and politics.” It should include key questions, core concepts, and potential real-world examples.
3. List the 12 key TOK concepts and provide a one-sentence definition for each.
4. Create a quiz for me. Give me 5 scenarios, and for each one, I have to identify the primary “way of knowing” being used (e.g., faith, intuition, reason, emotion, sense perception, memory).
5. Summarize the key differences in methodology between the Natural Sciences and the Human Sciences in a simple two-column table.
6. Generate a mnemonic or a memorable acronym to help me remember the five Areas of Knowledge.
7. Create a cheat sheet that lists common logical fallacies (e.g., ad hominem, straw man, false dichotomy) with a simple example of each.
8. I am revising the Core Theme, “Knowledge and the knower.” Can you generate three “big picture” summary questions that I should be able to answer?
9. Create a concept map linking the AOK of Mathematics to the key concepts of certainty, logic, and creativity.
10. Generate a list of the most important “do’s and don’ts” for writing a successful TOK essay.

Group D: Preparing for Assessment (10 Prompts)

1. Act as a TOK examiner. Here is the first paragraph of my TOK Exhibition commentary. Please give me feedback on its clarity and how well it links my object to the IA prompt. [Student pastes their paragraph].
2. I have chosen the prescribed title: “To what extent do you agree that ‘there are no facts, only interpretations’ (Nietzsche)? Answer with reference to two areas of knowledge.” Help me create a detailed essay plan, with a thesis statement, three main arguments, and potential examples for each.
3. I am worried my TOK essay is too descriptive. Can you look at this paragraph and suggest how I can make it more analytical? [Student pastes their paragraph].
4. I need to check the formatting of my TOK essay bibliography. Can you show me the correct citation format (using a consistent style like MLA or APA) for a website article, a book, and a YouTube video?
5. Give me a checklist of things to review the night before my TOK Exhibition.
6. My chosen object for the exhibition is my smartphone. I am struggling to make my commentary sound academic and not too personal. Can you help me rephrase these sentences to be more analytical? “I use my phone every day to talk to my friends and look at social media. It shows how technology connects us.”
7. I am practicing for the TOK essay under timed conditions. Give me a prescribed title from a past session and I will write an introduction in 15 minutes. Then, give me feedback on it.
8. What are the three most common mistakes students make in the TOK Exhibition? Explain them so I can avoid them.
9. Help me formulate a strong, clear, and arguable thesis statement for my essay on the title “[Insert prescribed title].”
10. Act as an encouraging TOK teacher. I am feeling very stressed about my TOK essay. Can you give me three final pieces of advice to boost my confidence and help me do my best?

Section 3 – Bonus Universal Prompt (1)

This prompt is designed for creative, interdisciplinary thinking for both educators and students.

1. You are a team of curators designing a new wing for a museum called “The Library of Knowledge.” The wing is dedicated to exploring a single, complex concept: “Truth.” Your task is to design five exhibits, one for each of the five TOK Areas of Knowledge (History, The Arts, Natural Sciences, Human Sciences, Mathematics).

For each of the five exhibits, describe:
a.  **The Central Artifact:** What single object, image, or interactive display would be at the heart of the exhibit?
b.  **The Exhibit’s Title:** A catchy, thought-provoking title.
c.  **The Curator’s Note:** A short (100-word) description for the museum wall that explains how this exhibit explores the nature of “Truth” within that specific Area of Knowledge, using TOK terminology.

Present your response in a clear, organized format, with a section for each AOK.