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Extended Essay Session 3. Sydney workshop 14-15 July 2011. Topic choice: Choosing topics NOT teachers!. The greatest hurdle for the student They need guidance – a system Which discipline? Find a topic Is it appropriate Is it narrow enough ? Does it involve any ‘double-dipping’?.
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Extended EssaySession 3 Sydney workshop 14-15 July 2011
Topic choice: Choosing topics NOT teachers! • The greatest hurdle for the student • They need guidance – a system • Which discipline? • Find a topic • Is it appropriate • Is it narrow enough? • Does it involve any ‘double-dipping’?
What is the difference between a topic and a research question?p13 ‘The research process’
Extended Essay Topics What can the essay represent to the student? • The opportunity to investigate a topic of general interest • Or of specific relevance to family or culture • A useful document for university entry • Flexibility in style of criteria so that it can really be ‘owned’ But it can be an extension of the a subject course and useful for examinations. Should it be?
Problems of topic choice • Topics not linked to a discipline • There is a criteria for writing the question. The Student MUST do it themselves • Students like macro questions. • The criteria and guidelines must be checked for every question before proceeding. • Students are dogmatic!
Problems of topic choice • Hanaho’s list 1.The extent at which morals are sneaked into children’s literature 2.Humanity’s fascination with immortality. 3.Metaphors in children’s rhymes and their origin (eg Ring a Rosie and the Black Death) 4.Communism and capitalism 5. Chaos Theory
Problems of topic choice • Atlantis • King Arthur • ‘Something to do with PE.’ • Ancient Greek Theatre and its reflection on the social, religious and political life of the Greeks
Typical Problem After five months a student comes to the IB/EE coordinator and says one of the following: ‘My topic is too boring’ ‘My supervisor does not help me, he never returns work submitted’ ‘My supervisor agrees that this topic will not work, there is not enough information/the experiments have failed’ Think about the best way to help this student
Read the Guide subject information about topic choice in your subjectTASK: Work in pairs on topic/question choice problems.Make suggestions to the student as to where to go next. You might even conduct a second interview.