the ib extended essay

advertisement

THE IB EXTENDED ESSAY

Problems of supervision and

How to help the student

THE EXTENDED ESSAY

What is it?

How do I get started?

Good and Bad Research Questions

Some Common Problems

Basic Facts

Personal research by the student

On a question or hypothesis chosen by the student, not assigned by the teacher

In a subject or discipline listed by the IB

(e.g., NOT Linguistics, Sociology or

Mathematical Economics)

In the format of a formal research paper

Basic Facts

Length 4,000 words not including appendices, illustrations, bibliography, footnotes or endnotes with an abstract within 300 words

Basic Facts

Required for the IB Diploma

Counts towards additional diploma points along with Theory of

Knowledge

Assessed according to published criteria

WHO IS INVOLVED IN THE

EXTENDED ESSAY?

The student

The student’s supervisor

The IB Coordinator

The International Baccalaureate

Organization

HOW TO CHOOSE A

RESEARCH TOPIC

Decide which subject interests you the most.

Without personal curiosity and interest, it’s impossible to do research.

HOW TO CHOOSE A

RESEARCH TOPIC

In that subject, make a list of the topical areas in the subject that interest you the most.

HOW TO CHOOSE A

RESEARCH TOPIC

Discuss this list with your teacher your friends your parents and/or anyone else who you think may be able to give you advice or be interested.

HOW TO CHOOSE A

RESEARCH TOPIC

Choose an area from this list, and read more in this area - if possible, with advice from your supervisor.

HOW TO CHOOSE A

RESEARCH TOPIC

While reading, try and list questions that you are curious about.

THIS MUST BE DONE RIGHT

THROUGH THE RESEARCH

PROCESS, SO....

KEEP A RESEARCH

DIARY!

HOW TO CHOOSE A

RESEARCH TOPIC

Ask yourself what data you might need to answer these questions whether you will have access to the data whether you will need to find other sources of data

See whether there has been any research by others in this area.

HOW TO CHOOSE A

RESEARCH TOPIC

Consult the librarian for help with tracking down research papers or writings, and read the abstracts.

HOW TO CHOOSE A

RESEARCH TOPIC

Ask what methods you will need to adopt to answer the questions you have in mind.

HOW TO CHOOSE A

RESEARCH TOPIC

Brainstorm

Draw spider diagrams of questions and issues and connections between them.

HOW TO CHOOSE A

RESEARCH TOPIC

Narrow down the number and scope of your questions as you proceed.

HOW TO CHOOSE A

RESEARCH TOPIC

Consult your supervisor at each stage, and in case of difficulty.

HOW TO CHOOSE A

RESEARCH TOPIC

EXPECT TO CHANGE

YOUR MIND SEVERAL

TIMES BEFORE YOU

FINALLY SETTLE ON A

TOPIC.

WHAT IS A GOOD RESEARCH

QUESTION?

One formulated by the student out of his/her own curiosity or interest

Non-trivial (i.e., substantial, not speculative or too limited in scope, not self-evident)

Sharply enough focused so that the student can answer it in 4,000 words.

EXAMPLE OF A BAD

RESEARCH QUESTION

ECONOMICS

Does globalization affect

Turkey?

EXAMPLE OF A BAD

RESEARCH QUESTION

BIOLOGY

What causes cancer?

EXAMPLE OF A BAD

RESEARCH QUESTION

HISTORY

What would have happened to Turkey if the last

Sultans had been more powerful?

EXAMPLE OF A BAD

RESEARCH QUESTION

GEOGRAPHY

Does Istanbul have a central business district? (variant of an example in The

Extended Essay , IBO, 1998)

EXAMPLE OF A GOOD

RESEARCH QUESTION

ECONOMICS

Is there a connexion between international coffee prices and living standards in

Uganda?

EXAMPLE OF A GOOD

RESEARCH QUESTION

BIOLOGY

The ecology of snails in the Ko ç School campus.

EXAMPLE OF A GOOD

RESEARCH QUESTION

HISTORY

The establishment of foreign schools in

Turkey in the 19 th century

EXAMPLE OF A GOOD

RESEARCH QUESTION

GEOGRAPHY

How has migration affected land use patterns in Van province?

COMMON PROBLEMS

WITH EXTENDED ESSAYS

COMMON PROBLEMS

WITH EXTENDED ESSAYS

Students discover too late that there is too little data, or data is inaccessible.

COMMON PROBLEMS

WITH EXTENDED

ESSAYS

Bad pacing of the research and writing process

COMMON PROBLEMS WITH

EXTENDED ESSAYS

PLAGIARISM

The use of the work of other authors

(texts, data, creative productions, oral statements OR ideas) without proper acknowledgement, with the effect that it appears to be the plagiarist’s own work or idea.

COMMON PROBLEMS

WITH EXTENDED ESSAYS

Over-reliance on web-based sources

COMMON PROBLEMS

WITH EXTENDED

ESSAYS

Students discover too late that their knowledge of the subject is not deep enough.

COMMON PROBLEMS

WITH EXTENDED

ESSAYS

Ethical issues regarding gathering of data or performing of experiments

COMMON PROBLEMS

WITH EXTENDED

ESSAYS

No contribution by the student – the extended essay is a compilation of information from other sources.

EXTENDED ESSAY

ADVISORY with STUDENTS

What does this session cover?

Where you should be in the process now.

What you need to do if you are not there.

Possible problems at this stage, and what to do about them.

Tips and pitfalls

Discussion with subject teachers and librarian.

Where should you be in the EE process by now?

You should have:

– Assembled the material and bibliography for your research

– Performed experiments (where required)

– Recorded data or observations on which your research is based.

– Written up research notes

– Outlined your analysis

– Started writing the SECOND DRAFT

What you need to do if you are not there

Decide whether you still want the IB diploma. If you do…

Show your supervisor what you have done

Ask for advice.

Spend more time on the EE research process to complete what needs to be done up to the second draft.

Submit a second draft with what you have, and try and improve on it AFTER it is returned to you with your supervisor’s comments.

What you SHOULD NOT do if you are not there

DON’T PANIC!

Don’t give up. No extended essay means

NO IB DIPLOMA.

Don’t PROCRASTINATE and DELAY, or pretend that the problem will go away.

Possible Problems at this Stage

1

You have not focused your research question appropriately for the size of the essay or the discipline.

The direction of your research may be contrary to the guidelines.

You have not identified resources for answering your research question.

You have not completed readings or experiments or the gathering of data for your research.

Possible Problems at this Stage

2

You find it difficult to organize, analyze or interpret the material or data required for your research.

You find the material is insufficient or inconclusive for your research.

You feel you don’t know enough in the discipline to be able to complete your research.

If you have not focused your research question appropriately for the size of the essay or the discipline…

Remember that your research question needs to be addressed in 4,000 words.

Remember that the essay has to be firmly in one of the disciplines taught in the IB, e.g., English,

History, Peace & Conflict Studies; but not

Cultural Studies, Mathematical Economics, etc.

Seek your supervisor’s guidance.

Relate your essay to a specific thing, such as a novel, country, time, effect, law. The Ecology of

Snails in the Ko ç School Campus is better than

The Ecology of Turkey .

If the direction of your research is contrary to the guidelines…

Check carefully from the Extended Essay

Guide what the criteria for your essay are.

Refocus the question and start again. (It may be too late to do this, so…)

Complete the essay as you have started to the best of your ability, and hope for the best!

Remember that NO ESSAY MEANS NO

IB DIPLOMA.

If you have not identified all necessary resources…

Tell your supervisor, and ask for advice.

Seek help from the librarian to find various sources of information and/or ideas.

Find people or institutions outside school that may be able to help you, and approach them.

If you have not completed readings or gathering data…

Submit a second draft on the basis of what is available, and try to improve in the third draft.

OR

Complete the readings or data collection in time for your second draft.

If you find it difficult to organize, analyze or interpret the material or data required for your research…

Seek your supervisor’s advice.

Consider whether you need to reword or re-think your research question.

Look for theoretical frameworks or tools in your discipline that can help you analyze or interpret the material you have available.

If you find the material is inconclusive for your research…

Speak to your supervisor.

Re-examine the material and see whether you are missing something.

Reexamine the theoretical “spectacles” with which you are viewing the material.

Examine why it is inconclusive as part of the analysis and discussion in your essay.

If you feel you don’t know enough in the discipline to be able to complete your research…

Seek help from your supervisor to find out what ideas, concepts, frameworks, tools or techniques will help you address the research question.

Read more in the discipline in which you are doing the research.

Seek help from professors or graduate students at universities to teach you what you need to know. (Your supervisor will probably not teach you, but may help you teach yourself. )

TIPS AND PITS

Tips:

– Make sure your question is narrowly focused.

– It helps to exceed by about 20-30% the word limit in the first few drafts, and cut it back to the maximum of 4,000 for the final.

– Keep assessing each draft of your essay against the General and Subject Criteria in the Extended Essay Guide, or ask your supervisor to do so.

– Record ALL sources that you consult and use, and cite them carefully.

TIPS AND PITS

More Tips:

– Keep a Research Diary or Journal or Notebook, especially a pocket-sized one that you can carry about and record any ideas that occur to you anywhere.

– Frequently draw spider diagrams to get the bigger picture, and make links that you know of, and look for other possible links that you may have missed.

– Make sure that you present, analyze and interpret data – not just present them!

– Use the technical vocabulary and concepts of the discipline in which you are working don’t write like a journalist.

TIPS AND PITS

STILL more tips:

– Remember that if you give up on the essay, you still need to hand in a Yearly Project, and you disqualify yourself from the IB Diploma. So…

– Complete the essay as best you can, even if you run into problems. That way you will have learnt something valuable!

– Write the Introduction LAST, so that you can give the reader a clear statement of the research question, and how you have addressed it (a

“roadmap” of the essay).

TIPS AND PITS

Pitfalls:

– Don’t neglect to refer to BOTH sections of your Extended Essay Guide FREQUENTLY.

– DON’T leave everything till the last. The deadlines for drafts are there to help you pace your work. They are not a monument to my alleged sadism!

– Do NOT rely entirely or mostly on web based resources because of they often tend to be unreliable.

TIPS AND PITS

MORE Pitfalls

KEEP BACK-UPS (note the plural)

OF ALL YOUR WORK. You will be surprised how well your computer knows when to crash.

BEWARE OF PLAGIARISM

(especially the unintentional kind)! The consequences are UNPLEASANT.

HELPFUL WEBSITES

http://www.hamilton.edu/academic/Resource/WC/index.h

tml http://sja.ucdavis.edu/avoid.htm#guidelines http://web.mit.edu/writing/index.html

MIT Writing Centre.

Many of the pages here have restricted access. http://webster.commnet.edu/mla/index.shtml

This is a comprehensive guide to writing research papers which also contains the MLA style guide whose citation conventions you to adopt in writing your essay. In addition, it also contains sections on plagiarism and citation.

Download