IB Geography • Internal Assessment
Investigate a real place
A fieldwork-based enquiry into tourism development on Ko Samet, from geographic context and method design to individual analysis and evaluation.
One individual report • maximum 2,500 words • 25% of SL and 20% of HL
Student route
From island to investigation
Ko Samet
Location, tourism development, contrasting beaches and environmental pressure.
Explore →02Butler’s Model
Use the Tourism Area Life Cycle as a hypothesis, not a label.
Explore →03Fieldwork Prep
Methods, questionnaires, sampling, ethics, safety and reliability.
Prepare →04Report Prep
Criteria, word control, maps, figures, analysis and evaluation.
Write →05Academic Integrity
Understand where collaboration and AI support must stop.
Review ↓Fieldwork becomes a geographical argument
Students collect primary information together, but process evidence and write the report independently.
The guiding question is “To what extent has tourism development impacted Ko Samet?” Students compare beaches and stakeholders, connect findings to Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle and carrying capacity, and use quantitative and qualitative evidence to explain spatial variation. The emphasis of the written report must be analytical.
Support must not replace the investigation
The data, analysis, judgement and writing must remain the student’s own.
Organisation and clarity
Research checklists, source summaries, survey-bias checks, translation clarity, data-entry templates, schedules, formatting and proofreading may support the process when acknowledged.
Thinking and authorship
AI must not classify beaches for the student, interpret field data, write IA sections, create conclusions or evaluations, or fabricate or alter evidence.
The independence rule
Students may plan and collect data collaboratively, followed by one shared data-organisation session. Selection, processing, mapping, statistical treatment, analysis, conclusion, evaluation and the final 2,500-word report are individual work.