The extended essay is one of the three core parts of the IBDP, along with the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) and Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) programmes. The essay is an independent, self-directed piece of research, finishing with a 4000 word paper. The idea with the essay is to prepare the students for their tertiary education and future undergraduate research.
The extended essay might seem daunting at first, but most students enjoy the opportunity to investigate a topic of special interest to them and deepening their knowledge in one of their six subjects. As part of the work the students learn to formulate an appropriate research question and how to conduct effective research.
Mr. Ang, who works as an executive at the National Library Board (NLB), visited us yesterday and talked to our students about ways to do research and showed them some search engine strategies. As the students are moving to proper essay writing and more indepth research, a lot of focus was put on the use of credible sources and how Wikipedia and random websites not are accepted at this level. The NLB provides a lot of eResources and Mr. Ang shared some valuable tips on how the students can use those.
A very informative and well-received workshop.