Extended Essay presentation for parents.

Parents information session

18th and 19th February 2016.
Tom Penny
DP Coordinator

Nature of the
Programme
Based on a circular model
(similar philosophical basis to
PYP and MYP)
Extended Essay,Theory of
Knowledge and Creativity
Activity Service are integral to
programme.
6 required subject areas

What is the Extended Essay?

It is an independent research project to create an academic essay.
Better in a higher level subject
ISS must be able to provide a supervisor so all DP subjects are available plus
Human Rights and Science,Technology and Society which are crosscurricular
4000 words-maximum!
Process and product
Builds on and links to the Gr10 Personal Project (MYP) and Gr5 Exhibition
(PYP) with more emphasis on ACADEMIC research
Completed within the timeframe of January 2016 until November 2016

Timeframe and support

Date

Event

26.1.16

Launch of EE and introduction

16.2.16

Subject specific guidance for students

17.2.1625.2.16

Assistance in library with Research Proposals

and Annotated Bibliography

26.2.16

Research Proposals and Annotated

Bibliography submitted on Veracross.

13.3.16

Notification of Research Proposals accepted

or need further revision. Allocation of
research supervisors for those accepted.

20.3.16

Second research proposals submitted for

those that needed revision.

14.3.1624.3.16

Meeting with supervisor to finalise decisions

and start the research process.

Responsibility of the student

Read and understand provided booklet of guidelines, textbook, and all details
(such as criteria) relevant to the chosen subject. (See EE site)
Abide by the dates outlined in the EE handbook (See EE site)
Lead the meetings with their supervisor - students must ask for guidance
and advice in these meetings and prepare for them to maximise the
effectiveness of their supervisors time
Commit to at least 40 hours of work on the Extended Essay, starting in
January 2016 and finish by November 2016
Choose a subject, topic and devise a research question that fits with one of
the subjects we can supervise at school
Do independent work collecting data from primary and secondary sources,
analysing the data and writing a 4000 word essay that reports on the
research process and findings.
Understand and abide by the school policy about academic honesty.

Responsibility of the supervisor

Encourage and support each student allocated to him/her.

Provide advice regarding (a) the research process,(b) writing an extended academic
text in appropriate structure, style and format and (c) interpretation of subjectspecific criteria.

Monitor and record progress

Respond accordingly when responsibilities are not met by student.

Maintain communication with DP coordinator and parents, including formal reporting.

Ensure that the research and the essay are the students own work. i.e. that academic
honesty is maintained.

Complete IB moderation and accountability processes.

Spend approximately 3-5 hours assisting each student.

Provide advice regarding the content of the essay.

Ensure that subject specific language (terminology) is used appropriately in the essay.

Responsibilities of the DP Coordinator and School

Ensure that students determine the subject for their extended essay from the
approved extended essay subjects before choosing the topic.
Ensure that each student has an appropriately qualified supervisor, who is a
teacher within the school.
Provide supervisors and students with the general and subject-specific
information, and guidelines for the extended essay.
Provide supervisors with recent extended essay subject reports and ensure that
supervisors are familiar with the IBO document Academic Honesty.
Explain to students the importance of the extended essay in the overall context
of the Diploma Programme.
Set internal deadlines for the stages of producing the extended essay, including
provision for a concluding interview (viva voce).
Provide appropriate support and training for DP teachers for them to formally
integrate the EE into the curriculum.

Resources
EE handbook for guidance
EE site
https://sites.google.com/a/isswiki.de/extendedessay/
Exemplar essays on the EE site- all were awarded A and B
grades. Look at the style and structure not the content.
Learning Commons team (Mr Lawrence and Mrs Junginger)
for help with research and citation.
Learning commons- has many resources and databases at
http://isslibraries.isswiki.de/
Supervisor- subject specific questions and research
All students have a landesbibliothek card from earlier this year
so can access http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/ which has an
excellent academic research sites such as JSTOR

The students first steps.

Facing the right direction makes a

big difference! Consider topics
students have been introduced to in
lesssons- specialise in that!
Getting the student to think,
research, develop and cite!
Parent acknowledgement
A focused and researchable
question which is narrow enough to
stay under 4000 words AND broad
enough to find resources for an
effective analysis
Consider a range of methods to
showcase research skills

What can parents do?

Read the EE handbook to better
understand the process
Read exemplar essays to gain an idea of
structure and style
Read the students draft and final
version of the essay
Provide GENERAL feedback
you need to spellcheck
Your argument doesnt follow
logically
You need to reword your
paragraphs
You need to check your style-is it
formal?
Check your formatting
Check your citations

What parents cannot do

Dont write it for them!
Suggest specific changes
you should use these terms
Your sentence should be like this
Your paragraphs should be in this order
You should use these sources for your essay like
this

What would be the consequences

Supervisor recognises what is the students work
and what isnt
Supervisor suspects collusion (too much help
given) and reports malpractice to DP
Coordinator as possible breach of Academic
Honesty
Student isnt sure of their topic in the Viva Voce
Potential failing condition for the IB Diploma

How can parents help their children?

Remember the process and product is that of the student
Read the EE handbook and exemplar essays with the
student
Assist the student to use the deadline to plan ahead
rather than react to it just before!
Encourage the student to meet with the supervisor and
for student to plan the meeting and what they want to get
out of it
Allow student to come to you for help-ask them what
they want advice on. Let them drive the process

Further support and guidance

Date

Event

March-May

On-going meetings between supervisor and student. These are at

students request (advised amount of time is 4 hours)

30th May-3rd
June

Progress report meeting with supervisor where student provides

written evidence of work to date. Identify key areas to focus on
before the the summer vacation

6th-10th June

Support meetings as needed in Barcelona with teachers on the trip.

End of June

Parents notified of progress to date ahead of vacation

25th and 26th

August

Two EE work days on return to Grade 12 (check in process to

identify those making sufficient progress and those who need
intervention to support them)

29th August-9th
September

Compulsory meeting with supervisor

4th October

First draft submitted-early submission welcome. Supervisor will

return EE with feedback by 14th October
Final submission 14th November 2016.
Viva Voce style presentations 23-25th November - please come!