Introduction to the IB
Extended Essay
Assignment #1
• Before this presentation begins, take 5-10
minutes to write down any and all
questions you have about the IB extended
essay. Use a separate sheet of paper that
can be turned in. You will revisit this list
when the presentation is over.
Assignment #2
• You need to take notes from this presentation.
You will complete an open-notes quiz when it is
over (from the last slide of the presentation).
• Use this opportunity to practice your note-taking
skills. Do not try to write down every word in the
presentation! Read the slides, let your brain
quickly process them, and then write your notes
as words or phrases that are meaningful to you.
What is the extended essay?
• Commonly called the EE, the extended
essay is the end result of a research
project undertaken by Diploma Program
students in their 11th and 12th grade years.
It must be completed in order for a student
to earn the IB diploma.
• Students spend about 40 hours working
on the paper, which is a research paper or
lab report of no more than 4,000 words.
What is the extended essay?
• The EE is similar to a college-level research
paper. It should be well planned, including
rigorous research from scholarly sources (more
on this later).
• It is presented as professionally as possible—
the rough and final drafts will be word-processed
and adhere to the requirements for “formal
presentation” described in the IBO Extended
Essay Guide (or EEG).
How is the EE assessed?
• The EE is assessed externally—this
means that, when you have turned in your
final draft in the fall of your 12th grade year,
it will be sent to an IB-trained
reader/grader, who can be located
anywhere in the world. That person will
score your essay, and the score will be
figured into your overall final diploma
score.
What sources are appropriate for
the EE?
• You should use scholarly sources from the
very beginning of your research. This
means essays, articles, and books written
by professionals with advanced academic
degrees in the appropriate field of study.
Scholarly sources can be found on the
Alabama Virtual Library, in the FHS library
or public library (for some subjects), and in
college libraries.
What sources are appropriate for
the EE?
• You should try, whenever possible, to
locate and use primary sources for your
EE. Your EE supervisor (a teacher at FHS
with a degree in the subject of your EE)
will help you determine what primary
sources would be most useful for your
research question. Your EE supervisor is
the person you should refer to any time
you have questions about the legitimacy of
a source.
What sources are NOT appropriate
for the EE?
• Your high school textbooks are not appropriate
sources for the EE. They contain information
that should become your common knowledge
about a subject.
• Sources found through internet search engines
will probably not be appropriate. Wikipedia and
other online “information” sources are not
appropriate. You will consult your EE supervisor
for advice on which internet sources, if any, can
be used.
What subjects are appropriate for
the EE?
• According to the IBO’s Extended Essay
Guide, your subject must be “chosen
from the list of approved Diploma
Programme subjects”
• You must first choose a broad subject
area, then narrow it to a topic, then refine
the topic to a research question.
What subjects are appropriate for
the EE?
• For FHS students, the list includes
Biology
Chemistry
Film
Group 1 (Literature written in English)
History
Mathematics
Music
Visual Arts
The research question
• Within those subject areas are a myriad of
appropriate research questions. The next
two slides will show you research
questions from the current group of IB
seniors here at FHS.
• History: What effect did the newly
revolutionized military tactics and
strategies have on technologies produced
during World War II?
examples of research questions
• Mathematics: What is card counting within
the card game blackjack, and will it
increase a player’s chance of winning?
• Biology: How do differing levels of
gibberellic acid affect the growth of zinnia
elegans?
examples of research questions
• History: What were the political and
economic relations between the British
and the Confederacy during the American
Civil War?
• History: Which of King Henry VIII’s wives
had the most influence over his decisions?
Research question, cont’d
• Developing a research question will be
one of the most crucial parts of the
extended essay process. Your research
question must be specific enough to
answer thoroughly and meaningfully, but
broad enough to justify writing 4,000
words (approximately 10 double spaced
pages) about it.
Conducting Research
• While developing and refining your
research question, you will also be
working on preliminary research. The next
three slides will describe the type of
research generally undertaken for each of
the subject areas available at FHS.
Biology/Chemistry
• The most successful science EEs include
a lab report describing an experiment
conducted by the student. You should
begin with research of scholarly literature
on your topic, but you will also need to
include data from an experiment.
History
• History EEs are somewhat challenging,
because a successful and high-scoring
paper cannot be a simple narrative or
description of historical occurrences. Your
goal is to complete a “critical analysis of
source material, and not depend on
summarizing general secondary sources.”
Focus on a local history topic and/or use
of primary sources is recommended.
Group 1
(Literature written in English)
• A group 1 paper must include very specific
textual analysis of a work (or perhaps two)
originally written in English. You may also
discuss a translated work, but only by
comparing it to a work originally written in
English. You will engage in close reading
of a text and scholarly criticism of it, and
you will include numerous quotations from
the text in your essay.
Film
• You may only write a film essay if you
enroll in the IB film course.
• You must analyze an aspect of film in a
scholarly way. Primary sources will
include films, scripts, screenplays, scores,
and interviews with persons involved in
making a film.
Music
• You may only write a music EE if you are
enrolled in IB music.
• The topic and research question must lead
you to the scholarly analysis of an aspect
of instrumental music that is performed—
NOT biographies of musicians, the
structure of musical instruments, or song
lyrics.
Mathematics
• Math EEs should involve scholarly analysis of a
mathematical formula, theory, or issue. Here are
some sample research questions from the EEG:
• What was the role of mathematics, and
geometry in particular, in navigation when sailors
relied on the stars?
• What is the legacy of Archimedes’ calculations of
circular and parabolic areas in today’s methods
of integration?
Visual Arts
• According to the EEG, “the research may
be generated or inspired by the student’s
direct experience of artwork, craftwork or
design, or interest in the work of a
particular artist, style or period….Personal
contact with artists, curators, and so on is
strongly encouraged, as is the use of local
and/or primary sources.”
requirements
• The next four slides contain the overall
requirements and recommendations,
directly quoted from the IBO Extended
Essay Guide, for the student writing the
EE.
Requirements from IBO
EEG
• choose a topic that fits into one of the
subjects on the approved extended essay list
(in the Vade Mecum)
• observe the regulations relating to the
extended essay
• meet deadlines
• acknowledge all sources of information and
ideas in an approved academic manner [such
as MLA or APA documentation style].
Strong Recommendations
for students from IBO EEG
• start work early
• think very carefully about the research
question for their essay
• plan how, when and where they will find
material for their essay
• plan a schedule for both researching
and writing the essay, including extra
time for delays and unforeseen
problems
Strong Recommendations
for students from IBO EEG
• record sources as their research progresses
(rather than trying to reconstruct a list at the
end)
• have a clear structure for the essay itself
before beginning to write
• check and proofread the final version
carefully
• make sure that all basic requirements are
met (for example, all students should get full
marks for the abstract).
What are the “basic requirements”
from the previous slide?
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Title page
Abstract
Contents page
Introduction
Body (development/methods/results)
Conclusion
References and bibliography
Appendices
Who supervises and helps with the
EE?
• Mrs. Bodenmann in room 302 (next to the
computer lab) is the extended essay
coordinator for the school. She will
approve your subject choices and set
deadlines for your completion of the essay.
Who supervises and helps with the
EE?
• Mrs. Bodenmann will assign you an extended
essay supervisor—a teacher at FHS who has
specialized knowledge in the subject area you
choose to write about. This person may or may
not be an IB teacher.
• The EE supervisor will advise you during the
entire process, will read your rough draft and
give you comments for revising it, and will read
your final draft and submit a predicted grade to
the IBO.
When do you work on your EE?
• During 11th and 12th grade, most of the
work on your EE must be done outside of
the school day. It is a project to be
completed independently of your
coursework.
• Meetings with your EE supervisor or the
EE coordinator may sometimes take place
during the school day (for example, at
lunchtime).
Does the EE count for a grade here
at FHS?
• During 11th and 12th grade, you will have
assignments to complete and turn in to Mrs.
Bodenmann. These assignments ensure that
you are completing your EE in a timely manner,
as recommended in the IBO EEG.
• In 11th grade you will receive a grade in the
Theory of Knowledge class for completing these
assignments.
• In 12th grade you will receive a grade in your
English class for completing these assignments.
Timeline for completing the EE
• Fall of 11th grade: choose a subject and topic,
formulate a research question, plan how to
answer that research question, and begin
conducting research
• Spring of 11th grade: continue conducting
research and write a rough draft of the essay
• Summer after 11th grade: if necessary, continue
conducting research (esp. for science papers)
• Fall of 12th grade: revise the essay according to
your supervisor’s comments and prepare it for
evaluation by an IB grader; turn in final copy to
Mrs. Bodenmann
End of EE information
• The informational section of the
presentation is now over. You should take
out the list of questions that you made
before the presentation began and cross
out any questions that have been
answered. Then, turn in the list (make
sure your name is on it).
Assignments 3, 4, &5
• For the next several days of IB seminar
class, you will be spending time in the
library to explore EE topics and read
sample essays. Assignments 3, 4, and 5,
which are described on the next several
slides, should be completed during your
library time (and perhaps other class time)
and turned in. You should write down the
assignments from the next 5 slides.
Assignment #3
• Over the next few days you will be reading real
extended essays that IBO has provided to serve
as examples for students. For each essay that
you read, you will write a response and turn it in.
The requirements for the response are on the
next two slides.
• You should copy the requirements and use them
each time you read/write about a sample essay.
You must read essays from at least 3 different
subject areas; you will turn in those three
responses.
Response to sample EEs
(1 of 2 slides)
1. List subject area and title of essay
2. What is the research question for the
essay? It should be directly stated in the
abstract. If it is not, you must try to
reconstruct it after reading the essay.
3. What kind of research did the student do?
Write at least three sentences describing
it.
Response to sample EEs
(2 of 2 slides)
4. What were the conclusions of the
student’s research?
5. What were the strengths and weaknesses
of the essay? List at least 3 of these (in
any combination).
6. What did you learn from reading this
essay? Write at least three sentences.
Assignment #4
• Think about the subject areas you might
want to explore in your EE.
• From the list in the presentation, choose
TWO subjects that you think are the best
fit for you. For each subject, write a
paragraph about why you would like to
write an EE in that subject.
• Turn in the two paragraphs.
Assignment #5
• Find three scholarly sources (most likely from
the AVL) on a topic that interests you in that
subject area. Read each essay, take notes from
your reading, and turn in one page of notes per
essay. At the top of each page, include the
necessary bibliographic information on the
source, according to MLA format (see the
Purdue University Online Writing Lab for MLA
format: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ ).
Turn in those three pages of notes.
Notes quiz
• 1. Who will read the rough draft of your
EE?
• 2. At FHS, can you write an EE in the
subject area of peace and conflict studies?
• 3. When do you turn in the final draft of the
EE?
• 4. What is the maximum length of the EE?
• 5. What is the second item in the EE on
the IB “basic requirements” list?