A deep dive into the Extended Essay

A conversation with Ms Martin, our Extended Essay Coordinator

Ms Martin, our school librarian, oversees the Extended Essay for our Sixth Form students. We recently sat down with her to delve into the Extended Essay´s components, structure, and how it aligns with the International Baccalaureate (IB) learner profile.

Spotlight!: Could you provide an overview of the Extended Essay (EE)? 

Lesley Martin (LM):  

The central idea of the International Baccalaureate and its Core Programme (including the Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge and CAS programme) is to develop the whole student, both academically and as a well-rounded individual. 

The Extended Essay embodies this idea. It is a 4,000-word research essay for which students choose a topic which relates to one of the subjects they are studying. The project runs over 10 months, starting in January of Year 12 with a submission date in October of Year 13.

The objective of this work is for students to deepen their subject knowledge while developing the skills they will need for the future. They are expected to conduct their project independently and address the Approaches to Learning and the Learner Profile developed by the IB organisation. This means that they have to plan their work, set their own deadlines and use databases and search engines to find their own resources. Depending on the subject, they may also carry out primary research such as experiments or fieldwork. Of course, we guide them through the process.

The essay should not only be a narrative and descriptive text but include some analysis as students attempt to answer their research question. This way, they develop their critical thinking as they should present a personal and thoughtful view of the question.

How do you support our students with this project? What are the resources our school provides to help? 

LM: The fact that I am a librarian means I am a good reference person for the EE in school as a librarian is trained to find, evaluate and use information. I organise skills workshops with our students, 5 or 6 times a year, to ensure they understand what is expected of them and provide guidance for their research methodology and writing. I am also in regularly contact with the students´ supervisors to check the project progress and address any difficulties.

I created a comprehensive Extended Essay OneNote that provides students with a lot of guidance and includes links to the IB criteria and requirements.

What makes an Extended Essay unique and outstanding?

LM: The first step is to create a really good Research Question. The best EE are often from students who develop a topic they are passionate about and who put real thought into it.

Another aspect to consider is the quality of the academic sources. A student who uses high quality academic sources and puts a lot of efforts into evaluating and analysing the information has gone a long way towards creating a good piece of work.

It is thus our role as educators to guide and inform our students about where and how to find and use good academic resources. 

What are the EE assessment criteria?

LM: With the EE, the work process is as important as the product. This means assessors are not only judging the knowledge displayed but the skills a student puts into the process to reach a goal and propose a constructive answer to the initial question.

During the 10-month period, students meet their supervisors several times, in which the essay question is discussed, as well as the work structure, to understand the students´ path. Students can express any difficulties they might face, and advice given enables them to move in the right direction.

The assessment also ensures that the essay is truly linked to the studied subject, and as such brings subject-related concepts and terminology.

The students also have three formal Reflection meetings with their supervisors to reflect on their progress and the skills they are developing. They then complete three written Reflections which form part of the assessment process. The last of these is the Viva Voce, which will normally take place at the end of the Autumn term. The essay and reflections are then sent externally to be marked by the IB.

What is your view on using Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT, for such a project? How do we prepare our students to use available tools with discernment?

Of course, using AI to write your essay is definitely cheating. But we talk to students about how to use such tools in a positive and ethical way, for example to search for experts in the field, or help build an essay outline. We guide our students to use AI tools as an aid and a support in the process rather than creating the essay itself. 

We suggest to them other interesting AI tools such as Perplexity.ai or Elicit.com which can support the research and writing process in an ethical manner and save time during their research step.

During the whole process, students must keep a Research Log, to demonstrate the resources they´ve used and how they developed their thinking and progress. This helps supervisors to confidently authenticate the work as the student´s own.

What are past topics that you really liked?

I love the fact that Essay topics are really diverse! Some examples of some really good pieces I´ve seen:

• To what extent does Aravind Adiga conform to Karl Marx’s definition of Class Conflict in the novel The White Tiger?
• How can shape optimisation be utilised in 3D printing and what environmental impact does it have?
• How have gender stereotypes affected the women in Tanzania?