THE EXTENDED ESSAY WORKSHOP OBAMA ACADEMY

I.B. Diploma Programme Coordinator Joe Ehman I.B. Diploma Programme Coordinator jehman1@pghboe.net 412-322-3132 (home) 412-390-8313 (mobile)

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

WHERE DO I BEGIN?

4,000

WHERE DO I BEGIN?????? -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

WHERE DO I BEGIN?????? 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

5.) WRITING YOUR QUESTION WHERE DO I BEGIN?????? 5.) WRITING YOUR QUESTION 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

BAD QUESTIONS Why did the Nazis adopt the swastika as their symbol? WHERE DO I BEGIN?????? 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

WHERE DO I BEGIN?????? 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?

WHERE DO I BEGIN?????? 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.

Diving in to your work!

DIVING IN! NOW WHAT DO I DO????? - 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 the reliability of the resource.

DIVING IN! MY RESEARCH 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).

ALWAYS KEEP O.P.V.L. in mind when looking at a source!!! DIVING IN! MY RESEARCH 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!!!!! DIVING IN! MY RESEARCH 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!

IF YOU DO ANY OF THE ABOVE YOU WILL BE TOAST!!!! DIVING IN! MY RESEARCH 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!!!!

DIVING IN! LET'S WRITE!!! 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.

CONSTRUCTING AND SUSTAINING AN ARGUMENT DIVING IN! LET'S WRITE!!! CONSTRUCTING AND SUSTAINING AN ARGUMENT 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!

CONSTRUCTING AND SUSTAINING AN ARGUMENT DIVING IN! LET'S WRITE!!! CONSTRUCTING AND SUSTAINING AN ARGUMENT 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

DIVING IN! Parts of the Paper 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 !

DIVING IN! Parts of the Paper INTRODUCTION 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.

DIVING IN! Parts of the Paper CONCLUSION 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: SAY: “my research clearly proves that” -”on the basis of evidence it seems likely that….”

YOUR ABSTRACT CAN BE NO LONGER THAN 300 WORDS…… DIVING IN! Parts of the Paper YOUR ABSTRACT CAN BE NO LONGER THAN 300 WORDS……

DIVING IN! Parts of the Paper ABSTRACT 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)?

HOW GOOD IS MY PAPER? 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!!!! CONGRATS... You are now ready to embark on your Extended Essay!!!! GOOD LUCK!