It's that time of the school year again - Parent Teacher Student Conferences on Oct 30 and 31!
This also means that there will be a 2 day Extended Essay (EE) Workshop for Y12s and Y13s.
Each year group will have a different area of focus since the Y13s are just finishing their final drafts and should have the final feedback from their supervisors. Their EEs should be 90% done and they should be reflecting back on their first experiences of doing independent research.
I have had parents tell me that their child should spend very little time on the EE in comparison to other subjects. After all, it is only worth 1.5 marks, right? The EE, together with ToK, another 1.5 marks, can add another 3 marks to the 42, making it final total of possible 45 points.
I have told parents that I must, respectfully, disagree with them. Firstly, these independent scholarly research and writing skills that are used in the EE, will be repeatedly used in university, up the doctoral level, if they so choose. Secondly, it's better students make their mistakes with me now and their EE supervisors, than with the moderators who will give the final grade. As EE supervisors, we only give a predicated grade.
Inversely, the Y12s are just starting their EEs, so we want them to have a solid foundation before starting any writing or research. This means:
1) Facilitate inquiry into a subject that they are interested in and will sustain that interest for 4000 words of independent writing. They should NOT developing their research question or thesis statement at this early stage.
2) Know the EE assessment criteria from the IBO. I will break the Y12s students into groups by their EE subjects (eg. Physics, Economics) and they will create posters based on their subject-specific criteria read from the IBO EE Criteria and share them with the class. They will also explain to the class 5 do's and don'ts of the EE, in addition to summarising the assessment criteria.
3) Meet their EE supervisors for the first time and be clear on the roles and expectations of both EE students and their supervisor, based on the IBO EE Criteria.
4) Review online scholarly sources at our school and at the National Library Board (NLB). NLB has over 101 database, many of which can be used 24/7 online remotely. I will use the video below from NLB. Our school also has a school membership so all students have access to this online resource.
5) We will also review citation and in-text referencing according to MLA 8 with Y12s. MLA is the school standard for citation and is approved by the IBO as an accepted form of citation for all student work. The orange abridged version of the MLA 8 (below) will be shared electronically with all Y12s, and we have 2 print copies of the MLA 8, unabridged, to borrow from the library.
I would also like to recommend all Y12s read or skim this book by Alexander Louev who scored a perfect 3 - and Three is the title of his book - on both the ToK essay and the EE. Although the assessment criteria has changed for the EE and the principles in it of scoring high are the same. It's a short, practical, entertaining and direct read about how to do the EE right. Maybe I like it so much because it sounds a lot like what I tell IBDP students myself.
Although Louev is not an IB teacher, as an IBDP student he scored a perfect 3 on both ToK and EE - a total of 43 out of 45 points in total for the IB Diploma. He later went on to study economics and business at Oxford University and now runs his own tutoring business, and has successfully over 400 students in economics and mathematics. His business is so successful is no longer taken on any new students. Here is his website. You can read my review of Three on Goodreads.  |
