Over the last few weeks, Year 13 (DP2) students have been hard at work completing their Extended Essays. The tired faces and stressed attitudes amongst some of our students have borne witness to the demanding nature of this assignment.
The extended essay is a compulsory part of the assessment for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Progamme. It is an in-depth study of a focused topic chosen from the list of approved Diploma Programme subjects. It is intended to promote high-level research and writing skills, intellectual discovery and creativity. It provides students with an opportunity to engage in personal research in a topic of their own choice, under the guidance of a supervisor (a teacher in the school). This leads to a major piece of formally presented, structured writing, of up to 4000 words in length, in which ideas and findings are communicated in a reasoned and coherent manner.
This year over 25 students have chosen to undertake their essay in one of the Individuals & Societies / Group 3 subject areas (economics, geography, psychology or history - in English or in French) ) or to write an interdisciplinary World Studies essay (combining subject knowledge from a Group 3 subject as well as from another area).
Topics have been as diverse as:
- The effects of the removal of the cap on the value of the Swiss franc on cross-border purchases of petrol (Economics);
- The impact of mobile phones on agricultural production in Ethiopia (Geography)
- The transmission of HIV in Thailand (Geography)
- Wernher von Braun: des V2 aux fusées spatiales (History)
- Europe as a role model for US imperialism up to 1914 (History)
- The effect of post-traumatic stress disorder on memory (Psychology)
- The economic and biological impact of the infestation of non-native mussels in the Great Lakes region of the USA (World Studies);
On Thursday 12th November, students in Year 13 had an 'off-timetable' day to allow them to focus on the last parts of the essay process. The photos below show some of our students hard at work.
