The Extended Essay

Students are given 10 months to create a 4,000 word (or 8,000 Japanese characters) Extended Essay. The Extended Essay gives students the opportunity to investigate a topic of their choice from one of the subjects they are studying within the Diploma. Students are expected to show independent research and extended writing skills, which will be vital in their studies at university. The essay is designed to promote intellectual discovery and creativity and should take approximately 40 hours to complete. Students are provided with a teacher supervisor to support them in researching and planning their essay.
The following are examples of the support given to students at Tamagawa Academy.

a) Initial Meeting.

The DP Coordinator and Extended Essay Coordinator meets with all year 11 students in a half-day workshop. An overview of the Extended Essay process is given to the students, including the IB Extended Essay guide, the student guide, the evaluation criteria (including subject specific information), an in depth subject guide for each Extended Essay subject, a focus on how each subject approaches sections of the criteria differently, role of the supervisors, Managebac, deadlines, grading a variety of Extended Essays and the conditions the students need to meet in order to be allowed to choose a subject to study.

b) Research workshops.

The DP Coordinator, Extended Essay Coordinator, and librarian hold research skills workshops in the MMRC. Students are be advised to think about subject choice and initial research.

c) Extended Essay Teacher advice.

Subject teachers present to students about the Extended Essay in their lesson time / an Extended Essay lunch with staff and students, culminating in a handout on the requirements of each subject for each student.

d) Subject choice criteria.

The Diploma Programme Coordinator explains the following subject choice criteria to the students:

Academic based criteria.
Students must be performing strongly in their chosen EE subject and have the language skills to research and write a good essay independently. To be able to choose an Extended Essay subject, students should have scored 5 or above in their subject choice in year 10 and / or at the start of year 11.
Language based criteria.
Students who were in English phase 4 or below at the end of year 10 must do the essay in Japanese A or English B (if applicable). Students are able to appeal this decision through filling in a proposal form with the relevant subject teacher (this appeal process will be explained to students). The same conditions apply to students who are in phase 4 or below in Japanese.
HL advice
Students will be advised to do their essay in one of their HL subjects, especially if they can use it to help with future university applications.

e) DP Core class.

Students have one DP core class per week where they are allowed to research their Extended Essay, with some lessons being booked into the school library. Students are advised to use this time to meet their supervisors.

f) Extended Essay workshops.

Time is given in March and July for students to work on their Extended Essay off timetable under the supervision of the Diploma Programme Coordinator.

Further information on the Extended Essay can be found here
http://www.ibo.org/contentassets/5895a05412144fe890312bad52b17044/extended-essay-brief-2016-en.pdf