Getting started on the Extended Essay…

1. Getting started on the Extended Essay… “I began to see how I could manage this task once I had sorted out my calendar and agreed on some internal deadlines’’

2. Role of the EE Coordinator • Assures documentation • Inform the regulations • Follow up the deadlines and progress • Individual Interviews – RCs…

3. Role of the Supervisor • Subject specific advice • Supply of resources • Help in time management • Guide towards resources. • Navigate the process of successfully completing the extended essay • Regular consultation as needed. • Track meetings on Record sheet

4. Role of the Coordinator/Supervisor • Guidance, advice and a sympathetic ear • Ask correct questions to guide the path • Remember - good questions pave way for research more than good answers.

5. In extreme cases • A student meeting the supervisor only twice to set up the research question and submission of the final draft will face difficulty for not making use of the support mechanisms and opportunity, open the risk of regulations and suspicion of malpractice. • Make regular check in appointments with your Mentor and the EE Advisor.

6. Flow chart • Topic selection and assigning supervisor • Preliminary research/narrowing the focus/selection of research question • Rough outline/provisional title and planning the work • Writing-data collection, information gathering, fieldwork, experimentation, literature search, reading • Full written draft submitted to the supervisor • Feedback from supervisor • Final editing /last minute changes • Final essay due

7. Technically speaking…. • The first draft is of extreme importance since it forms the skeleton and encourage them to put blood and flesh in to it. • The completed draft is just for an over all reading by the Mentor/Supervisor. • Mentor/Supervisor comments and meetings are extremely important - it is necessary that to have a relationship with students, to know the nature of work and the dedication put in.

8. Ethical issues • Independent research requires ethical consciousness. It differs from area to area and from subject to subject too. • IB reserves the right to apply higher ethical standard to your work than may apply specific role related to the subject. • Example – ethical issues of animal experimentation in psychology and biology.

9. Ethical issues while working with people • Informed consent • Clear the purpose of the interview or data collection • Whether it is ethical or appropriate to reveal the identity of the interviewee • Culturally and socially sensitive setting may require privacy and anonymity.

10. Ethical issues while working with animals • Consult the IB annual experimentation policy.

11. Malpractice • Plagiarism - Presenting others’ work as your own. • Collusion - allowing someone to copy your work. • The person who copies will be guilty of plagiarism and the person who allows to copy will be guilty of collusion. • Duplication - presenting a substitute material at the last moment even if it is yours.

12. It’s the duty of the Mentor/Supervisor to see to the matter of malpractice so it doesn’t emerge at the last moment; enforce guidelines around plagiarism.

13. Why would the essay get a ‘zero’?Criterion A-research question If the research question is not mentioned in the introduction. ‘From the outset I was genuinely interested in finding an answer to my research question and this helped me to persevere when I ran into difficulties.”

14. Criterion B-Introduction Little or no attempt is made to set the research question into context or explain the significance of research question in the introduction. “When I started looking at journal articles and web based resources I found that a lot of work had been done on related issues. This helped me to see that my research was apart of a bigger picture.”

15. Criterion C-Investigation There is little or no evidence that sources have been consulted or data collected, and little or no evidence of planning in the investigation. • “I spent a lot of time looking for resources. Many of the articles I read were just not relevant but when I found this really good one and I was unable to use the bibliography to track down more.”

16. Criterion D-Knowledge and Understanding The essay demonstrates no real knowledge or understanding of the topic studied. • “When I read through the final essay I found that I really understood more about this issue than before and this seemed to come across in what I had written.”

17. Criterion E-Reasoned Argument There is no attempt to develop a reasoned argument in relation to the research question. • “Making a strong argument is not as easy as the ideas have to fit together in a convincing way. I have tried to do this by regularly referring to the research question.”

18. Criterion F-Application of analytical and evaluative skills appropriate to the subject The essay shows no application of appropriate analytical and evaluative skills. • “When I started out I thought there would be some clear, obvious relationships .It seems though that this issue is more complex than I expected.”

19. Criterion G-Language appropriate to the subject The language used is inaccurate and uncertain. There is no effective use of terminology appropriate to the subject. • “When I was reading some of the background material I found I had to look up the meaning of lots of terms. I have tried to explain these words in my own words.”

20. Criterion H-Conclusion Little or no attempt is made to provide a conclusion that is relevant to the research question. • “In the end I found that some of the conclusions I was arriving at were not what I had expected to find when I began working on my essay.”

21. Criterion- I-Formal Presentation The formal presentation is unacceptable, or the essay exceeds 4000 words. • ‘I didn’t worry too much about the organization or appearance of my essay until I began thinking about it from the reader’s point of view.”

22. Criterion J-Abstract The abstract exceeds 300 words • “It wasn’t until I began trying to select journal articles for my essay that I realized the value of an abstract.”

23. Criterion K-Holistic Judgment The essay shows no evidence of holistic judgment qualities. • “My supervisor said that she could sense my excitement and was impressed with my dedication. I have been trying to put this across in my writing.”