The Extended Essay Handbook

American International School Kuwait

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TheExtendedEssay
SupervisedStudyPresentation Monday,September16,2013 Mrs.Murray
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WhatIsTheExtendedEssay?
CompulsoryforallDiplomaProgrammestudents Externallyassessedand,incombinationwiththegrade fortheoryofknowledge,contributesuptothreepoints tothetotalscorefortheIBdiploma Apieceofindependentresearch/investigationona topicchosenbythestudentincooperationwitha supervisorintheschool Chosenfromthelistofapprovedsubjects(notedlater) Presentedasaformalpieceofscholarshipcontaining nomorethan4,000words Theresultofapproximately40hoursofworkbythe student
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ResponsibilitiesoftheStudent
Itisrequiredthatstudents: chooseatopicthatfitsintooneofthesubjectsontheapprovedextendedessay list observetheregulationsrelatingtotheextendedessay meetdeadlines acknowledgeallsourcesofinformationandideasinanapprovedacademic manner. Itisstronglyrecommendedthatstudents: startworkearly thinkverycarefullyabouttheresearchquestionfortheiressay planhow,whenandwheretheywillfindmaterialfortheiressay planascheduleforbothresearchingandwritingtheessay,includingextratimefor delaysandunforeseenproblems recordsourcesastheirresearchprogresses(ratherthantryingtoreconstructalist attheend) haveaclearstructurefortheessayitselfbeforebeginningtowrite checkandproofreadthefinalversioncarefully makesurethatallbasicrequirementsaremet(forexample,allstudentsshould get 5/70 fullmarksfortheabstract)

AdvicetoStudentsfromExaminers
Priortotheresearchprocess,studentsshould: readtheassessmentcriteria readpreviousessaystoidentifystrengthsandpossiblepitfalls spendtimeworkingouttheresearchquestion(imaginethefinishedessay) workoutastructurefortheessay. Duringtheresearchprocess,andwhilewritingtheessay,studentsshould: startworkearlyandsticktodeadlines maintainagoodworkingrelationshipwiththeirsupervisor Supervisorsare volunteersiftheyfeelasthoughtheyarechasingstudentsforworkthen theyshouldntfeelobligedtosupervise. constructanargumentthatrelatestotheresearchquestion usethelibraryandconsultlibrariansforadvice recordsourcesastheygoalong(ratherthantryingtoreconstructalistatthe end) Aftercompletingtheessay,studentsshould: writetheabstract checkandproofreadthefinalversioncarefully.

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ThingstoAvoid
Examinersreportsalsomentionthesethingstobeavoidedatallcosts. Studentsshouldnotworkwitharesearchquestionthatistoobroadortoovague,toonarrow,too difficultorinappropriate. Agoodresearchquestionisonethataskssomethingworthaskingandthatisanswerablewithin40 hours/4,000words. Itshouldbeclearwhatwouldcountasevidenceinrelationtothequestion,anditmustbepossibleto acquiresuchevidenceinthecourseoftheinvestigation.Ifastudentdoesnotknowwhatevidenceis needed,orcannotcollectsuchevidence,itwillnotbepossibletoanswertheresearchquestion. Inaddition,studentsshouldnot: forgettoanalyse theresearchquestion ignoretheassessmentcriteria collectmaterialthatisirrelevanttotheresearchquestion usetheinternetuncritically Plagiarize merelydescribeorreport(evidencemustbeusedtosupporttheargument) repeattheintroductionintheconclusion citesourcesthatarenotused. Onefurtherpieceofadviceisasfollows:themorebackgroundastudenthasinthesubject,thebetterthe chanceheorshehasofwritingagoodextendedessay.Choosingtowritetheextendedessayin7/70 asubject thatisnotbeingstudiedaspartoftheDiplomaProgrammeoftenleadstolowermarks.

WritingtheExtendedEssay
Therequiredelementsofthefinalworktobesubmittedarelistedhere.Moredetailsabouteach elementaregivenintheFormalPresentationoftheExtendedEssaysection.Pleasenotethat theorderinwhichtheyarepresentedhereisnotnecessarilytheorderinwhichtheyshouldbe written. Titlepage Abstract Contentspage Introduction Body(development/methods/results) Conclusion Referencesandbibliography Appendices Studentsshouldusethechosensystemofacademicreferencingassoonastheystartwriting.That way,theyarelesslikelytoforgettoincludeacitation.Itisalsoeasierthantryingtoaddreferences atalaterstage. Somestudentsdrafttheintroductionfirst.Ifstudentsdothat,theymustbepreparedtoreviseit oncetheessayiscomplete. Themaintaskiswritingthebodyoftheessay,whichshouldbepresentedintheformofa reasonedargument.Theformofthisvarieswiththesubjectoftheessaybut,astheargument develops,itshouldbecleartothereaderwhatrelevantevidencehasbeendiscovered,8/70 where/howithasbeendiscoveredandhowitsupportstheargument.

WritingtheExtendedEssay
Inmostsubjects,subheadingswithinthemainbodyoftheessaywillhelpthe readertounderstandtheargument(andwillalsohelpthestudenttokeepon track). Oncethemainbodyoftheessayiscomplete,itispossibletofinalizethe introduction(whichtellsthereaderwhattoexpect)andtheconclusion(which sayswhathasbeenachieved,includingnotesofanylimitationsandanyquestions thathavenotbeenresolved). Anyinformationthatisimportanttotheargumentshouldnotbeincludedin appendicesorfootnotes/endnotes. Theexaminerisnotboundtoreadnotesorappendices,soanessaythatisnot completeinitselfwilllosemarks. Theremainingstagesinwritingtheessaytaketimebutarenotdifficult.Students needtocheckthattheyhavecitedsourcesforallmaterialthatisnottheirown, andthatthecitationsarecompleteandconsistentwiththechosenreferencing system. Thebibliographyshouldlistonlythesourcesusedintheessay. Thewholeessayneedstobeproofreadcarefully(computerspellingandgrammar checkersareusefulbutwillnotdoeverything). Pagesmustbenumberedandthecontentspagemustbecompleted. Theabstractisnormallywrittenlast. 9/70

FormalPresentation
Theextendedessayshouldbewritteninaclear,correctandformal academicstyle,appropriatetothesubjectfromwhichthetopicisdrawn. Thelengthoftheextendedessay Theupperlimitis4,000wordsforallextendedessays.Thisupperlimit includestheintroduction,thebody,theconclusionandanyquotations, butdoesnotinclude: theabstract acknowledgments thecontentspage maps,charts,diagrams,annotatedillustrationsandtables equations,formulasandcalculations citations/references(whetherparentheticalornumbered) footnotesorendnotes thebibliography appendices. Essayscontainingmorethan4,000wordsaresubjecttopenaltiesand examinersarenotrequiredtoreadmaterialinexcessofthewordlimit. 10/70

FormalPresentation:Title
Thetitleshould provideaclear indicationofthe focusofthe essay. Itshouldbe preciseandnot necessarily phrasedinthe formofa question.
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FormalPresentation:TheAbstract
Anabstractnotexceeding300wordsmustbeincludedwiththe essaysubmitted. Itdoesnotserveasanintroduction,butpresentsanoverviewof theextendedessay,andshould,therefore,bewrittenlast. Theinclusionofanabstractisintendedtoencouragestudentsto examinecloselythedevelopmentofanargumentwithinthe extendedessayandthepertinenceofanyconclusionsthatare reached. Itisalsodesignedtoallowreaderstounderstandquicklythe contentsoftheextendedessay. Theminimumrequirementsfortheabstractareforittostate clearly: theresearchquestionbeinginvestigated thescopeoftheinvestigation theconclusion(s)oftheextendedessay. Theabstractshouldbetypedorwordprocessedononesideofa sheetofpaper,andplacedimmediatelyafterthetitlepage.
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FormalPresentation:ContentsPage
Acontentspagemustbeprovidedatthe beginningoftheextendedessayandallpages shouldbenumbered. Anindexisnotrequired.

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FormalPresentation:Illustrations
Presentationandoverallneatnessareimportant,andit isessentialthatillustrativematerial,ifincluded,iswell setoutandusedeffectively. Graphs,diagrams,tablesandmapsareeffectiveonlyif theyareclearlylabelled andcanbeinterpretedwith ease. Allsuchmaterialthatisincorporatedintotheextended essaymustbedirectlyrelatedtothetextand acknowledgedwhereappropriate. Theuseofphotographsandotherimagesisacceptable onlyiftheyarecaptionedand/orannotatedandare usedtoillustrateaspecificpointmadeintheextended essay.
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Bibliographies,ReferencesandCitations
Anextendedessaymustreflectintellectualhonestyin researchpracticesandprovidethereaderwiththeexact sourcesofquotations,ideasandpointsofviewthrough accuratebibliographiesandreferencing. Producingaccuratecitations,referencingandabibliographyis askillthatstudentsshouldbeseekingtoperfect. Documentingtheresearchinthiswayisvital:itallowsreaders toevaluatetheevidenceforthemselvesanditshowsthe studentsunderstandingoftheimportanceofthesources used. Failuretocomplywiththisrequirementwillbeviewedas plagiarismandwill,therefore,betreatedasacaseof malpractice.
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WhatisaBibliography?
Abibliographyisanalphabeticallistofeverysourceusedtoresearchandwritethe essay(thebibliographyisreferredtoasworkscitedinMLA. Sourcesthatarenotcitedinthebodyoftheessay,butwereimportantin informingtheapproachtaken,shouldbecitedintheintroductionorinan acknowledgment Inshort,onlyworksthathavebeencitedshouldbeintheworkscited. Thereareanumberofdifferentdocumentationstylesavailableforusewhen writingresearchpapers;mostareappropriateinsomeacademicdisciplinesbut notothers. AtAISwetypicallyuseMLA,however,thesupervisorwillhelpthestudentdecide onthemostappropriatestylefortheparticularsubjectoftheessay. Itisimportanttorememberthat,whateverstyleischosen,itmustbeapplied consistently.Whenchoosingthedocumentationstyle,thestudentneedstohavea clearunderstandingofhowitistobeusedbeforeembarkingontheresearchtask. Thedocumentationstyleshouldbeappliedinboththefinaldraftoftheessayand intheinitialresearchstagesoftakingnotes penaltiesforplagiarismstartatthe roughdraftstage. Thisisgoodpractice,notonlyforproducingahighqualityfinalproduct,butalso forreducingtheopportunitiesandtemptationtoplagiarize. ConsulttheIBdocumentAcademicHonesty andthedocumentAcademicHonesty atAIS inthefilestabinManagebac ortheemailthatwassenttoyouforfurther 16/70 explanationoftheconsequencesofacademicmalpractice.

WhatisaReference/Citation?
Areferenceisawayofindicatingtothereader,inanorderlyform, whereinformationhasbeenobtained(oftenreferredtoasthe bibliographyorworkscited). Areferenceprovidesalltheinformationneededtofindthesource material.Referencesmustalsobecitedbecausethey acknowledgethesourcesused,andenablethereadertoconsult theworkandverifythedatathathasbeenpresented.Simply listingreferencesinthebibliographyisnotacceptable. Referencesmustbegivenwheneversomeoneelsesworkis quotedorsummarized.Referencescancomefrommanydifferent sources,includingbooks,magazines,journals,newspapers,emails, internetsitesandinterviews. Internetreferencesshouldincludethetitleoftheextractusedas wellasthewebsiteaddress,thedateitwasaccessedand,if possible,theauthor. Cautionshouldbeexercisedwithinformationonwebsitesthatdo notgivereferencesorthatcannotbecrosscheckedagainstother sources.
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WhatisaReference/Citation?
Themoreimportantaparticularpointistotheessay,the morethequality ofitssourceneedstobeevaluated. Anyreferencestointerviewsshouldstatethenameofthe interviewer,thenameoftheinterviewee,thedateandthe placeoftheinterview. Thedifferencebetweenacitationandareferenceisthata citationisashorthandmethodofmakingareferenceinthe bodyofanessay,whichisthenlinkedtothefullreference attheendoftheessay. Acitationprovidesthereaderwithaccuratereferencesso thatheorshecanlocatethesourceeasily. Itisimportanttoemphasizethattheremustbeconsistency ofmethodwhencitingsources. AquickguidetoMLAcitationislocatedinthefilestabin Managebac intheExtendedEssay Documents/Explanationcategoryontherightofyour screen.
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Appendices,FootnotesandEndnotes
Appendices,footnotesandendnotesarenotanessential sectionoftheextendedessayandexaminersarenotrequired toreadthem(unlesstheyareaformalmethodofreferencing oneswork),socareshouldbetakentoincludeallinformation ofdirectrelevancetotheanalysisandargumentinthemain bodyoftheessay. Anessaythatattemptstoevadethewordlimitbyincluding importantmaterialinnotesorappendicesriskslosingmarks underseveralcriteria. Unlessconsideredessential,completelistsofrawdatashould notbeincludedintheextendedessay. Studentsshouldnotconstantlyrefertomaterialpresentedin anappendixasthismaydisruptthecontinuityoftheessay.
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AwardofDiplomaPoints
Theextendedessaycontributestotheoverall diplomascorethroughtheawardofpointsin conjunctionwiththeoryofknowledge. Amaximumofthreepointsareawarded accordingtoastudentscombinedperformance inboththeextendedessayandtheoryof knowledge. Thetotalnumberofpointsawardedis determinedbythecombinationofthe performancelevelsachievedbythestudentin boththeextendedessayandtheoryof knowledgeaccordingtothefollowingmatrix.
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TheDiplomaProgrammePointsMatrix
NoExtendedEssaySubmitted=NoDiploma *From2010onwards, 28pointsoverallwillbe requiredtobeeligible forthediplomaifa studentattainsanE gradeineitherthe extendedessayor theoryofknowledge. Aspreviously,agrade Ainoneofthe requirementsearnsan extrapointevenifthe otherisagradeE. AttainingagradeEin boththeextendedessay andtheoryofknowledge continuestorepresent anautomaticfailure.
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ChoiceofTopics
LanguageA LanguageB Biology BusinessandManagement Chemistry ClassicalGreekandLatin Dance DesignTechnology Economics EnvironmentalSystemsandSocieties Film Geography History HumanRights InformationTechnologyinaGlobalSociety LiteratureandPerformance Mathematics Music PeaceandConflictStudies Philosophy Physics Politics Psychology SocialandCultural Anthropology Sports,ExerciseandHealth Science Theatre VisualArts WorldReligions WorldStudies*
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*WorldStudies
Anextendedessayinworldstudiesprovidesstudentswithanopportunitytoundertakean indepth,interdisciplinarystudyofanissueofcontemporaryglobalsignificance. Worldstudiesextendedessaysmay: examineissuessuchastheglobalfoodcrisis,climatechange,terrorism,energysecurity, migration,andglobalhealth,technologyandculturalexchange.Globalissuesofthisnature playoutinlocalcontextsazerocarbonfootprintcitypolicyinDenmark;anewclean energytechnologyusedbyavillageinIndia;theeducationofmigrantchildrenintwo contrastingfrontiertowns. Anindepthexaminationoflocalinstancesofgloballysignificantphenomenaprovides opportunitiesforawellgroundedappreciationandunderstandingoftheissueunder study. Complexissuessuchasthesecanrarelybeadequatelyunderstoodifonlyapproachedfrom theperspectiveofasinglesubject.Itisbettertoapproachsuchissuesthrough interdisciplinaryresearch. Theworldstudiesextendedessayrequiresstudentstoidentifyanissueofglobal importanceanddevelopaclearrationalefortakinganinterdisciplinaryapproach. Itprovidesanopportunityforstudentstoconductindependentinterdisciplinary researchresearchthatdrawsontheories,findingsandmethodsfromtwoormoreIB DiplomaProgrammesubjectsandintegratesthemtoproduceacoherentandinsightful 23/70 analysisofanissuetheychoosetoinvestigate.

AssessmentCriteria
General SeemyhowtodocumentcalledExtendedEssay.Thisis locatedinthefilestabinManagebac andundertheExtendedEssay Documents/Explanationscategoryontherightofyourscreen.Itis alsointheEEHandbook. SubjectSpecificGuidelinesinthe2013ExtendedEssayGuide Read theexplanationofwhatmakesaHistorypaperaHistorypaperora PsychologypaperaPsychologypaper.Thisareinthe2013Extended EssaydocumentlocatedinthefilestabinManagebac andunderthe ExtendedEssayDocuments/Explanationscategoryontherightof yourscreen.Iwillalsosendyouthepdf copyoftheguideonyourAIS emailaccount. Youareexpectedtoreviewbothofthesecomponentsbefore,during andafterwritingtheessay. YouarealsoresponsibleforfollowingtheEthicalGuidelinesdocument alsolocatedinthefilesonManagebac.
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SampleEssaysandDocumentsonManagebac

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SampleEssaysandDocumentsonManagebac

Clickononeof thesecategories onceyouhave accessedthefiles page

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GettingStarted
GototheEEtabonManagebac andselect yoursupervisor(iftheyarenotlisted,letme knowandIlladdthem)andtypeinyourEE question. ThisishowIknowyouhavemetyourfirsttwo deadlines.

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FinishingtheEE TheVivaVoce

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FinishingtheEE SuggestedGrade

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FinishingtheEE Submission
OnceyourEEisfinishedandpolished,youwill needtosubmitandelectroniccopyon Managebac andsendanelectroniccopytome atildiko.murray@aiskuwait.org. ThedeadlineforsubmissionisSeptember 30th.

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The Extended Essay1 The extended essay is an opportunity to carry out your own research on a topic that you are interested in and to do so in a formal, academic way. The manner in which you are expected approach and carry out the work for the extended essay makes it quite different to other parts of your IB Diploma Programme. The work should be independent and selfdirected. It is independent in the sense that you have control and responsibility for getting it done. The work is also self-directed, meaning that you decided what you want to write about and how t you are going to conduct and organize your research. Your research will be presented in a 4000-word paper and, as such, the extended essay as the name implies will probably be the longest single piece of work you have produced in your academic career so far. The length of the essay seems daunting at first, but most students report that the real challenge is editing their work down so that it is within the word limit. Getting the extended essay done is particularly challenging, not only academically but also in terms of time management and motivation. You need to be well organized, find an interesting idea to write about and be able to keep your motivation level up throughout the research and writing phases. You need to maintain a clear vision of your objective and not let the work get out of hand, while at the same time you need to make use of all of the resources available to you. There are two major benefits in doing an extended essay. The first is that it gives you an opportunity to carry out an in-depth study of a topic that particularly interests you and that you might not otherwise get a chance to learn about. The second is that it gives you some first-hand practical experience of the kind of work that is required of students, almost on a routine basis, at higher level education.

Notes:
1. 2. 3.
1

If you fail to submit a TOK essay or fail to give a TOK presentation, you are given N for TOK. Failing condition*: An E in either TOK or the extended essay is a fail condition. However, provided your total diploma score is 28 or more, you can carry one fail condition and still be awarded the diploma. Nevertheless, having a failing condition puts your diploma at risk if you get 24-27 points or if you have another failing condition. An N in any subject, including TOK, means you will not be awarded a diploma.

Most of the material produced in this explanation is from the IBO document Approach your assessment the IB way: Extended Essay by Finbar OFarrell. Other resources are documented accordingly.

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Role of the Supervisor It is the responsibility of the school to provide every extended essay student with an appropriately qualified supervisor who must be a teacher at the school. Finding An Interesting Topic Interest can stem from a wide range of experiences, for example: A book, newspaper article, magazine piece that fascinated you An author, historical figure or performer that inspires you A website that looks intriguing or a film musical performance or play that captivated you An experiment that caught your imagination A natural phenomenon that you would like to know more about An idea that you have heard in class that you would like to explore further CAS activities or discussions in TOK classes An issue or problem in your local community, either past or present a significant event in your own life or one of your relatives/ancestors There are actually endless possibilities for finding suitable topics but there are a number of points to be considered along the way and certain types of topic are more likely to be successful than others. From the outset make sure that: Your topic falls within a recognized IB subject (see below) A supervisor is available for this topic You will be able to find information Safety and ethical considerations can be addressed The following subjects are available in English, French and Spanish: History Biology Human rights Business and management Information Chemistry technology in a global society Computer science Dance Literature and Design technology performance Economics Mathematics Environmental Music systems and societies Peace and conflict Film studies Geography Philosophy Physics Politics Psychology Social and cultural anthropology Theatre Visual arts World religions World studies

Very often the most appropriate and potentially successful approach is to write the essay in one of the six diploma subjects that you have chosen to study. The reason for this is that your level of knowledge, both the subject matter and the methodologies employed in the subject will most likely already be high.

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Establishing The Research Question

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One of the most successful approaches to developing a research question is to formulate the question by starting with To what extent The reason for this is that you avoid asking a yes or no type of question and therefore a question that lends itself to a more analytical essay and less of a report on information. When you ask to what extent it can be answered in a variety of ways along a spectrum instead of yes or no. To a significant extent To some degree To a limited extent

Three Types of Research Questions Trivial There are what can be called trivial or superficial extended essays where the research question can be answered in one word or sentence, or simply by looking up the relevant information in a book or other source. Too Broad The other extreme is where the research question is hopelessly broad or complex and would require a much longer piece of work in order to address the research question properly Good Having a good research question will also help you reach the higher assessment levels in other criteria. For example, you will be able to construct a good argument if your research question is well focused and can be addressed within the word limit. You will also find it easier to show a good knowledge and clear understanding of a limited topic. Please note the trivial, broad and good research questions attached to some of the Extended Essay Subject Specific Guideline Documents There Is No Information Available For My Question You could try to: Expand your search look at a wide range of different sources (books, journal articles, websites, newspapers, magazines, etc.) Get help from your supervisor or from the librarian (our librarian will be offering you a session to assist you in your research) Modify the research question, make it broader, include some new aspects that you had not considered Abandon your original idea and search for a new research question It is important to look on your original idea as being provisional until you have established that you can find enough supporting information in published form. Answering the Research Question The task in writing an extended essay is not only to generate and/or report information but also to subject that information to critical evaluation.

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Selecting Resources Ask yourself the following question every time you consult a resource. Is this resource relevant? In what way is the information in this resource related to my research question? How can I build this information into my argument? Is this resource reliable and what evidence do I have for believing that the contents are reliable? A good first step is to find out the source of the information, effectively find out who (what person or organization) is the author. If you cannot identify this then you will have a difficult time convincing anyone else (your supervisor or the examiner) that the information is reliable. It is often helpful to find out when the information was published. In some subjects the date of publication of the information is important in deciding whether the information is reliable or useful to your paper. Other Sources of Information There are a number of ways that you can gather your own primary information. Any or all of these may be relevant depending on the type of work you are doing. Some ways of gathering information include: Listening to music Conducting interviews Watching a performance Carrying out surveys Looking at pictures Administering questionnaires Studying maps Performing experiments Reading documents Doing fieldwork Performing calculations Reading books Critically evaluating your own work meaning pointing out any weaknesses in the methodology you have used. In crucially evaluating information you have generated by any of the methods listed above you are effectively answering the question: How do I know? How sure am I? Could I be wrong? Acknowledging Your Sources The success of your essay as a piece of academic writing depends to a large extent on how well you have gone about fining, evaluating and selecting information. A significant part of your work then is made up of not just your own thoughts and opinions, but of facts, information, quotations, data opinions and insights of other people, gleaned from the sources you have read. Of course it is important to find a balance between providing information and writing about your own thoughts and insights. You must acknowledge these sources conscientiously and accurately in our writing. This means providing a bibliography of all of the works you have consulted and providing in-text references to show where in the essay each source has been used. To do this at AIS, we use the Modern Languages Association method of documenting our work.

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The librarian will provide a session on proper documentation and the use of the MLA style of documentation to ensure you have a full grasp on how to properly document your sources when writing your extended essay. Plagiarism and Academic Honesty2 Plagiarism is the use of someone elses ideas without giving credit where credit is due. More specifically, the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers defines plagiarism as the act of using another persons ideas or expressions in your writing without acknowledging the source (Gibaldi and Achtert 20). Plagiarism is academic theft, and it can mean the loss of all your marks for an assignment. As you enter post-secondary educational institutions it can result in the loss of credit in your course and in extreme cases of plagiarism, it can mean expulsion from post-secondary institutions. Some examples of plagiarism are: Downloading materials in whole or in part from the Internet (even if you pay for them) Copying word-for-word from published or unpublished work Paraphrasing published or unpublished material without bibliographic notation Copying and turning in another students work as your own with or without that students knowledge How to Avoid Plagiarism Always give credit where credit is due. Citing a source means giving credit to someone or something when what you use is not your own original work. Cite your sources within your text and in a bibliography at the end of the assignment. Sources should be cited when: you use another persons idea, opinion or theory. you use any fact, statistics, graphs, drawings, pictures, sounds, or any other piece of information that you found from another source. you use quotations of another persons actual spoken or written words. Citing Sources All information must be cited whether it is from a book, interview, Internet, electronic source, et cetera. When you use the work of others, you must give them the credit they deserve. When in doubt, cite your source! For further information one what constitutes malpractice and plagiarism and the consequences, review your copy of the IBOs document Academic Honesty. Pay particular attention to Section 1 (Academic Honesty), Section 2 (Malpractice and Section 5 (The Detection of Plagiarism).

What follows are excerpts from the MECY Distance Learning document on plagiarism

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Working With Your Supervisor As an IB Diploma Programme student the extended essay is your responsibility, it is your job to get it done. The time that you need to completed this will depend to some extent on the internal deadlines that apply in the school but will probably be somewhere in the range of four to eight months. In any case it is likely to be longer than you have spent on any one school assignment up to now. However, you will not be alone in this endeavour. Your Extended Essay supervisor, librarian, Coordinator and other teachers will be there to support you in your work. The job of the supervisor can be summarized as helping you to navigate the process of successfully completing the extended essay. The supervisor does not write the essay for you and is not there to take responsibility if you do not follow through on the task. Successful extended essay students consult regularly and openly with their supervisor. The supervisor provides guidance, advice and often a sympathetic ear if you are experiencing difficulties. A skilful supervisor will help you to ask the right questions about the progress of your work so that you can go about finding the important answers. Students who rarely consult with their supervisor and do not look for help when they need it often struggle to complete the essay successfully. In extreme cases the supervisor may only see the student twice during the entire process: once to agree on the topic and research question and then again when the completed essay is handed in. Student who take this approach are making the task more difficult for themselves and are not making use of the support mechanisms and opportunities for feedback that are available. In addition they are exposing their work to the risk of rejection and to possible suspicion of malpractice. Supervisors are often very busy people and many lose track of the progress of your work. Dont let this happen: be proactive, look for meetings, remind the supervisor, get their attention. There are a number of constraints on the supervisor and their role in terms of what they can and cannot do it well defined. As you progress with the research and construct parts of your paper, you can expect to get feedback from the supervisor along the way. The supervisor, however, reads and comments on one full draft of the essay only. The complete draft of the essay should be just that: complete. It is your last chance to get some feedback from your supervisor. At this stage the supervisor is not allowed to change your essay for you but may make general suggestions as to where it could be improved or where you need to check it again. For instance they may suggest you go back and check all your calculations again or they may say they do not see a firm structure in part of the essay or that they are having difficulty understanding what you mean in certain paragraphs. When you submit the final copy, you fill out the extended essay coversheet and sign the student declaration acknowledging that the essay is your own work. The supervisor reads the final copy, writes a comment on the extended essay coversheet and signs the supervisor declaration, stating that, to the best of their knowledge, the work as reflected in the essay is authentically yours. The comment which the supervisor writes can deal with how well you have engaged with the process and, as such, can have an influence on the level awarded by the examiner for criterion K, holistic judgment.

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Getting It Done As an IB Diploma Programme student you have a busy schedule with lots of things to do, deadlines to meet, assignments to complete, not to mention learning and preparing for assessments. You rarely have large blocks of time where you have no other commitments. If you look on the task of writing the extended essay as a single large item you are unlikely to be able to find the time to schedule the require work. In order to set up an effective plan you need to break the task down into smaller tasks and schedule these.

Timeline
Research and consider various topics for the EE Speak with possible advisors about your ideas for an EE Decide on a preliminary topic and ask one of the teachers in the school to be your advisor Establish a time with your supervisor to develop one or two preliminary research questions to investigate. Find out what resources are available for your preliminary questions and make a decision on which topic would be best considering the resources that are available. With your advisor, establish due dates for the following (unless otherwise indicated): o Collect resources and present them to your advisor to discuss their value and limitations o Divide your essay into parts and decide when each part will be due. After each due date, discuss that portion of the essay with your advisor; this will prevent you from becoming overwhelmed by the task Note the o Submit a full draft to your advisor for thorough and specific feedback3 4 crucial o Revise first draft and submit a final copy to your advisor for general feedback due date! o Submit copy and sign coversheet to be sent for external assessment

The latest date for submitting this component is via turnitin.com is September 30, 2013.

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Malpractice Doing something that is unacceptable in an academic context is considered to be malpractice. This is a serious matter. If you were found to have committed malpractice you could, in the worst case, end up with a score of zero for the extended essay and not be awarded an IB diploma. There are different kinds of malpractice but what they all have in common is that they allow you to gain an unfair advantage in your work. You commit plagiarism when you present the work (text, ideas, images, data, etc.) of another person as if it were you own. This is true even if only some sections of the essay are plagiarized. Plagiarism can be both deliberate and unintentional. Unintentional plagiarism may occur when a piece of text or visual material is not properly referenced (no in-text citation and/or not corresponding citation). You are guilty of collusion if you allow another student to copy your work or take a piece of your work and submit it for assessment as if it were their own. The person who copied from you would of course then be guilty of plagiarism and you would have helped or allowed them to gain an unfair advantage. Duplication of work is not considered acceptable practice and represents an attempt to gain an unfair advantage. Duplication would occur if you took a copy of a piece you wrote for an internal assessment in one of your diploma subjects and decided to flesh it out a bit and submit it as your essay. How To Avoid Malpractice Reference your work right away. Do not wait to do it until you have completed your essay. Do it as you write. This will be the easiest way to avoid plagiarism. Be systematic, thorough and accurate in your approach to your bibliography and in-text references. Be organized and plan your timetable carefully and meet your deadlines. This will help you avoid the temptation to submit an essay that has already been used for a different assessment component or undertake other dishonest methods of submitting a completed paper. The bottom line is that what you write and submit for assessment must be your own work. Getting Started The introduction may seem at first to be the obvious place to start the main writing task after all this is where you would start reading the essay. However, it is not necessarily the best place to begin writing. One approach is to begin by writing some part of the main body since you will have the evidence or information that you have gathered already at hand. In some cases writing about how you collected the information, how you selected the resources you have used or how you gathered your data, may act as a good starting point. Alternatively, you may want to start by presenting some of the data or information you have collected. This might involve paraphrasing information from the resources you have read, describing events or performances you have seen outlining the information you gathered through interviews or organizing the results of experiments, fieldwork or

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questionnaires. In any case, presenting information in whatever form is often the easiest place to being writing. As you go about presenting, you will begin to look for and find meaningful ways of organizing the information. You will be thinking about what order it should be in and which bits are linked. Constructing and Sustaining an Argument A successful approach to sustaining an argument could look something like this: 1. Tell the reader what you intend to show. Do this by presenting, explaining and putting the research question into context. 2. Present and explain the evidence to support your case. This may take many different forms depending on the nature of the research question, for example: a. Quotations from a text b. Opinions of authors you have read c. Historical documents/accounts of events d. Data collected through experimentation/fieldwork e. Results of surveys or questionnaires. It is important that at all times throughout the presentation of your evidence and argument you are constantly and consistently referring back to and reminding your reader of the question you are addressing or the argument you are attempting to make. Your argument might be more complex if you are trying to point out that there are a number of alternative conclusions that can be drawn from the evidence. You might also be trying to show that a particular conclusion is actually incorrect, or not likely to be correct. 3. Draw your conclusions, referring back to the research question and to the evidence you have presented. Once you have completed a draft of your argument you will need to ask yourself the following questions: 1. Is the argument convincing? If not, what can I do to make it more convincing? Can I present information differently (in a different order, with different emphasis)? Have I prioritized my evidence? 2. Are there gaps? Is there other evidence that I have not presented? How can I get my hands on this other evidence? 3. Is there room for alternative interpretations of the evidence I have presented? (If there is then it is better to pint this out yourself rather than have the examiner notice it and come to the conclusion that you did not)

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The Introduction In the introduction you are required to present the research question and explain why it is worth investigating. There are many possible reasons why it might be worthwhile carrying out research on a particular question and you need to establish your reasons explicitly at this stage of the essay. A question will be worth investigating if it is unanswered or unresolved by the existing literature or by the information or literature at your disposal. It may also be worth in establishing if there has not been much research done on it so far. Finding an issue that, to the best of your knowledge, has not been extensively researched before give you a strong case for claiming that the research question is worthy of investigation. Similarly, finding an issue which is controversial, or where there is a clear division of opinion amongst researchers, many lead to a useful question. Finally, using an innovative method to collect data or information, or applying a research approach that has not been tried before, may also lead to a useful interesting investigation. In any case, early in the introduction you will need to establish why you think this particular question is worth investigating. To do this you will need to go beyond simply presenting your personal motivation (I find it really interesting). A convincing introduction will be well referenced and will show the reader that other people have said or written and will relate your research question to what is already known about your topic. In doing this you are establishing what is called the context of the reach question. A convincing way to achieve this is to show that you have read around the topic. The introduction should contain references to important books, publications and other resources that deal with your topic. In the end you will need to establish for the reader that the rest of the essay is worth reading because the question being investigated may lead to a new or better understanding, may solve an unresolved issue or shed new light on an old problem

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The Conclusion The conclusion must be relevant, in other words it must relate the research question. Restating the research question at this point may help you focus your writing and you should use simple direct language in order to make the conclusion as clear as possible. Do not overstate your conclusion such as, my research clearly proves that instead use language that acknowledges the limitations of your research such as, on the basis of the evidence provided it seems likely that Avoid introducing new ideas that are not related to the research question at this stage of your work. This will remove the focus of your work, distract from the line of argument and possibly even confuse the reader. It may be important that in your essay you explain to the reader what you have and have not concluded. In other words, what are the areas of research you touched upon that either did not support your thesis are not a part of the conclusion you are drawing.

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The Abstract The abstract give the reader a preview of the essay in its entirety and should be the last part of the writing process, written after all other parts have been completed. An abstract is not actually part of the essay; it is a separate piece of writing that has its own word limit (300) to which you need to carefully adhere. Sometimes a good abstract can be written in 100 words, but more often than not somewhere between 200 and 300 are needed to fulfill all of the requirements. In any case the abstract must contain the research question and it must contain your main conclusion(s). It must also deal with how you went about gathering the information, evidence and data that you have presented. This can be important for the reader as it may be the methods used, rather than the topic of conclusions drawn, that are of particular interest. Essentially, an abstract should answer three questions for the reader: 1. What question are you trying to answer in the essay? 2. How did you go about gathering your information (what methods did you use)? 3. What did you find out (what conclusions did you reach)? The answers to these three questions will help the reader to understand what the essay is all about before reading the entire essay. For a researcher the abstract is of critical importance in trying to decide whether an article or report is really of interest and would be worthwhile reading in its entirety. You have probably taken this approach yourself doing your research for the extended essay by looking at published abstracts before deciding whether or not to read an entire article that looked like it might be interesting. The following is an abstract that received full marks

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In General It is generally good practice to postpone work on these aspects of the writing process until after the main body of the essay, including the main line of argument and supporting evidence, has been nearly completed. By taking this approach you can be confident that the main thrust of the essay is unlikely to undergo major revision that might require a rewriting of these parts. There is little point in tackling these technical elements of the essay if the main ideas in the body of the essay are not in place. Title Page and Table of Contents A clearly laid out and professional looking title page is a good starting point. This excludes in pictures, colour or fancy font. See examples from past extended essays to get a sense of an appropriate format. Although you are likely to include your research question on the title page it still must be included in your abstract and introduction. A table of contents is helpful if it is done carefully and accurately and a clear, well-delineated table of contents shows planning. Showing a Command of Language There is no single prescribed style for the extended essay. Different degrees of formal and more personal approaches may be appropriate depended on the subject, topic or even on your own personal preference. An effective essay will use a consistent style throughout and will not swing between different modes. It is most important that the language of your essay should be clear and simple. In order to achieve this it is best to try to be a precise as possible by aboding using complex sentences, vague and unnecessary terms and informal or colloquial expressions. There may be a strong temptation to try to copy the complex, sophisticated language that you often find in research papers, in order to impress the reader or to demonstrate that you understand the material at a deep level. This kind of approach to language is normally not appropriate and in fact often has the opposite effect to that intended. Adopting a sophisticated style or copying the style of the research papers you access, can only work if you can sustain this approach throughout the essay. Allowing the style to swing between sophisticated and informal may raise doubts about your level of understanding of the material. A good rule of thumb is: Do not write anything in your essay that you do not understand. Paraphrasing and putting ideas you have read into your own words is the best starting point for demonstrating that you understand what you are writing. In addition, a consistent style with lots of explanation of the important term sis a clear indicator of a command of the language The extended essay is a research paper and as such should be written in a formal style. One way to reinforce the impression of seriousness in the work is to avoid the use of contractions (cannot instead of cant and do not instead of dont, etc.). It is not necessary or even desirable, to use the passive voice even in the experimental sciences. Simple and clear does not have to mean imprecise and informal. Showing a command of language may also include using and explaining symbols, acronyms and abbreviations (for example, for units of measurement). Be careful to explain these in your writing. A useful approach is to write out the acronym of abbreviation in full the first time it appears in the essay and to use the abbreviation thereafter. In an essay where a number of such abbreviations are used it is useful to have a list of these at the start of the essay, just after the table of contents.

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Getting this right is probable the most critical aspect of writing the essay and it cannot be emphasized enough that the quality of the research question has a direct bearing on the quality of the essay. You need to focus on the The research question should not have an extent to which the purpose of the essay is clearly specified and this can be formulated obvious answer and finding an answer should as a question (the research question) but it require some investigation. Do not be surprised if doesnt need to be in the form of a question. If you dont get this right you will fail at the end of the process you are unable to to reach the top level for this criterion but answer it completely. you also are limited with what you can achieve in other criteria. For example, in criteria C and E if the examiner decides that you research question does not lend itself to a systematic investigation in the subject in which the essay is registered, the Your question is clearly maximum level that can be awarded for both C and E is 2. stated in the introduction. This would mean that even if your essay did well against The working of your research question matches the all of the other criteria it would be very difficult to reach an wording used in other parts excellent level overall. To help you decide whether the of the essay and the topic you are interested in fits within the disciple (subject) abstract. for which you intend to register get advice from your EE The research question is supervisor. precise and can be Finally you need to decide whether the research effectively dealt with within question can be addressed adequately and answered the 4000 word limit. within the word limit.

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It is worthwhile planning to have a section within the essay that you think of as the introduction. In some subjects it will even be appropriate to have a chapter heading within the structure of the essay that you call The introduction must present the research introduction. This will help the examiner to find the appropriate question and explain what you are trying to information and to follow your thinking. show in your essay. It must also show where you In some subjects that use a more freeflowing style, such as group 1 or 2 research question fits in with what is known languages, where it may not be already and why it is important appropriate to use chapter heading, it may be nest to devote one or two paragraphs at the start of the essay to meeting the requirements of the introduction. You can illustrate the significant of your investigation by pointing out whether your research addresses an open issue (to which the student can explore a conclusion), a question that has not been resolved or an issue that has never been researched Show how your research before using he approach that you plan to apply. So, question relates to other similar research. effectively you are trying to show how the research Explain how finding answer question fits within the existing knowledge. To be to your research question able to do this you need to have read about your could help clarify some topics and some of the related issues and to refer to issues. these sources in the introduction. A convincing Explain how the answer to introduction will be well referenced and will point your research question could out to the reader what other people have said and be important. what is already known about the topic. In doing this Make sure you state specifically your research you are establishing what is called the context of question in the introduction. the research question.

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Although there is nothing wrong with a well-worn (or an often used) topic by students, arguments tend to be rather obvious when approaching the work of a popular or classic topic. It is important to adopt a fresh or original perspective, or to try to shed new light on the subject. Use a range of sources (books, journal articles, webbased resources, etc.) Explain how sources are selected Enough data or information should be gathered to answer the research question.

The approach to this criterion can vary considerably from one subject to another so it is important to consult the relevant subject guidelines in order to make sure you are on track. The title of this criterion makes it clear that the work for an extended essay is an investigation (presenting and analysing information, evidence and data in an attempt to answer the research question) and not a report (a summary of facts and information about the topic). In assessing this criterion the examiners make a judgement about the thoroughness of your research. This could include looking at the bibliography to assess whether you have accessed a wide enough range of sources (books, journal articles, reports, web pages, and so on) and whether the selection you have made appears to have been done carefully (in other words that you have selected resources based on their relevance and reliability). The bibliography itself provides only part of the evidence for this. Try to avoid the temptation to make

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up a very long bibliography which includes sources you do not make use of in the text in an effort to impress as examiners will check to see whether the in-text Write about the strategies you used to find useful references match with the data or information. bibliography. In addition, you need to devote some text to writing about the process you went through to obtain and select sources of information and data. You may also need to devote some text to writing about how you decided on the relevance or reliability of the sources you have used. In other words, what are the values and limitations of the sources you have used. Speak directly to their value and limitation in the text of your essay. It is recommended to be cautious and critical when using internet-based material. By doing this you are also providing evidence for the planning that went into the investigation, the other aspect of this criterion

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In order to address this criterion it is important to show an understanding of the material. You can begin to do this by explaining the underlying theories and issues and by explaining the basic terms in the research question. One way to do this is Demonstrate your thoughts and findings from your investigation and to try to put the research. Think: how is your topic related to your chosen subject or question? Make sure the information you have selected is specifically important issues into relevant to the research question. your own words. If Show the reader that you have understood the main points by linking the you simply quote information back to the research question. passages from the It is always a good idea to reference knowledge (from several sources) so sources you may be that the essay is based on a number of relevant studies. These would then showing that you be used appropriately in the argument. It would also demonstrate have done some knowledge of the most recent research on the area of the topic is investigating. research but you will not be providing any evidence of understanding. Simply presenting facts data or the results of calculations is not a good way to show understanding. By explaining the information and drawing inferences, or pointing out possible relationships, you are showing that you have a grasp of the essential concepts and that you see how they relate to the bigger picture the theory on which your research question is based.

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This is crucial to the success of your essay. Write about the strategies you used to find useful Remember your purpose is to convince the data or information. reader that the conclusions you draw regarding the research question are well founded and are supported by the evidence you have gathered and presented. So clearly, research question, data, evidence and/or information must be linked in a convincing way to the conclusion. You must do the linking and not simply leave Regularly relate your argument back it up to the reader to see the connections or to the research question. relevance of what you have written. It is Support your argument with evidence. important to be explicit in your writing about Do not overstate your case; do not why or how certain information is important or make claims that you cannot support. relevant and how it helps to address the Ensure you case is a strong as you can make it based on the evidence. research question. This is possibly the most Ensure your conclusions are related to difficult part of the writing process and is often your research question. the deciding factor in the overall success of the essay.

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This criterion examines how The reader cannot be expected to find the successful you have been in finding and describing patterns, trends and relationships you have discovered in your relationships in the information or research, even if they seem really obvious. You data you have compiled. The thinking process and other more technical need to point them out explicitly. After all, you approaches (such as statistical want to demonstrate to the reader that you have analysis) need to be explained and reached a certain level of expertise in your topic possibly even justified (if there are a number of alternative approaches, for and can confidently identify and point out the example). The approach you take to key relationships. analysing the data should be acceptable within the discipline or subject area of your essay. In addition, a judgment is made here about how successful you have been in pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of your approach. So it is important to be critical of you own work and say which parts worked well and which parts needed more attention or a different approach.

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Communicating clearly and precisely is not as easy as it sounds, but is a key skill when you are attempting to produce a coherent and intelligible piece of writing in any discipline. There are in fact two aspects to this criterion: the use of clear and precise language on the one hand and the use of terminology appropriate to the topic on the other. /try to adopt and sustain a clear and precise style throughout the essay. While there is not general requirement to write in a passive voice, this may be preferred in certain subjects. For an explanation of the difference between the Define your terms. active and passive voice see below. Where Use a simple, clear style in your this is not required, writing in the first writing. person singular, active voice, may be clearer Sustain the same style throughout and may in fact be easier to sustain your essay. (especially for non-native speakers of the target language). To help with this area of your essay you need to show an understanding of fluency with the main technical terms associated with your topic. This means being able to define and accurately use not only the key terms in the research question but also many if not most of the associated terms. It also means showing that you have a command of the terminology appropriate to your topic and that you can use this in context. It is helpful to be conscious of the level of sophistication of the language that you are using and to try to maintain this at a consistent level. Avoid sudden changes in style; for example jumping between active and passive voice or varying between first person singular and first person plural (I and we). Problems can also arise if your investigation uses a very technical research approach or experimental protocol. In these cases it is important to make sure that you explain the technical language and that you are able to sustain the technical style in a convincing way.

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http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/539/02/

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http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/539/02/

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The essay must include a clearly stated and relevant conclusion. It is Your main conclusion should be directly related best to highlight the conclusion for the reader by devoting a separate to the research question but make sure that you paragraph, headed section or do not overstate your case, for example by chapter to this part of the essay. At claiming that you have proven something. this stage it is probably also a good idea to restate the research questions as this will help you focus your writing. The goal of your writing should be to make it clear to the reader that the conclusions you are stating are supported by the evidence you have presented. It is valuable to clearly outline, in a sentence or two, each of the key pieces of evidence you have used to draw your conclusion. If you mention unresolved questions then make sure that these are clearly related to the original research question. Questions that further refine or narrow the research question are often appropriate here while introducing completely new ideas in the conclusion should generally be avoided.

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This criterion examines how successful you have been in addressing the elements of formal presentation. Technical or scientific essays tend to need a more obvious structure with chapter headings, illustrations, tables and graphs. The structure of a literary essay or exposition, based on literary works, tends to be of a less obvious, more hidden nature. Due to the nature of this criterion, extracts cannot give an accurate reflection; however, some elements of formal presentations are common to all extended essays.

Ensure the title page is clearly laid out. The table of contents includes page numbers and is accurate. Illustrations and quotations are used where necessary and support the text. The documentation style used is appropriate to the subject and is applied consistently. A conscious decision is made about whether or not to include an appendix.

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This is a very technical part of your essay where the requirements have to be met The abstract stands alone. Reading it should within a 300-word limit. Stating the research question and main conclusions allow you to understand exactly what the essay generally should not present any is about, what methods were used and what problems. The difficulty arises with what conclusions were reached. else to say. The abstract must contain information about how you went about conducting the reseal, what methods you used and how you applied these. An abstract which is a summary of the introduction or a personal justification for why you chose the topic will not meet the assessment criterion.

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Evidence of intellectual initiative can come across in your essay, for The overall impression created by the essay on example, if you refer to unexpected ideas that came up during your the reader is what counts here. Try to allow your research. You could then go on to enthusiasm to come through in your writing and explain how you incorporated these point out how you dealt with practical into your work. Depth of understanding on your part can difficulties. come across in a number of ways. This can be achieved, for example, by explaining the key concepts in detail or by showing that you can see the connections between seemingly unrelated facts or events and by drawing these together in a coherent way. Showing insight is also not easy but can be achieved by using a novel approach to finding information or by gathering date with a technique that has not been tried before. These are only some of the qualities that the examiner may be longing for. Other qualities could include evidence of energy, enthusiasm, dedication and commitment in the face of difficulties.

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Extended Essay Due Dates

DATE March 4 March 25 April 15 EXPECTATION A properly narrowed question Discussion of sources Outline and first 1000 words of body paragraphs 2000 words submitted to supervisor for feedback 3000 words; discussion of introduction, conclusion, abstract and work cited Full rough draft submitted to supervisor Rough draft returned to be reworked over the summer Meet with supervisor to discuss changes made and any final revisions that may be required Final draft submitted and viva voce completed; supervisors report and declaration page filled out DEADLINE MET? Choose an item. Choose an item. Choose an item. COMMENTS Click here to enter text. Click here to enter text. Click here to enter text.

April 29

Choose an item.

Click here to enter text.

May 20

Choose an item.

Click here to enter text.

May 31

Choose an item.

Click here to enter text.

June 7

Choose an item.

Click here to enter text.

September 9

Choose an item.

Click here to enter text.

September 30

Choose an item.

Click here to enter text.

Notes: Students who have not met the due dates will be required to meet with Mrs. Murray to discuss why the due date was not met and how it will be avoided in the future.

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Extended Essay Suggested Grades Name of Diploma Candidate: Click here to enter text. Extended Essay Subject Area: Choose an item. Disclaimer: The following is just a suggestion as to where you are likely to score if the EE were submitted as it is now. These suggestions are by no means guaranteed, they are simply a guide to help you in improving your paper. Criteria: A: Research Question (0-2) - 0 B: Introduction (0-2) - 0 C: Investigation (0-4) - 0 D: Knowledge and Understanding (0-4) - 0 E: Reasoned Argument (0-4) - 0 F: Analysis and Evaluation (0-4) - 0 G: Use of Subject Language (0-4) - 0 H: Conclusion (0-2) - 0 I: Formal Presentation (0-4) - 0 J: Abstract (0-2) - 0 K: Holistic Judgment (0-4) - 0 TOTAL: Choose an item. The grades suggested above are based on the Extended Essay Subject Specific Guide. Familiarize yourself with the appropriate pages so the grades listed will be in proper context. Grade: A = 29-36 B = 23-28 C = 16-22 D = 8-15 E = 0-7 Enter Predicted Grade: Comments:

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The Viva Voce

The viva voce is a short interview between the student and the supervisor, and is a recommended conclusion to the extended essay process. Students who do not attend the viva voce may be disadvantaged. The viva voce serves the following purposes.

A check on plagiarism and malpractice in general An opportunity to reflect on successes and difficulties in the research process An opportunity to reflect on what has been learned An aid to the supervisors report

The viva voce should last between 10 and 15 minutes. This is included in the recommended amount of time the supervisor should spend with the student. The following are examples of questions that can be asked, which should be adapted to the particular essay and student.

I am not clear what you mean on page XXX. You quote Y: could you explain a little more about what this tells us? On page *** you cite Z. I couldnt find this reference (for example, web site). Could you tell me more about it? What have been the high and low points of the research and writing processes? What were the most interesting aspects of the process? Did you discover anything that surprised you? What have you learned through writing this essay? Is there any advice you would want to pass on to someone just starting out on an extended essay? Is there anything else that you would particularly like me to mention in my report?

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