The Extended Essay is an independent research project completed by all RCN students as part of the IB Diploma Programme. For many students, it is the most challenging assignment that they will encounter in their school career: the workload is estimated at 40 hours, there is a 4000-word limit and students have access to just 4 hours of guidance from a subject-specialist supervisor.
Saying this, the benefits of engaging in the Extended Essay process are enormous. Students’ planning, management, writing, argumentation, research, reflection and communication skills are strengthened. The Extended Essay mimics undergraduate-level research in the relevant subject area, which means (for example) that Literature students perform textual analysis, Language Acquisition students present their ideas in a foreign language, Individuals & Societies students explore contemporary and/or global issues from multiple well-defined perspectives and Science students carry out investigations. And the Extended Essay remains refreshingly low-stakes in the IB Diploma overall; the skill level is high, but the maximum points available are relatively low.
This week, Emma (Academic Programme Leader) launched the Extended Essay with all First Year students in her first Academic Skills session of the year. She discussed the importance of choosing the right discipline for the Extended Essay and shared her insights on how to experience a balanced IB Diploma overall. Students also had the opportunity to find out why we carry out end-of-year internal exams in the First Year, with Emma explaining the value of assessment in any learning process and how teachers will learn more about how to support individuals and classes.
The RCN community also enjoyed the EEvening, which is an hour in which Second Years are on hand to present their work and share their experiences of undertaking an Extended Essay while First Years consider a range of Extended Essay subjects and ask questions in an informal setting. We hope that students are able to make informed decisions and know that our teachers’ diverse expertise will enable us to find the best possible match between our students and their supervisors.
Latest News
Renovation Campaign 2018
We are now in the middle of the Campus Renovation Campaign. A warm thank you to everyone who has donated or otherwise contributed. Our aim is to reach 600.000 NOK. As we write this, [...]
Rafto Prize 2018 – Adam Bodnar
45 of our students and 3 teachers attended this year’s Rafto Conference, which gave us an insight into the Human Rights situation in Europe with a particular focus on vulnerable groups, among them: women, [...]
Arne Ophaug 26.10.’53 – 20.10.’18
It was with great sadness we received the news that Arne Ophaug had passed away after a period with cancer treatment. Many colleagues took a last farewell in the funeral at Fedje last Friday, [...]