IB Extended Essay – Everything You Should Know About It
IB students around the world fear penning extended essays’ however, it does not have to be a source of stress. An IB extended essay is a research paper for International Baccalaureate students. The length of the essay can range between 3,000 and 4,000 words and offers the students an opportunity to conduct an independent investigation and/or research on a topic of their interest.
For IB students, an extended essay IB is a mandatory prerequisite for their IB Diploma, apart from service, action, and creativity activities. If you want to know how to write an extended essay IB, you have landed at the right page.
Structure of IB Extended Essay
A typical IB essay format needs to follow a particular structure:
- Title page
- Page of content
- Introduction
- Essay body
- Conclusion
- Bibliography and references
Additionally, the IB extended essay abstract and research topic also needs to fall under one of the six approved IB subject groups, or DP categories, like Studies in Language and Literature (Group 1), Language Acquisition (Group 2), Individuals and Societies (Group 3), Sciences (Group 4), Mathematics (Group 5), and the Arts (Group 6). You will find several IB extended essay examples online.
Executing An Extended Essay
Once you have managed to figure out the category and the potential topics ideas of your essay, you need to pick your advisor. Normally, it can be your IB teacher at your school or you can easily find one online. Your advisor is the person who will help you and give your research a direction and guide you. Additionally, they will also be the ones to conduct the reflection sessions.
As of 2018, reflection sessions are part of the extended essay supervision. This requires you to meet your advisor at least thrice. Apart from being mandatory, reflection sessions are also part of your research methods and formal assessment of your IB extended essay rubric.
According to the IB extended essay guidelines, the reason these meetings are held is to provide the students with the opportunity to reflect on their engagement with the research process. In simpler terms, it means that your advisor will provide you feedback, encourage you to think differently and push you to evaluate your research process.
Viva Voce is the last session of this process. It is a small interview that can last anywhere between 10- and 15-minutes between you and your supervisor. It mostly takes place at the end of the extended essay process and will help the supervisor write down their reports and grade your work accordingly.
Significance Of An Extended Essay
Apart from allowing students to investigate or research on a topic of personal interest, extended essays are also practical preparation for undergraduate research. With the help of extended essays, students develop skills in different fields like:
- Developing arguments
- Communicating ideas
- Engaging in a personal exploration of the subject matter
- Creating or formulating the appropriate questions for the research
Tips For Writing The Best Extended Essay
Here are some tips that can help you jot down a stellar extended essay:
- Write about something that lifts your excitement
Of course, you cannot write an essay about something that you do not enjoy. Hence, it is encouraged that you write about something that you are passionate about. Think of the classes that you enjoy and ask yourself why. Remember that there are no right or wrong IB extended essay topics.
- The topic should not be too narrow or broad
You need to write about a specific topic that you can cover within 4,000 words. However, the topic should not be so specific that writing 4,000 words about it becomes a headache. For instance, an essay on WWII is an extensive subject and is too broad; on the other hand, the type of soup being served to WWII prisoners is too narrow. In this case, you can write on the topic ‘how were the prisoners of WWII treated?’
IB Extended Essay Samples - Why Not Take A Look At Those?
With the help of IB extended essays, you will be able to explain your theories and ideas with much greater precision. For examples, you can check out more essay samples online. However, if you face any problem while doing so, get in touch with MyCustomEssay and we will see to it that you get through with the help of our customized writing assistance.
