The In Class Practicals

One of the most exciting features of the new IB Diploma Psychology course is the emphasis on class practicals, which give both Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL) students a chance to engage directly with psychological research methods. These activities are more than just experiments, they are designed to support critical discussion of each research approach, helping students build practical understanding while making connections to real-world contexts.

Class practicals are embedded into each of the course’s four contexts: Health and Well-being, Learning and Cognition, Human Development, and Human Relationships. Each context is linked with a specific research method:

• In Health and Well-being: Interview.
• In Learning and Cognition: Experiment.
• In Human Development: Observation.
• In Human Relationships: Survey/Questionnaire.

Each Context in the Subject Guide includes a list of suggested class practicals, but these are examples only and teachers are encouraged to tailor the activities to their own students and their local setting. For instance, under the Health and Well-being context, students could conduct focus group interviews on how peers manage stress, or investigate student perceptions of mindfulness practices after a class activity. Other examples include semi-structured interviews with professionals such as school counsellors or fitness coaches, or interviews exploring links between social media use and self-esteem, or exercise habits and mood.

Importantly, Tom Coster’s Textbook includes dedicated guidance for the In Class Practicals in each context, helping both teachers and students make the most of these learning opportunities.

The In Class Practical is not just a learning activity — it is also formally assessed in Paper 2, Section A, where students respond to four structured questions related to one of the 4 Practicals they completed. These questions test students’ understanding of methodology, concepts like bias or ethics, and the ability to design or compare research approaches.

In short, In Class Practicals bring psychology to life, giving students the opportunity to be researchers themselves and fostering deeper, more critical engagement with the subject.

Here is a free downloadable document describing how to complete the In-Class Practical for an interview. It includes summary notes that students would use to prepare for Paper 2 Section A.

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