A Thorough Insight into the Extended Essay @AISG

It is the beginning of the AISG school year, which means a fresh start for many. Lower and Upper Secondary students rejoice, and teachers prepare to educate. For the Class of 2025 though, this time of year means the Extended Essay (EE) is due as a part of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP).  This alliterative assignment doesn’t  seem to be much at first, but as you will learn soon, it is one of the biggest challenges for students in the DP.

An integral and necessary part of the IBDP, the EE is where students prepare a lengthy 4000-word essay after doing extensive research on a topic of their choice. According to ibo.org, the topic one can be about almost anything, but the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) must approve the topic.  From that, the student develops a research question and explore the different ideas of it, simultaneously creating an argument and basing your final essay on it. Every student doing the Diploma Program (DP) must undergo the EE, where research starts around the second half of 11^th grade and is completed by the start of your senior year.

According to ibo.org, submitted EEs are internally marked by sent to be marked externally by assigned IB examiners Regardless of the numerous amount of research every student does, the IB only grades the essay itself on a scale of 34. To get the highest grade possible on the EE (an A), one must score at least a combined score of 27/34 which is the sum of marks given by 5 unique criteria.

The question you create to research has perpetually no limits: for instance, grade 12 Auston chose to write his EE around the question: “How are women suppressed in a Chinese patriarchal society?”. Another senior, Eric, wrote his EE about the realm of Chinese, focusing on the narrative angle of a Chinese novel titled The Muslims Funeral. Christine, a grade 12 student,  chose psychology as her category of focus, and wrote about how affective interpersonal touch is essential to human well-being. Conclusively, an EE research question should be concise, not too specific but not too broad to ensure you can create a sufficient argument.

Ms. Vyas is the newly established EE coordinator in AISG. She noticed something vital when it came to doing research for your research question: “When conducting research, it’s essential to ensure that the information gathered aligns with the research question. A common mistake students make is having a broad or narrow research question that doesn’t support their findings. To avoid this, it’s crucial to revisit and rework the research question as needed.”

Mr. Kennett, the DP coordinator, has overlooked multiple seniors and their IBDP journey. He has noticed many things students overlook and don’t do, especially the following: “A couple of things that students often don’t consider if just how much time the writing process takes if you are looking to score highly on your EE- the drafting and writing process, while enjoyable, is time consuming! As for final submissions, there’s always some students who forget the rules the IB sets for the coverage and ensuring they have completed their works cited in alphabetical order!”.

Managing time is a major factor of the EE, as Mr. Kennett pointed out. There is a vast amount of time provided to start and conclude the EE. Some people would agree that it isn’t time consuming: “You’ll have plenty of time to deal with your EE even if you procrastinate a bit. Don’t procrastinate too much is all my suggestion,” says grade 12’s Eric. The mirage of time is also seen as a testament to every DP student’s IB journey. It tests multiple skills that are necessary for keeping up with the IBDP, as mentioned by grade 12 student Auston: “Keeping track of deadlines as well as occasional meets with my supervisor has definitely helped my overall time management for the EE. Being organized has helped alleviate a lot of stress, allowing me to submit my drafts on time.”

While doing the EE, you are assigned a teacher mentor to help you with questions, help you manage time and guide you throughout. Mentors can really help. For example, Christine faced a dilemma during her time writing her EE regarding the content she had to read: “In theory I had good time management when it came to planning out by when I would complete certain portions on my EE but in reality when I tried to apply that plan, I always found it difficult to carry it through. My EE involves a lot of academic journal reading which is for me mentally taxing to read. I think that’s why I put it off for a while but once I got help on how to read them better from my psychology teacher, the process went a lot smoother.” Asking for help from a teacher, friend or the internet is a great way to speed up and ease the process of completing the EE.

Credibility for your sources is also a vital part of the EE. According to Ms. Vyas, the IB emphasizes the importance of academic integrity, and citing sources is a crucial part of this. She also suggested multiple things to help keep track of your sources and notes:

• Keep track of all sources from the beginning [and what you’re using
• Cite sources whenever information is used that is not their own synthesis
• Use online tools like NoodleTools to help with citations and organization

Similarly, Ms. Vyas suggests that it is also essential to keep evidence of the research process along with your sources, to ensure that you can map out your thoughts and structure of your EE. “This evidence is necessary to demonstrate the student’s engagement and learning progression throughout the research process,” said Ms. Vyas. Keeping evidence of the research process includes collecting:

• Initial thinking and research question
• Progress and changes made to the research question
• Resources used and consulted
• Mind maps and diagrams created

The newly acclaimed seniors, having now completed and submitted their EEs for grading, have a huge load off their backs. “The current seniors are continuing the strong work of the class of 2024, in meeting deadlines and working with their supervisors,” says Mr. Kennett. The class of 2026, the generation beneath the current seniors, and many future graduates are yet to acknowledge the EE and are somewhat oblivious of what is to come. Here are closing pieces of feedback from some of AISG’s seniors (read at your own risk):

• Auston – As many people might have already said, start your EE early, this is indeed an important advice. In addition, when choosing your top three EE subject choice, make sure to choose three subjects that interests you as your first choice may not be picked (unfortunately I didn’t get my first choice, but everything turned out well!).
• Caterina – Don’t choose a hard subject, unless you want to show passion. Universities look for passion, and the EE is a great tool to showcase this. For instance, if you are into biology, writing an EE related to biology is a way to show universities that you are dedicated to the subject you want to pursue in the future.
• Christine – My advice for juniors doing their EE is to get help early, because that’s how you work smarter and not harder. Yeah I could’ve figured out what my teacher told me on my own, but it would’ve taken me triple the time instead of just asking her. I also advise you to pick a more specific EE question because the broadness of my EE question made it difficult for me to narrow down my argument.
• Eric – Do not choose Chinese A EE. The grading scale is pathetically strict.
• Kieran – Pick a subject that you really enjoy doing, start as early as possible, and spend more time with your supervisor. Don’t take others’ advice when you’re picking your subject (don’t pick English or other courses because other people said it’s easy). And don’t trust statistics; looking at the average score of EEs in different subjects doesn’t really show anything. Again: just do what you like or else you’re going to suffer for a year and a half.