Extended Essay

What is the Extended Essay?• A piece of independent research/investigation on a topic chosen by

the student in cooperation with a supervisor in the school• Chosen from the list of approved Diploma Programme subjects,

published in the Handbook of Procedures for the Diploma Programme• Presented as a formal piece of scholarship containing no more than

4,000 words• The result of approximately 40 hours of work by the student• Externally assessed against a common set of criteria and in

combination with the grade for theory of knowledge, contributes up to three points to the total score for the IB diploma

• Concluded with a short interview, or viva voce, with the supervising teacher

• Compulsory for all Diploma Programme students

Process and Timeline

• Key Dates can also be found in ManageBac• Different Schedule for Science and Non-

Science Subjects• Sessions on the following are built in to the

schedule:– Research Skills and MLA Referencing– Using the EE Worksheet in ManageBac– Turnitin.com– Writing an Abstract

Choice of Subject, Topic and Title

Biology Mathematics Mandarin Film

History Spanish English A Visual Arts

Malay Economics Physics German

Chemistry Music French Geography

Choice of Subject, Topic and Title

The extended essay topic/title should:• be of interest to you • allow the possibility to undertake personal

research• be limited in scope and sufficiently narrow to

allow you to examine an issue or problem in depth• allow you the opportunity to collect or generate

information and/or data for analysis and evaluation

Choice of Subject, Topic and Title

• It is a good idea to think of the essay title in terms of a question, since most research seeks to provide answers to questions

• You can also evaluate a hypothesis or quote, but there is likely to be a question behind it.

• Finding a good research question is not easy and you must spend time thinking about it. Your supervisor will be able to provide you with some guidance on this.

Choice of Subject, Topic and Title

Art Questions

• “How did Wassily Kandinsky use colour?” is better than “The Bauhaus”.

• “An analysis of African influences on Henry Moore” is better than “20th-century British sculpture”.

Choice of Subject, Topic and Title

Biology Questions

• The effect of detergent toxicity on soil bacteria” is better than “Detergents in the environment”.

• “A study of malnourished children in Indonesia and the extent of their recovery after a period ofsupervised improved nutrition” is better than “Malnutrition in children”.

Choice of Subject, Topic and Title

Film Questions• “A comparison of the treatment and depiction

of the family in the films of Satyajit Ray and mainstream Hindi films” is better than “The role of the family in Indian cinema”.

• “The contribution of Nino Rota’s composition to the films of Fellini (or Morricone–Leone,Williams–Lucas)” is better than “Effective composer–director relationships”.

Choice of Subject, Topic and Title

Mathematics Questions• What was the role of mathematics, and

geometry in particular, in navigation when we relied on the stars? Does it still play a part now we have man-made satellites?

• How does the exponential function, and its calculus, inform areas of science such as nuclear physics, geology, anthropology or demography?

Supervision

• You will be supervised by a member of staff who is a subject specialist in the area you have chosen.

• In order that we provide adequate and consistent supervision, no teacher should supervise more than 3 students.

• Your supervisor is allowed to spend a total of 3-5 hours working with you in total and this includes the viva voce at the end.

SupervisionHis or her main responsibilities will be:

• To encourage and support you throughout the research and writing of the extended essay

• To provide you with advice and guidance in the skills of undertaking research• To discuss your choice of topic and offer guidance on formulating a well-focused

research question• To ensures that the chosen research question satisfies appropriate legal and ethical

standards• To ensure that you have a copy of the subject specific assessment criteria• To ensure that the Extended Essay is your own work• To read and comment on one completed draft only of the extended essay (but does not

edit the draft)• To read the final version to confirm its authenticity• To submit a predicted grade for the extended essay to IB Cardiff• To completes the supervisor’s report

How will supervisors be allocated?

• You should submit the extended essay proposal form with details of your first two choices

• The proposal form will be submitted to Miss Atkins by March 1st 2012

• You will be notified of your supervisor by March 8th 2012

Assessment

• All Extended Essays are externally assessed against set criteria

• There are 11 criteria which can be found in the Uplands EE Guide

• Each criterion has a given number of points allocated to it with a total number of points of 36 allocated to the essay overall

Assessment

• According to the quality of work, on a scale of 0-36, performance will fall into one of the following five bands. The band descriptors are:

• A Work of an excellent standard• B Work of a good standard• C Work of a satisfactory standard• D Work of a mediocre standard• E Work of an elementary standard.

EE, TOK and Bonus Points

Assessment Criteria

• In addition to the general assessment criteria there are some subject specific guidelines and it is essential to read these carefully – these will be discussed with you by your supervisor once you have committed to your subject.

They give you advice on:

• Choice of topic• Treatment of topic• Interpreting the assessment criteria

Formal Presentation and Structure

• Title page• Abstract• Contents page• Introduction• Body (development/methods/results)• Conclusion• References and bibliography• Appendices

Formal Presentation and Structure

The upper limit is 4,000 words for all extended essays. This upper limit includes the introduction, the body, the conclusion and any quotations, but does not include:

– the abstract– acknowledgments– the contents page– maps, charts, diagrams, annotated illustrations and tables– equations, formulas and calculations– citations/references (whether parenthetical or numbered)– footnotes or endnotes– the bibliography– appendices

Academic Honesty and Academic Referencing

You are ultimately responsible for ensuring that your extended essay is authentic with the work or ideas of others fully and correctly acknowledged. Both plagiarism and collusion are forms of malpractice that incur a penalty.

(Adapted from IBO Extended Essay Guide First Examination 2013)

Academic Honesty and Academic Referencing

• The IB defines malpractice as the attempt by a candidate to gain an unfair advantage in any assessment component.

• Collusion is when a candidate knowingly allows his or her work to be submitted for assessment by another candidate.

• Plagiarism is defined by the IB as the submission for assessment of the unacknowledged work, thoughts or ideas of another person as the candidate’s own.

Academic Honesty and Academic Referencing

In order to avoid charges of plagiarism it is important that you fully acknowledge the words and ideas of another person. In order to do this the school recommends that you use the ‘Modern Language Association’ (MLA) documentation style for bibliographies and referencing purposes.

ManageBac

Advice to students from examiners

Advice to students from examiners

Recommended: things to do:• read the assessment criteria• read previous essays to identify strengths and

possible pitfalls• spend time working out the research question• work out a structure for the essay

Advice to students from examiners

During the research process, and while writingthe essay, students should:• start work early and stick to deadlines• maintain a good working relationship with

their supervisor• construct an argument that relates to the

research question• use the library and consult librarians for advice

Advice to students from examiners

• record sources as they go along (rather than trying to reconstruct a list at the end)

• choose a new topic and a research question that can be answered if there is a problem with the original topic

• use the appropriate language for the subject• let their interest and enthusiasm show

After completing the essay, students should:• write the abstract• check and proofread the final version carefully.