Name: ____________________ Subject: __________________Supervisor Name: ______________ Class of: __________________

Extended Essay Guidelines(Guard this with your life!)

Peggy Farris and Carolyn Bason, Extended Essay CoordinatorsGraduating class of 2013

Table of Contents

Student Calendar 3

Extended Essay Basics 4

Choice of Subject 5

Choice of Topic 6

Research Question 6

Across-the-board Assessment Criteria 7-11

Grammar/Conventions 11

Supervisors 12

Sources and Abstract 13

General Advice 14

Grading and Matrix 15

Student Calendar for Extended Essay – Fall 2011

September

Intro to EE September 1, 2011Browse, read widely September/OctoberEE topic/question due September 20Research Log due September 28Mentor Assigned September 30

October

Plagiarism lecture October 4Meet with supervisor by October 14Browse, read widely October/NovemberRefined topic/question due October 14Plagiarism assignment due October 13Bibliography lecture October 25

November

Bibliography assignment due November 2Research log due November 4Meet with supervisor November 30Rough Draft introduction November 18

December

EE bibliography due December 1Research log due December 9Final introduction due December 15Exam December 15

Extended Essay Basics

Focus on original personal research

o Neither we nor your supervisor is the main source of information, words, or editing. The IB examiner wants to see you grappling with a difficult question/topic.

o As a result of this emphasis, there is not class time given to work on the EE. Instead, you will need to complete your EE on your own time.

o Do NOT plagiarize. An original EE is required in order for you to even be considered for an IB Diploma. Messing up your opportunity by using any text or ideas without attributing them to their sources would be a dire mistake.

4,000 words

o Do not write more than 4,000 words. Some examiners will stop reading at 4,000, and according to IB, they have every right to do that since the guidelines are laid out from the beginning of the process.

o Footnotes are included, but your works cited information is not included.

o Count every word, including “a,” “of,” and other short words.

o Your abstract is included! The abstract is a brief summary of your EE placed at the beginning (about ½ of a page). See an example on page 13.

o At the end of the essay, you must include a total word count. (Before you use your Microsoft “word count” option, test it on a small sample of text to ensure that it counts every word.)

Logical Cohesion

o This paper needs to flow together as a formal address to one research question. Do not begin the paper until you have crafted a formal plan

regarding how to address your topic.

o

o

Choice of Subject/Extended Essay Guide

http://occ.ibo.org/ibis/documents/dp/drq/extended_essay/d_0_eeyyy_gui_0903_1_e.pdf

Your subject must be chosen from the following list approved by IB:

Group 1

Category 1 – based on the literature of countries where the language is spoken (all works discussed originally written in the language of the essay)

Category 2 – a comparison of at least one literary work originally written in the language of the essay with a literary work or works originally written in a different language to that of the essay

Group 2

Category 1 – language (specific analysis of the language – use, structure and so on – related to its cultural context or a specific test)

Category 2 – a. sociocultural nature with an impact on the language

b. general cultural nature based on specific cultural artifacts

Category 3 – literature – an analysis of a literary type, based on a specific work or works of literature exclusively from the target language (in the case of a comparison, all texts must be originally written in the target language)

Business and management

Chemistry

Classical Greek and Latin

Computer Science

Dance

Design technology

Economics

Environmental systems and societies

Film

Geography

History

Human Rights

Information technology in a global society

Mathematics

Music

Peace and conflict studies

Philosophy

Physics

Politics

Psychology

Social and cultural anthropology

Theatre

Visual Arts

World religions

- If you want to know more about what is required in a specific subject before beginning, check the link above for the Extended Essay Guide.

- Pick a subject you enjoy. No subject is thought of more highly than any other by examiners, so go with your passion, not anyone else’s.

Choice of Topic

- Your topic needs to be narrow in scope and sufficiently specific to allow you to examine/grapple with your issue or problem deeply. For instance, if you are doing your EE in the subject of history, a topic like “Vietnam War” probably will not allow you to accomplish anything deep or substantial.

- Your topic should allow you to collect or generate information and/or data for analysis and evaluation. For instance, if you are doing your EE in the subject of art, and you pick an artist who is relatively new and about whom there has been little research done, you are essentially crippling yourself.

- Be careful to pick a topic that fits under your subject. Do not pick a sociology topic and try to cram it into English or history. The problem with this plan of attack is that your examiner will be an expert in the subject you choose and will be adhering strictly to the subject-specific assessment criteria. A sociology topic will not receive high marks on English or history criteria.

The Research Question

- Narrow the focus of your topic down even more to formulate a narrow, functional research question. In the case of a chemistry or biology EE, this might be in the form of a hypothesis.

- As you are writing your formal plan and your actual paper, refer to your research question often so that you can check yourself to make sure you are still on track. Everything included in your EE should work to the end of answering/grappling with your question. If you notice that you have gone astray, go back to the last place you addressed the question and start re-working that section.

- Your research question should be challenging—not “How do plants grow?”—yet it must be addressable considering the length, time, and available resources. Take on something that you know you will have to work at but is achievable.

Grammar/Conventions

- Examiners are not grading the EE specifically counting your conventions mistakes. On the other hand, if they see that the first paragraph has two incomplete sentences, they are looking for other elements in the rest of your paper to be inferior. If you are spot-on with your conventions, they are looking for your paper to be high quality in other areas as well.

About You and Your Supervisor

- The supervisor is a tool for you; do not abuse or misuse the opportunity to have an expert in your chose subject helping you on your EE.

o Always be thankful! Remember you are showing that teacher what an IB student represents. Be prepared, honest, dependable, and communicative.

o Know that your supervisor will have the final comment on your meetings when we send the EE in to IB. When we send in your EE, the advisor will be required to write how many hours he spent with you. If the answer to that question is 0, the supervisor must write an explanation. A supervisor cannot make excuses on your behalf in that blank.

- Every time you go to visit your supervisor, you need to fill out the meeting log (I will give you a form) and have your supervisor sign off that you have been there.

- Keep in mind that supervisors may not edit the exact words on your paper. They can give you general comments, answer questions, guide you in the specifics of your subject, and check for plagiarism.

- It would be wise to set up a weekly day and time to meet with your advisor so that both of you get into a routine of meeting at a certain time. I don’t want either of you to be waiting to meet while the other forgot and is at home watching reruns of “Cops”.

- Keep in mind that a supervisor may not edit the exact words on your paper. He can give you general comments, answer questions, guide you in the specifics of your subject, and check for plagiarism. Your EE is your work to edit.

o Bring specific questions for your supervisor to look at with you. For instance, “Does this paragraph seem to fit with my line of thinking, or am I just wandering off on a bird trail?” (Remember that an EE is a thesis-based paper. Everything you say in your paper should lead back to the thesis/research question.)

Sources

- Examiners also require that you include a works cited at the end of your paper; however, they do not require that it be separate as on most of your in-class assignments. In the interests of conserving paper, IB has asked that all citations go directly under the word count on the final piece of paper.

- There will be different expectations for how to cite depending on the subject. Your advisor should be able to help you decide which citation guide you should use (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.).

- Every source used MUST be cited. Do not ever take a chance; if it is someone else’s words or ideas, you need to put quotes around it and attribute the idea to that other person. Plagiarism will cause you to lose your shot at an IB diploma.

Abstract

The following is an example of an abstract:

“There are few models that describe learner behaviour during the simultaneous processing of several types of information, yet this is the defining characteristic of the use of multimedia tools, which bring together media in different informational formats (fixed or moving images, sound, text). Following studies in cognitive psychology concerning the increase in the ability to form mental images of words, this article aims at defining how different multimedia presentation modes affect the learning of foreign language vocabulary (Russian). 60 college students learned Russian phrases and then participated in a recall experiment where the multimedia presentation of the phrases was varied. An effect was observed on word memorisation in the different information presentation modes, suggesting better processing when there is co-referencing of the different sources, especially when the encoding and tests modes are the same. In addition to these experimental results, some principles for the design of multimodal learning tools are discussed.”

- This was taken from the APA website and was written by a British student (hence the weird spellings).

General Advice

- Your English and language teachers have taught you many strategies for prewriting and revising. Use those strategies. Our librarians are experienced in helping with resources. Use those resources.

- Do this assignment! Please do not cripple yourself by waiting until the last minute to work on any section of the requirements. We can feel as much pity for you as you would like, but an IB examiner certainly will not.

- Work on your EE right after you meet with your supervisor. Otherwise, two days, three days will go by, and you might forget everything about which they gave you advice. Keep notes in your Research Log as you meet.

- You can tap outside source (college professors, writers, doctors, engineers), but you need to make sure that you cite all of the information included in your EE that was provided by them.

- Pick something you enjoy; don’t be afraid to pick a topic that seems unusual as long as it interests you.

Grading

- In order to be awarded an IB diploma, you must earn 24 out of a possible 45. Each of the six areas in the hexagon (classes in which you take an IB exam) comprises 7 points of the total, and your EE score combined with your TOK performance is worth 3 additional points.

Matrix You can earn a maximum of 36 points on the EE. The general criteria on pages 7-11 are worth 24 points, and the subject specific criteria comprise the remaining 12 points. Grades are typically awarded as follows:

A: 30-36

B: 25-29

C: 17-24

D: 9-16

E: 0-8