Transcript Slide 1

OBAMA ACADEMY
What are my RESPONSIBILITIES???
It is REQUIRED that students:
- Choose a topic that fits into one of the subjects on the approved extended
essay list
- Observe the regulations relating to the extended essay
- Meet deadlines
- Acknowledge all sources of information and ides in an approved academic
manner.
It is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED that students:
- Start work early
- Think very carefully about the research question for their essay
- Plan how, when and where they will find material for their essay
-Plan a schedule for both researching and writing the essay, including extra time
for delay and unforeseen problems
-Record sources as their research progresses
- Have a clear structure for the essay itself before beginning to write
-Check and proofread the final version carefully
- make sure that all basic requirements are met
What are my RESPONSIBILITIES???
- THE
EXTENDED ESSAY IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!!!!!
-You must meet all deadlines!
-You must seek out the appropriate help
-You must construct a thoughtful question
-You must seek out your mentor and Mr. Ehman regularly
for help
ASK FOR HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT!
YOU MUST COMPLETE AN APPROPRIATE EE TO BE
ELIGIBLE FOR IB EXAMS!!!
What are my mentor’s RESPONSIBILITES??????
-The supervisor is required to make a judgment about whether or not to allow
you to proceed with the research question based on whether it meets IB
requirements.
-The supervisor reads a full draft of the essay and gives feedback but IS NOT
ALLOWED TO EDIT THE DRAFT!
-Provide feedback when asked
-Provide help with how to tackle your question and research
-Meet with you between 3-5 hours over the course of the year
-POINT YOU IN THE APPROPRIATE DIRECTION IF YOU SEEK HELP!!!
-Your EE mentor is not necessarily an expert on research or your topic, they are
there to help guide you and point you down the proper path !
What are Mr. Ehman’s RESPONSIBILITES?
-Provide
help if you ask for it…..
-Provide the necessary training for your mentors
-Meet with you (around the end of January) to see
where you are with your research
-Provide any and all official IB guides and paperwork
-Submit your Essays to IB for evaluation
-1.) PICK A SUBJECT AREA
GROUP 1
PHILOSOPHY
GROUP 2
PHYSICS
BIOLOGY
*POLITICS
BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT
PSYCHOLOGY
CHEMISTRY
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
CLASSICAL GREEK AND LATIN
THEATRE
COMPUTER SCIENCE
VISUAL ARTS
DANCE
*WORLD RELIGIONS
DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
ECONOMICS
ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS AND SOCIETIES
FILM
GEOGRAPHY
*HISTORY
*HUMAN RIGHTS
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN A GLOBAL SOCIETY
MATHEMATICS
MUSIC
*PEACE AND CONFLICT STUDIES
2.) PICK UP A SUBJECT GUIDE FOR YOUR SELECTED TOPIC
ON THE BACK TABLE BEFORE YOU LEAVE
3.) READ THE GUIDE
4.) LOOK AT THE SPECIFIC ASSESSMENT CRITERIA FOR
YOUR SUBJECT
YOU MUST HAVE SOME LEVEL OF
EXPERIENCE / EXPERTISE IN YOUR
CHOSEN SUBJECT!
Ex: IF YOU ARE NOT IN IB FILM YOU
ARE NOT PERMITTED TO DO A PAPER
IN FILM
Writing your question is the most difficult and important part of the
Extended Essay…..Write a question that is too broad, you will struggle.
Write a question that is too specific, you will struggle. Please follow
these tips in writing your Extended Essay question!
-For the best results you should phrase
your question in the form of A WHY
QUESTION, WITH AN ARGUABLE
ANSWER, OR A “TO WHAT EXTENT”
QUESTION
BAD
QUESTIONS
• Why did the Nazis adopt the swastika as their
symbol?
• How did the motion picture industry develop
in the United States of America?
• Why was trench warfare used in World War I?
GOOD
QUESTIONS
-Why did the United States decide to enter World War
I in 1917 after a lengthy period of non intervention?
-To what extent did the American view of
Communism affect U.S. foreign policy after WWII?
-To what extent did Alfred Hitchcock change the way
the horror/suspense genre was portrayed in film?
• 6.) Do a PRELIMINARY RESEARCH ON YOUR QUESTION
• 7.) FIND THREE DIFFERENT AUTHORS WHO HAVE
THREE DIFFERENT ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTION (if
you can not easily find three different points of view in
a preliminary research, you will have difficulty with
your question)
• 8.) Submit your subject and question on FRIDAY
DECEMBER 3rd
• 9.) Teachers will evaluate your question Dec. 4th-7th
• 10.) Meet in small groups to accept Question
amendments.
- You have your subject and question approved and ready to go!
- You have done a preliminary search to see if your question has readily available multiple
answers.
-You have met with your mentor and let them know you are about to dive in……
NOW WHAT DO I DO?????
-The answer is simple…… RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH
-Finding information is so easy in today’s day and age….. You are used to instant gratification
when it comes to finding answers….. This is not what the EE is about.
-You must take your time to look for sources
-Pile through information
- Decide if the resource is relevant to your question
-Decide in what way is the information in this resource related to my
research question
-Decide how you can build the information into your argument
-Decide if the resource is reliable and what evidence you have for
While researching your project you will (yes I said
will) use a wide variety of resources. You know by
now that in order to do quality research you do not
just go to the library and start yanking books on your
subject. You must take time to look at each source
and preview it, before reading the entire piece. Look
at a book like you look at a movie….look at the
previews to see if you want to watch (read) the whole
thing (the dust jacket synopsis, online reviews are the
best way to do this).
O.P.V.L.
Origin= Where is this source from?
Purpose=Why was this written / said?
Value= Why did the person write / say this
Limitation= What are the limitations of my source
ALWAYS KEEP O.P.V.L. in mind when looking at a
source!!!
CITE AS YOU GO!!!!!
-Pick a style….any style
-I have included all acceptable IB citation formats in your
handbook
-It does not matter what style you pick, BUT YOU MUST USE
ONLY ONE STLYE FOR YOUR ENTIRE PAPER!!!!!
-Get a notebook specifically for the EE.
-Cite as you go…..I mean it, write down each source,
each page, each time you use the source AS YOU GO….I
HAVE DONE RESEARCH PAPERS BEFORE (LOTS AND
LOTS OF THEM) I ALWAYS STRUGGLED WITH KEEPING
TRACK OF CITATIONS! Citing is boring, but necessary
please do it ALWAYS!!!!! It will prevent you from being
accused of plagiarism and failing your IB Diploma!
PLAGARISM= You rip someone off
COLLUSION=Someone rips you off
DUPLICATION=You take work and
add a little of your own “magic”
to it
IF YOU DO ANY OF THE ABOVE YOU WILL BE TOAST!!!!
You have constructed a well thought-out question, you have
consulted your mentor, you have put together a lot of research,
you have done the homework, now let’s get to the writing…..
1.) ORGANIZE: a good teacher knows what they want you to
understand by the end of a lesson, they plan backwards in
order to get you to the desired outcome. This is a good idea for
your EE as well. You have the info, you know now what you
want to say, now PLAN YOUR ATTACK!
2.)PRE-WRITE :This is when you lay out your ideas an outline
is one way to construct a good pre-write.
The basic structure of an argument goes something like this:
- You take a position, have an opinion, consider something to be true or
make a claim.
-You present reasons, evidence or information to support your problem
- You draw a conclusion from the reasons, evidence or information
YOU BUILD UP YOUR ARGUMENT BY DRAWING SMALLER
CONCLUSIONS FROM EACH PIECE OF EVIDENCE. THIS EVENTUALLY
LEADS TO A BIGGER CONCLUSIONABOUT THE RESEACH QUESTION AT
THE END OF THE ESSAY!
-Tell the reader what you intend to show. Do this by presenting , explaining, and
putting the research question into context.
-Present and explain the evidence to support you case. This may take many
different forms depending on the nature of the research question. For example:
-Quotations from a text
-Opinions of other authors you have read
-Historical documents / accounts of events
-Data collected through experimentation/fieldwork
-Results of surveys or questionnaires
-Draw your conclusions, referring back to the research question and to the
evidence you have presented
Your paper is required to include an:
INTRODUCTION
ABSTRACT
CONCLUSION
TITLE PAGE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
It is good practice to postpone work on these aspects of the process
until you are finished with the main body of the paper !
-You are required to present the research question
and explain why it is worth investigating.
-You will need to go beyond your personal
motivation
-You will need to establish for the reader that the
rest of the essay is worth reading because the
question being investigated may lead to a new or
better understanding, may solve an unresolved
issue or throw new light on an old problem.
-You may have drawn preliminary or partial conclusions at various stages of the work.
These strands need to be drawn together near the end of the essay in a way that directly
addresses the research question.
-YOUR CONLUSION MUST BE RELEVANT!
-Restating the research question at this point may help you to focus your writing and you
should use simple direct language in order to make the conclusion as clear as possible.
-NEVER SAY:
-“my research clearly proves that”
SAY:
-”on the basis of evidence it seems
likely that….”
YOUR ABSTRACT CAN BE NO LONGER
THAN 300 WORDS……
The Abstract gives the reader a preview of the essay in its entirety, and should be the
last part of the writing process, written after all other parts have been completed.
An ABSTRACT is not actually part of the essay. It is a separate piece of writing that has
its own word limit to which you need to carefully adhere.
THE ABSTRACT MUST:
- CONTAIN THE RESEARCH QUESTION
- IT MUST CONTAIN YOUR MAIN CONCLUSIONS
- IT MUST DEAL WITH HOW YOU WENT ABOUT GATHERING THE
EVIDENCE, AND DATA YOU HAVE PRESENTED
AN ABSTRACT SHOULD ANSWER THREE QUESTIONS TO THE READER:
1.) What question are you trying to answer in your essay?
2.) How did you go about gathering you information (your methods)
3.) What did you find out (what conclusions did you reach)?
-Each Subject has SPECIFIC grading criterion…..This can be found in your individual
subject guide.
-Each EE is graded on the following generic criterion
-A) Research Question
-B) Introduction
-C) Investigation
-D) Knowledge and Understanding of the Topic Studied
-E) Reasoned Argument
-F) Application of analytical and evaluative skills appropriate to the subject
-G) Use of language appropriate to the subject
-H.) Conclusion
-I) Formal Presentation
-J) Abstract
-K) Holistic Judgment
Please look at your subject guide for
more information, I have included
examples of perfectly scored criterion
in the back of your EE handbook!
ALWAYS REMEMBER!!!!
-STAY ORGANIZED
-ALWAYS CITE AS YOU GO
-KEEP YOUR STYLE THE SAME (citations and the paper)
-ASK FOR HELP ALWAYS AND OFTEN
-STICK TO YOUR DEADLINES
-STAY CALM
-READ YOUR IB GUIDE
-READ YOUR HANDBOOK
You are now ready to
embark on your
Extended Essay!!!!
GOOD LUCK!