Read this article for 5 tips to ace your IB Extended Essay. This article shows IB Students how to write an Extended Essay for IB Diploma.
In this article, we will reveal useful information on what your IB Extended Essay (EE) requires. Consider this to be your IB Extended Essay Checklist and covers everything that you must know about your EE
Hey! Make sure you listen to Ivy who will explain to you what NOT to do on your EE.
These mountains you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb!
Understand that no warrior ever conquered the battlefield with an unhinged mind. We say this because being past IB students, we have seen and faced what you are about to and have a good knowledge and acquired ability to differentiate between bigger beasts and smaller beasts.
IB Extended Essay is a smaller beast considering that you give it enough time before it turns into a bigger one. All you need to do is relax your mind, de-stress and follow a simple procedure explained further in the article. There is no need to panic. Trust us, listen to us, be like us!
IB extended essay (IB EE) is another one of your mandatory requirements of the IB Diploma Programme. It is a mini-thesis that you write under the supervision of a mentor/advisor. Your mentor will be an IB teacher from your school. The students need to conduct independent research on a topic of their choice, which must not exceed the limit of 4000 words. You begin by choosing a research question as a topic that will be further approved by IBO. It is up to you to either do a typical research paper or conduct an experiment/solve a problem type EE.
I can write too many paragraphs giving you unnecessary information but let’s cut to the chase and admit, the heart wants what it wants. You will go with an advisor/mentor whom you will connect to the most. However, if your judgment is clouded between the advisor whom you want to choose solely because you connect with him/her better and the mentor who is knowledgeable about your chosen topic and can actually help you improve your research work, the choice is pretty clear: listen to your brain. Get rid of your toxic love and make a wise decision of choosing a knowledgeable mentor. If you are lucky, the mentor you connect with and the one having ample knowledge about your chosen topic will end up being the same person. On that note, consider only two things while choosing your advisor:
Before diving into topic selection and the structure of your IB extended essay, refer to this table to get an insight into the grade breakdown table. This will be helpful in your planning phase.
Moving ahead towards important aspects of this article. After choosing your mentor, the next step for ‘how to write an EE’ is choosing a topic with the help of your mentor’s input. It is as important as it was in our TOK Essay and TOK presentation.
Keep the following in mind while selecting your topic:
The Structure of IB Extended Essay
Before we dive into the structure, let us make one thing clear, there is a difference between title and research question. A title is not the same as your research question. Your research question is a clear and focused summative statement of your research. For instance, “The Effect of Gender and Age on the photoreceptor cells in the human retina” is a title whereas the following as the examples of research questions:
“Does the efficiency of Rods and cones decrease with age?
“What is the efficiency of L-cone vs M-cone vs S-cone?“
“To what extent are rod cells more efficient than the three cone cells?”
“Does the efficieny of rods and cones differ between genders?”
This will include the following:
● Introduction
● Methodology
● Main body
● Conclusion
● Bibliography
● Appendices
Quick Note: The content on this page will not be included in your essay word count.
NO ABSTRACT REQUIRED. The latest IB guide states that an abstract should not be included in EE anymore.
Introduce and elaborate topic that you are researching in your EE.
It is advised that you split this section into two major sections to ensure that you cover all the important aspects.
Quick Note: Ensure that besides giving the readers and insight into the theories, arguments and resources that you plan to use for your research, you also point out the weaknesses and limitations of these.
Section- 1: Sources
Section- 2: Related topics, theories and arguments
This part of your essay will be the most elaborate. It will concentrate upon research, analysis, discussion and evaluation.
To maintain the flow of your previous section, we would advise that you split this section into two parts as well identical to the previous bifurcation to showcase your understanding of the IB concepts learned in your business management class and the other addressing the insightful material outside of your course.
Section-1: Related arguments, theories and topics form your course learning
Section- 2: Beyond your Course
Take up this section as an opportunity for you to educate your reader/evaluator.
Quick Note: Relate every paragraph with your research question.
This section is pretty self-explanatory. It is time to bind all your sections together.
Quick Note: Don’t include a recommendations section in your EE
This section is basically to give the reader an insight into your research resources. It may include:
Quick note: The content on this page will not be included in your essay word count.
Take this section as more of an important formality of showcasing the process of hard work that you have put in.
Quick note: The content on this page will not be included in your essay word count.
With this, we come towards the end of our article on what is an IB extended essay and how to write an extended essay. Like we mentioned earlier, it is not that difficult. All you need is dedication, set timelines and proper research. So, don’t worry, there are no rabbits to pull out of your hat today. If you want to score a 36 on 36 in your Extended Essay, make sure you check out our Extended Essay Guide which offers '5 never heard before' tips which will help you write a quality essay.
Make an IB Extended Essay Checklist! I cannot emphasise enough on this point. The submission for your EE happens at the same time when you are expected to take your exams. There will be a million things that you would have to keep a track. There is a high chance of forgetting to make that final edit or perfecting your EE's introduction in the midst of it all. Therefore, having an IB Extended Essay Checklist will make sure that you do everything needed. IB Extended Essay Checklist will be your saviour during the final submission days.
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This FREE guide reveals the most powerful information for boosting your extended essay score and opening the floodgates to that sweet 45! Get for free what others have paid $100’s in tuition classes to learn/preach!