The Extended Essay (EE) is a compulsory component of the DP core.
It provides students with an opportunity to explore a topic of interest in their chosen subject.
It allows for the development of research skills, communication skills, and encourages critical thinking.
Although an EE can be taken in different subjects, this guide focuses on Sports, Exercise and Health Science (SEHS).
Undertaking an EE in SEHS allows students to explore a wide range of questions relating to SEHS, including how these interrelate and affect one another.
This could involve the collection of primary or secondary data, depending on the chosen topic.
The EE has a word count of 4000 words, together with a 500-word reflective statement.
Note
It is expected that the EE will involve approximately 40 hours of student work.
The EE is externally assessed against five criteria, which are listed below.
Together with TOK, the EE can contribute a maximum of three points to a student's overall Diploma score.
Note
A student must achieve a D or above for the EE to be awarded a Diploma.
A grade E in the extended essay is known as a failing condition.
Criterion
Number of marks
A: Framework for the essay: research question, research methods, structure
6
B: Knowledge and understanding
6
C: Analysis and line of argument
6
D: Discussion and evaluation
8
E: Reflection: evaluative; growth
4
Total
30
Supervision in the EE
Each student is assigned a supervisor during the EE process, who is usually the teacher responsible for teaching the subject.
The supervisor is an essential part of the EE process.
Although the EE should be a student-led piece of work, it is important to remember that you are not alone.
Tip
Throughout the EE process, it is important that the student and the supervisor have regular meetings to discuss the progress of the EE.
Your supervisor is responsible for making sure that you understand the EE writing process.
This includes ensuring that you have access to the criteria and other support materials, such as exemplar extended essays for reference.
The total time allowed for supervision is between three and five hours (it must not exceed five hours).
This time includes the informal check-in sessions as well as the three required formal reflection sessions.
They should also be available for regular check-ins in addition to the three mandatory reflection sessions.
Finally, they are responsible for providing feedback on one completed draft of the essay.
Supervisors are permitted to give written feedback on one completed draft of the EE.
The feedback given should be related to how the work could be improved.
Note
The essay must not be heavily annotated or edited by the supervisor.
The following is a list of what supervisors cannot do:
Correct spelling and punctuation
Correct experimental work or mathematics
Re-write any part of the essay
Indicate where whole sections of the essay would be better placed
Proofread the essay for errors
Correct bibliographies or citations
Proofreading of the essay should be done by the student (in addition to a spelling or grammar checker).
Note
It is not permitted to ask another person to do it.
Academic Integrity
The IB takes academic honesty extremely seriously and the EE is no exception. Any work that is not the student’s own must be correctly cited.
This includes paraphrasing, in-text citations, secondary data, literature values, graphs, figures, and diagrams.
The actual reference style is not prescribed, but whatever style is used, it should include the name of the author, the date of publication, the title of the source, page number, date of access for electronic sources, and the URL (where applicable).
Choosing a Topic
The choice of topic for a SEHS EE should be based on personal interest and enthusiasm for that topic.
This is because you are much more likely to be engaged in the EE writing process if you are interested in and have a genuine enthusiasm for said topic.
Tip
It is also strongly recommended that students who choose an EE in Sports take SEHS as a subject (note that some schools might have this as a requirement).
This is to ensure that the student has the necessary subject knowledge and skills to complete the process.
Some areas that can be explored are human physiology, biomechanics, acquisition of skills, metabolism, nutrition, fitness, and any other related to the nature of the subject, considering always that the investigation is focused on sports.
Again, the topic itself must be grounded in Sports, Exercise and Health; this may sound obvious, but it is an important point to keep in mind because topics that span many different disciplines are only marked on their SEHS content.
Note
This could result in a lower mark being awarded for your EE.
It is also important to consider the time and resources available to you at your school.
Extended essays conducted with relatively simple apparatus are often acceptable.
There is no set time limit for actual data collection within the 40-hour recommended time.
Therefore, it is important to discuss the time and resources available with your supervisor at the start of the process.
Topics that are too simple or too complex are also unsuitable.
Once again, it is important to discuss your ideas with your supervisor, who will be able to provide you with the appropriate guidance.
It might be helpful to have a background knowledge of the topic, but it is not essential.
Once you have chosen and started researching your topic, you will be required to conduct your background research, so prerequisite knowledge is not required.
Hint
The choice of topic need not be limited to the DP SEHS syllabus; it is perfectly acceptable to conduct an EE in a topic outside of the syllabus as long as it is suitable.
Key points
It is strongly recommended that students who are undertaking an EE in SEHS also take the subject in the DP.
The chosen topic must be firmly grounded in Sports, Exercise and Health.
Consider the available time and resources when choosing your topic.
The EE is a 4000-word academic research paper, and as such, the choice of topic must be of suitable complexity.
The topic does not have to be chosen from the DP SEHS syllabus as long as the topic is suitable.
SEHS EE Do's and Don'ts
The Researcher's Reflection Space (RRS)
It is strongly recommended that students use the researcher’s reflection space (RRS) to document the EE process.
The RRS is an important resource when writing the 500-word reflective statement.
The RRS can take the form of a reflective journal and can be an online resource or a physical resource.
Note
Students should discuss the RRS and the form that it could take early in the EE process.
Extended Essay
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