1. IB Extended Essay Orientation
Berlin Metropolitan School
30 June 2014
2. The Goals of the Orientation
Know the key features and basic requirements of the
Extended Essay
Understand the importance of the Extended Essay within
the IB Diploma Programme
Know the components of an A-grade Extended Essay and
understand the steps necessary to successfully complete
an Extended Essay
Know where you can go for help and guidance
3. What is the Extended Essay?
“The extended essay is an in-depth study of a focused topic
chosen from the list of approved Diploma Programme
subjects—normally one of the student’s six chosen subjects
for the IB Diploma. It is intended to promote high-level
research and writing skills, intellectual discovery and
creativity.”
Extended Essay Guide. International Baccalaureate
Organization. Cardiff: Pearson, 2012. Web.
4. Tell me more!
Required for all IB Diploma Students
Formal academic essay
4,000 words
Includes an abstract, table of contents, works cited page…
40 hours over one year
Completed outside of class time
You may not reuse an essay written for a course
Assessed externally
A total of 36 points, divided into bands
A letter grade A-E is given according to the band
Up to 3 points are awarded toward the diploma together
with the TOK essay (more about this later)
5. Why Do I Have to Do This?
Because the IB says so!
Because it is an opportunity to focus on an area of study
that appeals to YOU!
It is a chance to develop your own ideas and theories
independently
It is excellent preparation for university-level work
6. What else should I know?
You will have a BMS teacher as a supervisor
Internal deadlines
Viva Voce after completion
Must show knowledge of the theoretical framework of the
subject (connections to TOK). Should not be merely narrative
or descriptive
Science subjects require experimental work
Language
Group 1 or Group 2 - target language.
Other essays - official IB language: English, French, or Spanish
(BMS supervisor must be able read it)
You are NOT required to make a new contribution to
knowledge
7. What is the Role of the Supervisor?
Discuss the topic and help you formulate a
precise research question
Advise you on resources & techniques of
research
Read and comment on the first full draft
Monitor your progress to ensure that the work
submitted is your own
Complete a supervisor’s report
Participate in the Viva Voce
8. What is the Viva Voce?
A 10-15 minute concluding interview
An opportunity for you to reflect on the process
and the result
An opportunity for you to reflect on successes
and difficulties in the research process
A check on plagiarism and other forms of
malpractice
Helps your supervisor write his/her report
9. How Do I get Started?
1st STEPS IN THE EE RESEARCH PROCESS (Developing a Research Question)
① Choose a subject
② Choose your supervisor
③ Choose your topic
Interesting and challenging
Limited in scope and narrow enough for in-depth exploration
Offer the opportunity for information/data/evidence gathering and analysis
④ Background reading & find out about available resources
⑤ Formulate an initial research question
⑥ Look again at the information you have. You might need to
change your research question
10. This research question is pretty
important, right?
Yes! Choosing a good research question is
probably the most important part of the process.
Part of the assessment criteria AND affects all other parts of
the essay
Should be narrow and specific
Must support an investigation that leads to analysis and
evaluation
Should be challenging, but something you can explore within
4,000 words and 40 hours
Usually formulated as a question, but may be stated as a
hypothesis
11. Now what? Research
① Develop a detailed action plan
② Read and record
Record the source’s bibliographic information
Record direct quotes as quotes
Take care to source paraphrases
③ Assemble and organize your notes.
④ Write an outline or a skeleton essay
⑤ Think about your research question. Have you found
sufficient information?
⑥ Seek out more sources, read and record
13. Now what? Drafting & Finalizing
① Write your first draft and hand it in to your supervisor
② Get feedback and redraft
Additional research if needed
③ Write final draft and abstract
④ Revise and polish
⑤ Submit on or before the due date
⑥ Attend the Viva Voce
14. Time Management
7/8 of your time will be spent,
planning, researching, reading
and note-taking, revising research
question, further research, revising
drafts, etc.
1/8 of your time will be spent
writing
15. What are the deadlines?
February 2015: Choose subject, search for suitable topic and research question
and meet informally with subject teacher
March 2015: Students will be assigned supervisors
April 2015: Give topic and outline given to supervisor
May 2015: Give research question to supervisor
June 2015: Meet with your supervisor and identify resources
July – August 2015: Continue research over the summer
September 2015: First draft is due (minimum 2,500 words). Get feedback from
supervisor
November 2015: Preliminary final draft (4,000 words) is due to supervisor
December 2015: Final copy of the essay due to supervisor. Two copies required.
Complete Extended Essay cover sheet
January 2016: Viva Voce conducted. Supervisors submit essays to the IB
coordinator
February 2016: IB coordinator submits essays to the examiner
16. What are the formal presentation
requirements?
Title page
Abstract
300 words stating the research question, scope of investigation and conclusion
reached in the essay
Contents page
Introduction
set the research question in context; explain the significance of the topic
Body
development of a reasoned argument, backed by evidence with explanation of
how evidence was discovered
Conclusion
References and bibliography (works cited page)
Appendices *
17. Tell me more about the word count.
4,000 words is the upper limit
The introduction, body, and conclusion (including any
quotations) are counted
Abstract, acknowledgements, contents page, equations
or calculations, footnotes and parenthetical references,
bibliography, etc. are NOT counted
The appendices are not included in the word count and
examiners are not required to read them. DO NOT put
important information in the appendices.
18. How is the essay assessed?
10 criteria (possible points):
A. Research Question (2)
B. Introduction (2)
C. Investigation (4)
D. Knowledge and understanding of the topic studied (4)
E. Reasoned argument (4)
F. Application of analytical and evaluative skill appropriate to
the subject (4)
G. Use of language appropriate to the subject (4)
H. Conclusion (2)
I. Formal presentation (4)
J. Abstract (2)
K. Holistic Judgment (4)
19. How is the essay marked?
Point scale of 0-36 based on the 10 criteria
A-E letters grades given by point scale
30-36 points – A
25-29 points – B
17-24 points – C
9-16 points – D
0-8 points – E
20. How does the EE count towards
the total diploma points?
21. Advice from Examiners
Make sure you choose a topic that fits an IB approved subject!
Start work early
Read the assessment criteria
Think carefully about the research question
Plan how, when, and where you will find materials (schedule)
Expect problems and unforeseen delays. Plan accordingly
Proofread!
Make sure all basic requirements are met (get full points for these!)
Maintain a good working relationship with your supervisor
Use the library and consult librarians
22. Advice from Examiners
What NOT to do:
Don’t forget to analyze the research question
Don’t use the Internet uncritically
Don’t forget to acknowledge sources and record source
information as you read and take notes
Don’t cite sources in your bibliography that weren’t used in
the essay
Don’t merely describe or report. You must use evidence to
support the argument
23. Advice from Calvin
Watterson, Bill. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Pub., 2005.
Print.
24. Final Thoughts
The more background you have in a subject, the better chance
you have of writing a good extended essay
The more interest and excitement you have for the topic, the
better chance you have of writing a good extended essay
The more time you give yourself to plan and research, the
better chance you have of writing a good extended essay
Editor's Notes
In the next three sessions, we will discuss academic honesty and tools you can use to avoid plagiarism, learn how to use EasyBib to take notes and organize all of the resources you will use in the course of writing the essay, and finally, on Wednesday, we will
Before we begin, please write down any burning questions you have about the Extended Essay. We will address anything that wasn’t answered in the presentation at the end of today’s session or on Wednesday if we need more time, or it is something I can’t answer right away.
Develop creative and critical thinking, systematic research and writing as Uni prep, “experience the excitement of intellectual discovery” IB EE Guide
(but no editing)
A short interview between you and your supervisor where you answer questions and discuss the essay, the process of research and writing, answer questions about sources, and so on. The supervisor must sign-off that they believe the essay was written solely by you and this helps them to do that and to add any overall comments in their report to the examiners
The very first thing you will need to do is decide which subject and topic you would like to write about. After talking with your supervisor and doing some
Background reading and (preliminary information gathering), you can begin to formulate a research question.
5. If you aren’t able to find or generate the information you need,
We can look at some examples of research questions on Wednesday
Detailed action plan – when and where will you look for information, how will you record your findings, how will you analyze them, at what point will you begin writing
Tomorrow we will talk more about research and note-taking
Your supervisor and the librarian can help you find sources
Journal articles: use library databases
We will look more closely at sources for sources on Wed.
Supervisor will not edit you draft. You will need to proofread (multiple times) and edit
In your 1st semester courses begin thinking about potential subjects and topics
You will be given progress forms that you and your supervisor will need to fill out and submit after each deadline
*examiner is not required to read appendices. Don’t put essential information there.
These are part of the point structure. Don’t lose points by omitting any of these
More details in EE guide
-Assessment criteria (A-K) is the same for all essays, but interpreted differently according to subject
-Read specific assessment criteria when looking over your first draft A, H, I, J = 10 points just by following instructions and with simple write in case of abstract and conclusion (judgment is on inclusion of elements, not quality)
-We can look more closely at this on Wednesday
