IB Skills: Theory of Knowledge & the Extended Essay — A 12-Week Guide to Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay, With an AI Tutor
TOK and the Extended Essay are the two pieces of the IB Diploma no textbook really teaches — they
ask for original thinking and an independent research argument. This is a done-for-you 12-week plan
that builds both: the TOK habits of mind (areas of knowledge, the knower, perspective and
justification, the exhibition, the prescribed-title essay) interwoven with taking an Extended Essay
from a research question to a defended draft and viva.
Format
Self-paced, 12 weeks. You lead one fully scripted ~60-minute session each week — every step
timed and every AI prompt written out for you, so no subject expertise is needed. Works with any
modern AI chat assistant (ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini); free versions are enough, and the
guide's opening section walks a complete beginner through setup in about five minutes.
What you get
- A "Never used an AI chat assistant? Start here" section — what an AI assistant is, which free
ones to use, how to paste a prompt, and what to do when it goes sideways. Written for someone who
has never opened a chatbot.
- 12 ready-to-run weekly sessions. Each one: the big idea in plain language, a concrete worked
example, a minute-by-minute plan for the hour, and a "show me" checkpoint that proves it landed.
- Copy/paste prompts at every step — labelled boxes you hand straight to the AI. They hold the
tutor to coaching rather than doing the work, which is the whole difference between learning and
watching.
- Four rescue prompts for the predictable failure modes: stuck, the AI is doing it for them,
bored, and "did they actually understand that?"
- Three formats in one download — a PDF to read, an HTML copy for the browser, and the plain
Markdown file you can hand to an AI as the course syllabus.
The 12 weeks
- What Is Theory of Knowledge?
- Areas of Knowledge and the Knower
- Perspective, Bias, and Justification
- The TOK Exhibition
- The TOK Essay
- From TOK to the Extended Essay
- The Research Question
- Sources, Method, and the Reflection Trail
- Building the Argument
- Drafting the Extended Essay
- Reflection, Integrity, and Revision
- Present, Defend, and Next Steps
Who it's for
IB Diploma Programme students aged roughly 16–18, and the parent, teacher, or homeschool guide
supporting them. Useful alongside any subject combination and any DP year.
Why this instead of a free chatbot
A raw chatbot will happily do the work for the student — which teaches nothing. This pack ships the
structure a chatbot lacks: a real 12-week arc, prompts that make the tutor ask before it tells,
guardrails that stop it handing over finished answers, and checkpoints that prove the student can do
it themselves.
FAQ
- Do I need to know this subject? No. The AI explains; you keep the pace and the momentum. Every
session comes with the exact prompt to start it.
- Which AI does it use? Any modern AI chat assistant — ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini. Free
versions are enough, and the guide sets a first-timer up in five minutes.
- Is my child's data collected? No. This is a digital guide sold to you, the adult. There's no
login and no child account — you run and supervise each session under your own account.
- Does it work outside the US? Yes. The tutor asks your country or region up front and adapts
units, spelling, examples, and anything jurisdiction-specific.
- Is this official IB material? No. This pack is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or
connected to the International Baccalaureate Organization, contains no official IB materials,
and guarantees no score or outcome. Word counts, formats, and criteria change — confirm current
requirements with your IB coordinator and the official guides.
- Will the AI write my TOK essay or EE? No, and the prompts are written to refuse. Submitting
AI-written work is academic misconduct. The tutor coaches your method, questions, and argument;
every word you submit is yours.
Get the whole track
Teaching more than one subject? Get the whole family track — The Family Library — for $199.