The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), with its rigorous academic standards and comprehensive curriculum, has three core components, i.e., EE, CAS, and TOK. Each component has its own challenges. IB Extended Essay Research (EE) is a 4,000-word independent research project that allows students to delve deep into a topic of their choice within the parameters of the IB subject areas.
Extended Essays are a rewarding and good opportunity to engage in research at an early age. It tickles the knowledge cells of the brain and channels the thinking into productive means. The EE helps in sharpening the research skills of the students and making them self-aware.
Every task seems impossible until it is done properly. There can be a lot of chaos surrounding the Extended Essay if the student is not well-informed and prepared. The preparation can be done in a proper manner with the right guidance. So, in this particular article, we will be gathering useful tips and tricks to make you score a perfect seven on the Extended Essay.
- Selecting the right research topic: No one is not good at everything. One needs to have a clear vision of the work that they have undertaken. A clear vision comes if you have selected a topic that genuinely interests you, not something you find boring. There are a lot of topics available at one’s discretion. You must select their area of interest and do research and development. After the needed research and development, you will have your thesis in an efficient way.
- Preliminary Analysis: You will feel more or less chaotic if you skip proper preliminary analysis. Before opting for any project, you need to undertake preliminary research to find out the resources from which you can gather your data. Sometimes, an area interests you, but its study is not feasible enough to be carried on by you. The preliminary research eliminates the unnecessary waste of time and resources on things that don’t matter.
- Developing a strong research question: A strong research question must be developed in order to make your research strong. A strong research question should be very specific to cover a particular area. Your research question should answer the problem at hand in an effective manner. So, you must develop a good research question and support it with full-fledged citations.
- Research Plan and Timelines: You must create a good research plan that is properly time-bound. A research plan is good only if it covers all the aspects of research. The plan should come with specific guidelines related to its completion on time. This time-bound completion will get the EE done in a timely manner.
- Academic and credible sources: There are a lot of resources available online as well as offline. You can pick good research books, dive deeper into your interests, and get the information you need. Credible sources should only be used. You must not use any resource that has no credibility. The resources must be accompanied by proper documentation. The use of good academic books and resources helps you generate better results.
- Ethical side: There are many AI-based tools that make it very convenient to generate an essay in no time. The content generated with AI, however, can be plagiarised. You need to be quite vigilant to not send plagiarised content. You can definitely take guidance from the online resources but do not rely completely on the online resources for the final outcome.
- Organising and structuring the Extended Essay: Your EE should not look isolated in terms of its coherence. The essay as a whole must reflect a clear viewpoint. A clear viewpoint can only be reflected if your essay is organised in terms of its content and presentation. Your essay should be presented in a structured way in order to make it relevant for the evaluator.
- Writing and revising your EE: Writing your EE is not an easy job. As a mini-thesis, it will take a lot of time to be developed. After finally writing your EE, you can get it reviewed by the experts and get a critical opinion on it. This critical opinion will be quite useful in preparing the final draft after editing and everything. The draft should be reviewed properly and thoroughly in order to make it free from any mistakes.
So, these were some useful tips to generate an Extended Essay. Your essay will only compete on all the quality standards if it is unbiased and free from plagiarism. The essay can be made authentic by using some useful tips and options to enhance its credibility.
Additionally, you can read out information that can support your research to enhance the quality of your essay.
