Extended Essay

Extended Essay

Core Content:

Students are required to write independently a research essay (maximum 4000 words) on a topic of their own choice in an IB subject. Assessment: All Extended Essays are marked externally.

All Diploma students must undertake an Extended Essay on a topic of their choice within an IB subject. This requirement reflects the principle that independent research skills are vital to all areas of study and deserve a central role in the curriculum. With the Theory of Knowledge and Creativity, Action, Service components, the Extended Essay provides the ‘glue’ that makes the Diploma a coherent and integrated qualification. Please note that despite the title projects can be undertaken in any subject not just those traditionally associated with formal essay

writing.

The Extended Essay is in depth study of a limited topic within an IB subject. It is recommended that students spend a maximum of 40 hours on it, though many willingly exceed this, often by a significant amount. Students have around 3 hours contact time with an academic supervisor, who is a teacher within the school, and are expected to work independently for the remainder of the time. The supervisor provides the candidate with advice and guidance in the skills of undertaking research – by assisting, for example, with defining a suitable topic, with techniques of gathering and analyzing information/evidence/data and with documentation methods for acknowledging sources. The Extended Essay process begins in November of Year 12 and is completed in November of Year 13.

Marks for the essay are based on subject specific content and research skills which are common and highly transferable:

• Formulation of Research Question • Approach to Research Question • Interpretation/Argument/Evaluation • Conclusion • Formal details – referencing, bibliography, etc. • Reflection

Recent examples of Extended Essay titles:

• To what extent were economic factors the main reasons for the collapse of

Yugoslavia? • Does using a parabolic reflector increase the power output of a photovoltaic module throughout the day? • To what extent do the socio-economic benefits of exploitation of palm oil in Indonesia outweigh the environmental effects? • How does the sculptures of Giacometti illustrate the effects of WWII and Existentialist ideologies? • To what extent do Brontë’s presentations of Bertha and Jane in Jane Eyre conform to the archetypes of Madwoman in the Attic and Angel in the House?

• Comment est-ce que Flaubert utilise la création de personnages pour explorer l’idée de la sainteté dans Trois Contes? • To what extent can the Hawker Market industry in Singapore be judged as being perfectly competitive? • What are second order differential equations and how important are they to real world applications?

Contact for further information: Joanna Holt: jo.holt@tts.edu.sg