10th grade Personal
Project
Personal project

The project consists of:
A
product or outcome
A
process journal
A
written report
Aims

The aims of the personal project are to help students:

participate in a sustained, self-directed inquiry within a
global context

generate creative new insights and develop deeper
understandings through in-depth investigation

demonstrate the skills, attitudes and knowledge
required to complete a project over an extended
period of time

communicate effectively in a variety of situations

demonstrate responsible action through, or as a result
of, learning

appreciate the process of learning and take pride in
their accomplishments
Objectives

Objective A: Investigating
 i.
Define a clear goal and global context for the
project, based on personal interests
 Define
a goal based on personal interests
 Identify
prior learning and subject-specific
knowledge
 Demonstrate
research skills
 Goals
should be achievable, yet challenging
 Some
goals are overly complex or too simplistic
Objectives

Objective B: Planning

i. Develop criteria for the product/outcome

Develop a proposal of action/criteria

Plan and record the development process

Demonstrate self-management skills

Criteria can be a checklist or rubric

Criteria should be determined once you have a clear
understanding of what you want to achieve

Document your criteria in your process journal and use
them to assess the final outcome/product

Example: criteria for a personal fitness program would
include a proposed running schedule with interim
projected running times, and the goal of the final
running time
Objectives

Criterion C: Taking action
i. Create a product/outcome in response to the goal,
global context and criteria
 Demonstrate
communication and social skills
 Demonstrate
thinking skills
 Demonstrate
service as action where applicable
Objectives

Objective D: Reflecting
 i.
Evaluate the quality of the product/outcome
against your criteria
 ii.
Reflect how completing the project has
extended your knowledge and understanding of
the topic and the global context
 iii.
Reflect on your development as IB learners
through the project
Requirements

Students are expected to spend at least 25 hours on
their personal project. This time includes:
 meeting
with supervisors
 independent
learning through research, planning,
development and completion of the project
 reporting
of the project

All projects are registered with IB

Successful completion of the personal project is a
requirement for receiving the IB MYP certificate

Your project may be displayed at the MYP certificate
celebration night
Role of the Supervisor

The purpose of the supervisor is to support students
during the project

You will choose your supervisor based on the list of
available supervisors

For your first meeting you will bring a goal statement
that you have written stating the goal of your project

Your supervisor will:
 Provide
guidance
 Confirm
authenticity of work submitted
 Assess
project based on criteria
Academic Honesty

The academic honesty form will help your supervisor
authenticate your work

Each time you meet with your supervisor, your supervisor
must use the academic honesty form provided by IB to:
 Note
meeting dates and main points discussed
 Declare
the academic honesty of your work
 Document
 Final
a minimum of three meetings
declaration must be signed by the student and
the supervisor on submission of the entire project
Action

A. investigation: taking an inventory of your interests, skills
and talents to consider opportunities for personal project.
Identify a need through: media, interviews of experts,
surveys, and observations/personal experiences.

B. Preparation: planning, recognizing responsibilities and
actions, resources and timelines, acquiring skills; all geared
toward completion of the project.

C. Action: implementing the plan.

D. Reflection: describing the experience, expressing feelings,
generating ideas and asking questions. Occurs throughout
to assist with revising and to internalize the experience.

E. Demonstration: using metacognition to determine what
and how you’ve learned and what you’ve accomplished,
capturing the totality of the experience.
Global Contexts

Global contexts help students engage in a cycle of
inquiry and a process that leads him/her from
academic knowledge to thoughtful, principled action.

In order to choose a global context, consider:
 What
do I want to achieve through my project?
 What
do I want others to understand through my
work?
 What
 How
impact do I want my project to have?
can a specific context give greater purpose to
my project?
Global Contexts

You must choose one of the following for your
project, to establish the relevance of your
inquiry (why it matters) and to define your goal:
 identities
and relationships
 orientation
in space and time
 personal
and cultural expression
 scientific
and technical innovation
 globalization
 fairness
and sustainability
and development
Global Contexts
Global context
Examples
Identity and
relationships
Examine the question, “Why does rap speak to
me?”.
Orientation in space
and time
Explore the development of rap as a style of music
across continents.
Personal and cultural
expression
Perform a rap song for peers and have a questionand-answer session.
Scientific and
technical innovation
Design a 3D model of a solar device with instructions
for construction.
Globalization and
sustainability
Debate Hervé Kempf’s ideas about “how the rich
are destroying the Earth”.
Fairness and
development
Exploring the intersection of race and inequality.
Global context
Examples of personal
projects
Identities and relationships
Students will explore identity; beliefs and values;
personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health;
human relationships including families, friends,
communities and cultures; what it means to be human.
Keeping culinary
traditions; a video
series following family
recipes with historical
relevance
Orientation in space and time
Students will explore personal histories; homes and
journeys; turning points in humankind; discoveries;
explorations and migrations of humankind; the
relationships between and the interconnectedness of
individuals and civilizations from personal, local and
global perspectives.
Explorers in search of
a new world;
immigration over the
ages through visual
texts
Personal and cultural expression
Students will explore the ways in which we discover and
express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and
values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and
enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic.
Culture and selfexpression through
dance at the local
community arts
center; a
performance
Scientific and technical innovation
Students will explore the natural world and its laws; the
interaction between people and the natural world;
how humans use their understanding of scientific
principles; the impact of scientific and technological
advances on communities and environments; the
impact of environments on human activity; how
humans adapt environments to their needs.
Nano fibers build
stronger bikes; a
prototype bike with
nano fibers
Globalization and sustainability
Students will explore the interconnectedness of
human-made systems and communities; the
relationship between local and global processes; how
local experiences mediate the global; the
opportunities and tensions provided by the worldinterconnectedness; the impact of decision-making on
humankind and the environment.
The role of developing
countries in protecting
the tropical rainforest; a
collection of slides
Fairness and development
Students will explore rights and responsibilities; the
relationship between communities; sharing finite
resources with other people and with other living
things; access to equal opportunities; peace and
conflict resolution.
Supporting fair trade;
Cocoa trade in Ghana;
an awareness
campaign for our
school cafeteria to
promote fair trade
Approaches to Learning

Personal project is a culminating activity which
demonstrates your development of ATL skills.

You will use ATL skills throughout the project, especially in
the written report.

ATL’s can be chosen at the beginning, during, or after
the project is complete.

The ATL(s) you choose to focus on can change
throughout the project as you make new discoveries.
Approaches to Learning
ATL skill categories
ATL skill clusters
Communication
I. Communication
Social
II. Collaboration
Self-management
III. Organization
IV. Affective
V. Reflection
Research
VI. Information literacy
VII. Media Literacy
Thinking
VIII. Critical thinking
IX. Creative thinking
X. Transfer
Process Journal

You are expected to document your process in your
process journal.

It can be written, visual, audio, or a combination.

You are responsible for producing evidence of
addressing the four objectives on which you will be
graded, in order to show mastery.

Process journals allow your supervisors to assess:
 Your
working behaviors
 Your
academic honesty
Process Journal Extracts
•
In order to demonstrate your development in all criteria, you
must submit 10 extracts from your process journal as
appendices in your report.
•
These 10 extracts represent the key developments of your
project.
•
Select extracts that demonstrate how you addressed each
of the objectives, or annotate to explain.

An extract may include:

annotated illustrations or research

artifacts from museums, performances,
galleries

visual thinking diagrams

bulleted lists

charts

Pictures, photographs, sketches

short paragraphs

30 seconds or less of visual/audio material

notes

screenshots of a blog/website

Ttmelines, action plans

self and peer assessment feedback
Process Journal Extracts

Relevant material should be included in your
extracts
 example:
a segment of a completed survey
you conducted

Extracts are simply supporting evidence of the
process of your project

They will not be individually assessed

Extracts should display ATL’s, global contexts,
goals, and anything necessary to demonstrate
that you’ve met the criteria
The process journal is:
The process journal is
not:
• Used throughout the project to document
development
• An evolving record of intents, processes,
accomplishments
• For recording initial thoughts and developments,
brainstorming, inquiry and questions raised
• For recording interactions with sources, teachers,
supervisors, external contributors
• For recording selected, annotated and/or edited
research for bibliography
• For storing useful information such as quotations,
pictures, ideas, fabric samples, color swatches
• A means of exploring ideas and solutions
• A place for evaluating work completed
• A place for reflecting on learning
• Devised by the student in a format that suits his/her
needs
• A record of reflections and formative feedback
received.
• Used on a daily
basis (unless useful
to the student)
• Written up after the
process has been
completed
• Additional work on
top of the project;
it is part of and
supports the
project
• A diary with
detailed writing
about what was
done
• A static document
with only one
format
Resources

Students should select relevant and reliable information
from a vareity of sources to develop their project.

To reach the highest achievement levels through
investigating, students must select a range of sources
and source types (books, magazines, reliable internet
sources, etc.)

When selecting sources, students should consider:

credibility of author

currency

accuracy

relevance

intended audience

objectivity
Resources

Students should select sources at the beginning
stages of their projects.

Students should continue to develop their
research during the process of completing the
project.

Record information collected from sources in
your process journal, along with annotations and
possible uses.

This information will be helpful when you write
your report.
Personal Project
Objectives- review

A: Investigating
 Students
should be able to:
 i.
define a clear goal and context for the
project, based on personal interests
 ii.
Identify prior learning and subject-specific
knowledge relevant to the project
 iii.
demonstrate research skills.
Personal Project
Objectives- review

B: Planning
 Students
should be able to:
 i.
develop criteria for the
product/outcome
 ii.
Plan and record the development
process of the project
 iii.
demonstrate self-management
skills.
Personal Project
Objectives- review

C: Taking action
 Students
should be able to:
 i.
create a product/outcome in response to
the goal, context and criteria
 ii.
 iii.
demonstrate thinking skills
demonstrate communication and social
skills.
Personal Project
Objectives- review

D. Reflecting
 Students
should be able to:
 i.
evaluate the quality of the product/outcome
against their criteria
 ii.
reflect on how completing the project has
extended their knowledge and understanding of
the topic and the global context
 iii.
reflect on their development as an IB learner
through the project.
Assessment

The personal project consists of three
components:
Personal project
component
How it is assessed
Focus on topic leading
towards a
product/outcome
Evident in the
presentation/report
Process journal
A selection of extracts in
appendices of the report
Report
The content of the report
assessed using all four
criteria
Types Of The Personal Project
Many Forms:
 Original Art Work – All Types
 Written Work
 Literary Fiction
 Original Science Experiment
 Invention
 Business Marketing Plan
Timeline

You will be given a timeline to follow.

Be smart- follow it.

Some students wait until last minute and
do not pass their project.
3 Items to turn in

Product/outcome

The process journal

The written report
The Written Report
 The personal project report demonstrates a student’s
engagement with his or her personal project by
summarizing the experiences and skills recorded in the
process journal.
 The report should be presented in identifiable sections,
following the project objectives- investigating,
planning, taking action, and reflecting.
 The report must include evidence for all the strands of
each criteria.
The Written Report
 The report does not replace the product/outcome of
the personal project. If the product is in written form,
such as a novel, this is considered as distinct from the
personal project.
 The report aims to inform and explain the process of
the personal project in a concise form and consists of
sections with subheadings.
 Length: 1,500-3,500 words
Example Of The Personal Project
An actual Inuit Koriac - no glue, no metal
Example Of The Personal Project
Designed and
created his own
soccer stadium.
Worked with
local architects
and researched
various facility
designs.
Jeffrey’s boat
Researched,
designed and built a
boat that floated in
school pool.
Example Of The Personal Project
Organized a
Colorado Race
for Special
Olympics from
start to finish;
raised several
thousand
dollars through
the project.
Example Of The Personal Project
Bee Keeping
project to
design, build
and run a bee
farm for
production of
honey.
Example Of The Personal Project
Created a ‘Quilts
from the Heart’
project with
teenage girls in
residential
treatment facility.
Donated finished
quilts to needy
families at local
neo-natal clinic.
Example of a Personal Project
Children of
Chernobyl Project
Created web
site and fundraising project to help
children of Chernobyl disaster.
Examples of Personal Projects
•Making Native American hand carved flutes
•Rebuilding a car engine or doing a custom paint job on a car
•Designing, filming and editing a music video or short film
•Planting a lawn with irrigation systems
•Black and White art photography (not just a scrapbook)
•Creating web site of tutorials on a subject
•Japanese flower arranging
•Recording an original music CD of music you write
•Making a surfboard/skimboard/skateboard of your design
•Teaching disaster preparedness to immigrants
•Starting a club/sport/activity
•Cook book of family recipes that you make and explain
Next Steps
•
•
•
•
•
•
Think of a topic
Your topic must be approved by me!!!
Find a supervisor from the provided list
Work on a goal statement based on your topic
to take to your supervisor for your first meeting
Determine a format for your process journal
Beginning journaling right away!