Extended Essays


Important due dates and deadlines:
  • Students:  contact your EE supervisor right away.  Be sure to send him or her your email address--one that you will actually check frequently.
  • EE Proposals are to be submitted to your TOK teacher by early February.
  • Several workshops will be offered during Tiger Time to help you prepare for various steps of the research process.  Contact Dr. Neal, EE Coordinator, or Mrs Kramer, IB Coordinator, if you have any questions or need assistance.
  • In April, students meet with their EE supervisors for a formal conference where the student leads the discussion.  Each department has its own requirements.  Check with your supervisor if you are unsure of what you are supposed to do.
  • Science EE experiments must be run and completed by May 1st.
  • First day of school in August, students turn in a completed draft of their essays, including in-text citations or footnotes (depending upon which subject area) and works cited, bibliography, or references (again subject dependent).  The abstract and table of contents and other supplemental pages will not be due until later.
  • In August or early September during TOK classes, tudents will be taught how IB prefers abstracts to be written.
  • Early in September, conferences must be completed with supervisors' feedback to students regarding first complete draft.
  •  October 1, is the deadline for the final quality draft with essay, citations, abstract, table of contents, etc. 
  • The Viva Voce is to be completed before Winter break in December. This is the final interview between the student and the EE supervisor as the formal completion of the project. The Viva Voce will aid the EE Supervisor's final assessment/predicted grade of the Extended Essay, which will be sent in to IB.

INTRODUCTION:

Early in second semester of the junior year, IB diploma candidates receive a copy of the Extended Essay Guidelines with specific deadline dates and copies of the forms to be submitted. A worldwide requirement of the IB diploma program is the completion of the Extended Essay. This is a 4000 word research paper completed by a diploma candidate in one of the IB subject areas. Students may select the IB subject area for research. A subject faculty member will be selected as the student's EE supervisor. This research project is a scholarly pursuit done by the student under the supervision of a faculty expert, working with the student approximately 4-5 hours maximum over the course of the year. The Extended Essay must meet the guidelines established by IB and the guidelines established by your faculty expert. Extended Essays cannot include the same topics completed for Internal Assessments in IB classes. Furthermore, two or more diploma candidates can not submit essays on the same topic.

Should a diploma candidate not submit an Extended Essay he/she will not receive an IB diploma.

PROCEDURES
  1. Selection of the candidate's IB subject area for research and faculty supervisor must be completed in the spring of the junior year. Upon approval of a student's Extended Essay topic, two copies will be distributed:  one copy for the faculty supervisor and one copy for the IB Coordinator. Students should retain a copy for their own use.
      2.  Faculty supervisors will set the process deadlines. However, two copies of a complete rough draft must be submitted by the first day of school during the senior year. If you elect an Extended Essay in a science field, please note that this means completing an experiment. Some topics in science may be unsuitable for investigation because of ethical issues. Experiments likely to inflict pain on living organisms, have a harmful effect on health, or those which may involve access to or publication of confidential medical information must be avoided. In chemistry, topics unsuitable for investigation are those related to safety issues. For example, experiments involving toxic or dangerous chemicals, carcinogenic substances, or radioactive materials should be avoided. Other topics in science may be unsuitable because the outcome is already well known and documented in standard text books, and the candidate may not be able to show personal input. See your faculty supervisor concerning specifics for your selected subject area, and sign his or her separate contract in your Initial Meeting on or before March 10th.
       3.  IB guidelines request approximately four hours of working with the faculty supervisor. The supervisor is to guide the candidate in meeting the IB requirements for the Extended Essay. Therefore, the student must be responsible for keeping appointments and meeting the deadlines established by the supervisor. Failure to follow these requirements may result in a failing grade for  the 1/4 credit EE Essay senior "seminar".
        4. FINAL VERSION of your Extended Essay must include a title page, abstract, table of contents, proper source citations, and bibliography/works cited/reference. Each page after the abstract and table of contents should include page numbers. 
          
Extended Essay Point Ranges
A: Excellent:        31 to 36 points
B: Good:              26 to 30 points
C: Satisfactory:   18 to 25 points 
D: Mediocre:        11 to 17 points
E: Elementary:     0 to 10 points--Failing condition--Students will NOT receive an IB diploma