EXTENDED ESSAY

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EXTENDED ESSAY
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GENERAL ASPECTS

• Candidate must submit an extended essay to be
  eligible for an IB diploma.
• Is an in-depth study of a limited topic within a
  subject.
• Each candidate must have a supervising teacher
  from the IB faculty.
• External supervisors may be used (be careful).

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• Word limit of 4000 words.
• Encourage candidates working in biology to
  undertake original data collection.
  Literature-based essays usually score lower.
• The candidate may analyze primary data. This is
  valuable when added to student experimental data.
• School supervisor should help in focusing the
  research question. (This is very difficult for
  the student.)

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• This EE should involve close to 40 hours of work.
• May aid the candidate in achieving bonus points
  toward earning their IB diploma.
• Being certain of authenticity is a major concern
  of the supervising teacher.
• Assessed by an external examiner.

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• Assessment involves specifically stated criteria.
• All EE information and criteria for marking EEs
  are published in an Extended Essay Guide
  available at your school.
• Your school should have an EE coordinator you may
  consult with.
• Grade boundaries are fixed.

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Grade boundaries

• E0-7
• D8-15
• C16-22
• B23-28
• A29-36
• Criteria exist with grade descriptors to allow
  determination of a number value for each
  criterion. These number values are added to
  achieve the total score.

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SUPERVISOR TASKS
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• Help in development of the research question
• Encourage and support
• Maintain progress by setting deadlines with
  teeth
• Provide advice and suggestions
• Ensure safety
• Complete the supervisors report on the EE
  folder.

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• Supervisor should suggest the following
  progression in the development of the EE
• First, decide on the general topic
• Second, write the research question
• Third, develop the research approach to be used
  in answering the question

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MALPRACTICE PREVENTION

• Discuss progress regularly with the candidate.
• Have candidate take digital pictures of
  experiment progress and send them to you.
• USE CHECKING SITES
• turnitin.com

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VIVA VOCA

• 1. This is a suggested short interview between
  the supervisor and the student at the conclusion
  of the EE process.
• 2. It should last between 10-15 minutes with
  free exchange of questions from the supervisor
  and information from the candidate.

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• 3. Purposes
• Check on malpractice.
• Allows reflection on successes and difficulties
  in the research process.
• The supervisor may get a better idea of what the
  student has actually learned.
• Aids the supervisor in the writing of the
  supervisors report.

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• 4. The VIVA VOCE should end positively, unless
  particular problems surface. Hopefully, the
  student will feel positively about this major
  piece of work.

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Lets get busy
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What does an EE and an EE assessment rubric look
like?

• Look over the assessment rubric for biology EEs.
• Look over the EE example in the Core workbook.
• To notice
• Specific nature of research question
• Detail
• Application of rubric for marking
• Structure of essay
• Length
• Looks like a very long lab report
• Clear biological emphasis

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EE ORGANIZATION

• Cover page
• Abstract (300 words)
• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Hypothesis and explanation of hypothesis
• Background information
• Variables
• Materials
• Method (procedure)

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• Data collection and processing
• Data analysis
• Evaluation
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Appendix (not required) may contain details of
  the experimental protocol and raw data.
  Examiners are not required to look at the
  appendix.

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Ideal Extended Essay properties

• Must have a clear biological emphasis.
• Should look like a very long lab report.
• Recommended to be data-based rather than
  literature based.
• Must include analysis and interpretation of data.
• If people are involved, proper consent must be
  provided.
• Comment on ethical practice.

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Unacceptable investigations

• The experiment causes pain or stress to living
  organisms.
• The experiment could cause harmful effect on
  health.
• The experiment requires access or publication of
  confidential medical information.
• Experiments which have commonly known results.
• Any experiment using toxic or dangerous chemicals
  unless qualified supervision is available and
  documented.

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EXTENDED ESSAY

• CRITERIA

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RESEARCH QUESTION

• 1. STATE EARLY IN INTRODUCTION
• 2. PROPERLY FOCUSED FOR A 4000 WORD PAPER
• 3. A GOOD RESEARCH QUESTION IS ESSENTIAL TO A
  STRONG EE.

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INTRODUCTION

• 1. PROVIDES AN EXPLANATION OF THE RESEARCH
  QUESTION
• 2. SHOULD INCLUDE DISCUSSION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE
  OF THE RESEARCH QUESTION

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INVESTIGATION

• 1. THE PROCEDURE IS VERY IMPORTANT.
• 2. IS THE PROCEDURE UNIQUE/CREATIVE?
• 3. IS THE PROCEDURE BIOLOGICAL?
• 4. DOES THE PROCEDURE FIT THE RESEARCH
  QUESTION?
• 5. IS THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD FOLLOWED?
• 6. IF THE PAPER IS LITERATURE-BASED, IT SHOULD
  EXPLAIN HOW THE DATA TO BE ANALYZED WAS OBTAINED.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE TOPIC STUDIED

• 1. IS THERE EVIDENCE OF A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF
  ALL PARTS OF THE ESSAY?
• 2. DOES THE ANALYSIS REPRESENT AN OBVIOUS
  UNDERSTANDING?

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REASONED ARGUMENT

• 1. IN THE QUEST TO CONFIRM THE HYPOTHESIS, IS
  THERE A LOGICAL AND METHODICAL APPROACH AND
  EXPLANATION?
• 2. IS THERE A CONVINCING ARGUMENT TO SUPPORT OR
  DENY THE ORIGINAL HYPOTHESIS?

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APPLICATION OF ANALYTICAL AND EVALUATIVE SKILLS

• 1. IF THE PAPER IS LITERATURE-BASED, IS THERE A
  CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF ALL SOURCES?
• 2. HAVE ALL ASPECTS OF THE EXPERIMENT BEEN
  EVALUATED AS TO BEING APPROPRIATE?
• 3. ARE DATA PRESENTED LOGICALLY?
• 4. HAS DATA BEEN ANALYZED SUFFICIENTLY?

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USE OF LANGUAGE APPROPRIATE TO THE SUBJECT

• 1. IS THE LANGUAGE APPROPRIATE TO THE TOPIC AND
  BIOLOGY?
• 2. DOES THE TERMINOLOGY REPRESENT UNDERSTANDING?

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CONCLUSION

• 1. DOES THE CONCLUSION LOGICALLY FLOW FROM THE
  PAPER?
• 2. IS IT RELEVANT TO THE RESEARCH QUESTION?
• 3. DOES IT SUPPORT THE ORIGINAL HYPOTHESIS?
• 4. DOES IT INCLUDE UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS AND
  POTENTIAL FURTHER RESEARCH?

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FORMAL PRESENTATION

• TITLE PAGE
• PAGE NUMBERS
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• APPROPRIATE ILLUSTRATIONS
• PROPER CITATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
• APPROPRIATE APPENDICES IF USED

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ABSTRACT

• 1. IS WRITTEN LAST
• 2. 300 WORDS
• 3. INCLUDES THREE ELEMENTS
• RESEARCH QUESTION
• INVESTIGATIVE APPROACH
• CONCLUSION

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HOLISTIC JUDGMENT

• 1. IS THE PAPER CREATIVE AND UNIQUE IN ITS
  APPROACH?
• 2. DOES THE PAPER SHOW SUBSTANTIAL UNDERSTANDING
  OF THE TOPIC?
• 3. IS INSIGHT AND INTEREST APPARENT IN THE
  PAPER?
• 4. SUPERVISOR COMMENTS

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