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The Supervisee (the student
All the following text is taken directly from the IB EE Guide
Choose a subject from the available extended essay list. See Diploma Programme coordinator or extended essay coordinator for details.
Ensure that the starting point for your essay is a subject that is available, or in the case of the world studies extended essay, an issue of global, contemporary significance within one of the six world studies themes.
Observe the regulations with regard to the extended essay, including the IB’s ethical guidelines.
Read and understand the subject-specific requirements for the subject in which you intend to complete your extended essay, including the interpretation of the assessment criteria.
Meet all internal deadlines set by your school in relation to the extended essay.
Understand concepts related to academic honesty, including plagiarism and collusion, for example, and ensure that you have acknowledged all sources of information and ideas in a consistent manner. This also includes understanding the implications of the General regulations: Diploma Programme should there be a breach of these.
Attend three mandatory reflection sessions with your supervisor, the last of which is the viva voce.
Record your reflections on the Reflections on planning and progress form for submission as part of the assessment of criterion E (engagement).
Students are recommended to:
develop a Researcher’s reflection space as a planning tool
use the Researcher’s reflection space to prepare for reflection sessions
share excerpts from the Researcher’s reflection space with the supervisor during the reflection sessions
choose a subject, followed by a topic, and then think carefully about the research question for their essay
plan how, when and where they will find material and sources for their essay before deciding on the final topic and research question
plan a schedule for both the researching and writing of their extended essay, including extra time for delays and unforeseen problems
record sources as their research progresses using their Researcher’s reflection space rather than trying to reconstruct a list at the end
make the most of their supervision and reflection sessions by arriving prepared to discuss their work
have a clear structure for the essay before beginning to write
check and proofread the final version of their extended essay
make sure that the version they submit for assessment is the final version with all sources correctly and consistently referenced
ensure that all requirements are met.
All the following text is taken directly from the IB EE Guide.
Supervisors are required to:
undertake three mandatory reflection sessions with each student they are supervising
sign and date each reflection summarized on the Reflections on planning and progress form and provide comments at the end of the process. If the form and essay are submitted via the eCoursework system, then it is deemed signed and authenticated. A blank or unsubmitted RPPF will score a 0 for criterion E.
provide students with advice and guidance in the skills of undertaking research
encourage and support students throughout the research and writing of the extended essay
discuss the choice of topic with each student and, in particular, help to formulate a well-focused
research question which is suitable to the subject of registration and ensure that the chosen research question satisfies appropriate legal and ethical standards with regard to health and safety, confidentiality, human rights, animal welfare and environmental issues
is familiar with the regulations governing the extended essay and the assessment criteria, and gives copies of these to students monitor the progress of the extended essay to offer guidance and to ensure that the essay is the student’s own work (this may include presenting a section of the essay for supervisor comment)
read and comment on one draft only of the extended essay (but do not edit the draft); this should take place after the interim reflection session, but before the final reflection session, the viva voce
ensure that the final version of the essay is handed in before the final reflection session (viva voce) takes place, and that no changes are made to it subsequently
read the final version and, in conjunction with the viva voce, confirm its authenticity.
At AISR this is Ms. Mona
All the following text is taken directly from the IB EE Guide
Ensure that extended essays conform to the regulations outlined in the Handbook of procedures for the Diploma Programme.
Ensure that students select the subject for their extended essays from the list of available subjects for the May or November session in question (in the Handbook of procedures for the Diploma Programme) before choosing a topic. Ensure that each student has an appropriately qualified supervisor, who is a teacher within the school.
Introduce, explain and support the reflection process.
Provide supervisors and students with the general and subject-specific information and guidelines for the extended essay contained in this guide and the accompanying teacher support material.
Ensure that the Reflections on planning and progress form (RPPF) is completed and signed by the student and supervisor and submitted to the IB with the essay for assessment under criterion E by the deadline stated in the Handbook of procedures for the Diploma Programme.
Provide exemplars of extended essays to supervisors and students.
Ensure that supervisors and students are familiar with the IB documents
Academic honesty in the IB educational context and Effective citing and referencing.
Explain to students the importance of the extended essay in the overall context of the Diploma Programme, including the requirement to achieve a D grade or higher in order to be awarded the Diploma.
Explain to students that they will be expected to spend up to 40 hours on their extended essay.
Librarians are uniquely positioned to play an important and effective role in the extended essay process. As interdisciplinary educators they are able to work across subject areas to help students become lifelong learners through inquiring, gaining and creating new knowledge, and pursuing personal interests. With the necessary educational background and training they are able to support students in the development of information literacy and research skills
At AISR, this is Mr. Crook
All the following text is taken directly from the IB EE Guide
The Diploma Programme/extended essay coordinator plays an important role in implementing and managing the extended essay research and writing process. As a pedagogical leader the coordinator will set the tone for how the extended essay is undertaken and how students and supervisors engage with the process.
1. Read broadly to build background knowledge about your SUBJECT (video search, general web search, encyclopedias, IB textbooks).
2. Formulate a FOCUSED research question.
3. Gather information that addresses your research question (survey, interview, journal articles, etc.)
4. Write your essay.
ALWAYS be able to answer these questions about your topic:
What is your paper about?
What is your thesis? Your argument? Your point?
So what? Why is it important?
Now what? Given the research you've done, what action should happen?
Browse through these resources to go from a general topic of interests down to a specific area of focus.
How good is your introduction?
As always, please talk to your supervisor for subject specific advice.
Here you will find some general advice and ideas for writing an introduction.
COMMON STUDENT MISTAKE
It’s a big mistake to never redraft your introduction. It is likely that students write this part of the EE first - psychologically it helps them to feel the project has started. However did you know the best introductions are often written at the end of the project? After considering the purpose of an introduction the reasons why this is so, become obvious. The advice below is aimed at helping you understand why.
Williams (2013) suggests
Motivate your reader
Contextualize your essay
State your purpose
Describe your plan
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Lekanides (63) argues that for an EE introduction to be good it should contain four main concepts;
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Important Resources
Your conclusion is an occasion to sum up your argument, but just as important, it is an opportunity to extend your research community’s conversation by suggesting new questions your research has allowed you to see. You may be happy to know that you can write your conclusion using the same elements in your introduction, in reverse order.
Start with your main point
State your main point near the beginning of your conclusion. If you have already stated it in your introduction, repeat it here but more fully; do not simply repeat it word for word.
Add a new significance or application
After your point, say why it’s important, preferably with a new answer to So What? For example, the writer of this conclusion introduces an additional consequence of the Supreme Court’s decision on military death sentences:
In light of recent Supreme Court decisions rejecting mandatory capital punishment, the mandatory death penalty for treason is apparently unconsistutional and must therefore be revised by Congress. More significantly, though, if the Uniform Code of Military Justice is changed, it will challenge the fundamental value of military culture that ultimate betrayal requires the ultimate penalty. Congress will then have to deal with the military’s sense of what is just.
This observation belongs in the conclusion rather than the introduction because it suggests further questions the article does not take up: How exactly will the military respond to that challenge to its values? How should Congress respond in turn? Just as in your introduction you increase the punch of your problem stating its consequences, so in your conclusion you can increase the significance of your solution by noting its additional implications.
Call for more research
Just as your opening context surveys research already done, so your conclusion can call for research still to do:
These differences between novice and expert diagnosticians define their maturation and development. But while we know how novices and experts think differently, we do not understand which elements in the social experience of novices contribute to that development and how. We need longitudinal studies on how mentoring and coaching affect outcomes and whether active explanation and critique help novices become skilled diagnosticians more quickly.
When you state what remains to be done, you keep the conversation alive. So before you write your last words, imagine someone fascinated by your work who wants to follow up on it: What more would you like to know? What research would you suggest they do? After all, that may have been how you found your own problem.
Booth et al, 245-7
