International
Baccalaureate at Colonel By
Extended Essay Information
February, 27, 2008
Dear IB candidate and parent,
Congratulations on your achievements so far with your goals
in the IB program. Having given this challenge your consistent
and determined effort, you deserve to be proud of yourself.
The IB program at Colonel By Secondary School prides itself
on the strengths of its curriculum, the teachers who help
students engage their subjects and the students who are
motivated to take on the full commitment to the challenge.
We are proud of the strength of the program and the students
involved.
Primary goals of the program are time management, the pursuit
of academic challenge and preparation for the rigors of
university. The CORE element of the Extended Essay fulfills
all three of these goals. At university you will be required
to perform independent academic research in each of your
chosen subjects. You will also be required to balance these
assignments with the Creative, Action and Service activities
that you have organized for your self at university. Further
to this you may have a job and a considerable amount of
subject content and skills to develop, much of this self-directed
and self-managed.
The Extended Essay gives you the opportunity to engage in
independent research on a focused topic within a subject.
Emphasis is placed on the process of engaging in personal
research, on the communication of ideas and information
in a logical and coherent manner, and on the overall presentation
of the extended essay in compliance with these guidelines.
The ultimate goal is two-fold: to develop the skills that
will be in demand at the university level and increasing
your personal skills at time and task management.
As this is a Core element of the IB Diploma program, failure
to comply with time lines and ethical standards of research
may result, after consultation, in your withdrawal from
the Diploma program. It must be underlined that you must
take full responsibility to learn and understand the ethical
codes of conduct with respect to the issue of plagiarism,
and academic malpractice. Using ideas without attribution
to the author is unacceptable. Each academic discipline
has an established method that must be adhered to. You are
responsible to understand and practice an acceptable method.
The school’s teacher-librarian, your supervisor, and
your class teachers will be pleased to give you direction
on this issue.
Of significant importance, related to your success, is your
understanding and engagement with the assessment criteria
for your specific subject area. The IB Extended Essay assessment
criterion is explicit. It leaves little room for misinterpretation
of how grades are awarded. Consistently, students fail to
earn grades because they choose not to read and follow through
on these criteria.
All assessment material as well of resource material, will
be available on the IB section of the Colonel By IB web
site (the www.colonelby.com) as of March 7th. Although we
have presented you with this student package, which you
must maintain, you should seek out any additional information
at this site.
Students not taking advantage of guidelines, time management,
and supervisory assistance have had considerable difficulty
balancing this task, their extra-curricular activities,
and their academic responsibilities. With upwards of 110+
students completing their IB Diploma in May 2009, the teachers
and administration have created an Extended Essay work plan,
including a post –exam workweek that will provide
time for the students to complete their essay, to a C grade
level, prior to the end of the school year without interfering
with their exam preparations in June. We have created a
special 4-day writing opportunity at the school following
the exam period in June. This was modeled after very successful
programs at independent schools that bring students in at
the end of August. Not wanting to interfere in summer break
and summer school opportunities, we have chosen the week
following exams as the most effective time for completion
of this task.
Your parents have played a fundamental role in your success.
They have given you wake-up calls, taxied you around, prodded
you to keep timelines, and motivated you to continue with
your success. With your Extended Essay, their role has increased.
I ask that they become a partner in the EE process through
their continued encouragement but more so with their involvement
in the process. Time management is crucial. We need parents
to assist their child in maintaining time line commitments.
Further to this it is important that parents read and understand
the assessment criteria of the essay so as to assist as
proofreader, cheerleader, and supportive critic to their
child. Having a clear understanding of the assessment criteria
will be very helpful.
At this time I ask that both parents and students accept
responsibility for understanding, committing to, and completing
the requirements of this CORE element of the IB program.
Thank you very much.
Michel Bélanger (IBC)
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