Supervisor information

At OIS, EE supervisors are an altruistic and noble lot, selflessly assisting young writers, happy in knowing that they are playing an important role in their students' lives.

Even if you are an old hat at EE supervision, please take time each year to review the information on these pages. I know how busy you are. You may be tempted to skim through the EE guide and skip over the guidelines and subject reports. Please don’t ignore them.

The EE requirements and criteria are quite specific. If students fail to adhere to them, they will receive lower EE scores, perhaps lose bonus points, score lower overall on the DP, not get into the universities of their choice, fail to secure decent careers, etc. etc., and carry an EE complex with them throughout their lives. Talk about pressure!

We owe it to our students to be fully aware of all the EE intricacies. Thank you for your time and effort.

Supervisor responsibilities

Supervisor selection

Importance of a narrow topic and focused research question

Required reading

Supervisor responsibilities

The extended essay supervisor has four principal responsibilities:

  1) to encourage and support the candidate throughout the research and writing of the extended essay

  2) to provide the candidate with advice and guidance in the skills of undertaking research

  3) to ensure that the extended essay is the candidate’s own work

  4) to complete the supervisor’s report.

For information about how to complete the supervisor's report (green cover sheet), including sample reports, please click on this link.

Supervisor's report

Required reading Please click on the "supervisor duties" link for much more detailed information about the duties of an EE supervisor.

Supervisor duties

Supervisor selection

At the end of May each year, after the IB exams, the grade 11 students begin meeting with the IB coordinator twice a week as they embark on the EE journey. After being introduced to the basics of the EE, students begin the process of selecting subjects, topics and supervisors. Mixed up in this is the writing of research questions and thesis statements/hypotheses.

Please be prepared for students to besiege you at this time, asking you to be their supervisor. Each student will have a yellow “confirmation sheet” for you to peruse and sign. This sheet will show the student's subject, topic, research question, and thesis or hypothesis. You will need to discuss this information with the student and help him/her revise and refine.

Supervisor and candidate list

There is an established “3-student limit” per supervisor. If a 4^th or 5^th student approaches you, kindly ask the student to find another supervisor.

Importance of a narrow topic and focused research question

The importance of a narrow topic and a focused research question cannot be overstated. 25% of the total EE assessment is related to the appropriateness of the research question. It must be clearly stated. It must be researchable and answerable. It must not lead the student to a narrative essay full of mere description.

Required reading

The who, what, when, why and how of the extended essay

Extended essay guide

Extended essay subject reports

Past OIS titles and papers

Exemplar essays and markschemes

Calendar and deadlines

Supervisors and candidates list

Supervisor duties

Assessment

Malpractice (plagiarism and cheating)

Vade Mecum sections

Useful links

For more information, please contact Peter Heimer, OIS IB Coordinator

(072-727-5290, pheimer@senri.ed.jp), or visit the IBDP office, room 324 (third floor, next to tennis court), or visit the IBO public website at www.ibo.org.