Should I do my EE in Psychology

[darkangel803]

I was reading the EE guidelines for a paper in psychology and it indicated that i should not do my essay under the psychology field if i did not take psychology as a part of the Diploma Programme.

My school does not offer psychology as a part of the Diploma Programme; however, i took AP psychology last year and did exceptionally well both in the course and on the test, so i am very familiar with psychology.

Should I still do my essay in psychology then? And if so, any ideas on what topic/research question i should choose?

i'm highly interested in intelligence, memory, learning, and development

[Chrisd1nonly]

I was reading the EE guidelines for a paper in psychology and it indicated that i should not do my essay under the psychology field if i did not take psychology as a part of the Diploma Programme.

My school does not offer psychology as a part of the Diploma Programme; however, i took AP psychology last year and did exceptionally well both in the course and on the test, so i am very familiar with psychology.

Should I still do my essay in psychology then? And if so, any ideas on what topic/research question i should choose?

i'm highly interested in intelligence, memory, learning, and development

I'm just starting my Extended Essay now and I'm sad to say I'm not very familiar with the guidelines or anything but I'm doing my paper on psychology. Last year I had a teacher for IB Psychology that quit half way through the year and she didn't teach the syllabus and I think I'm well-adapt to writing a good essay so you should be too with your AP Psychology experience.

Plus, AP Psychology covers more perspectives than IB

[cereja]

Do your EE on something you love (or at least like) otherwise it'll haunt you.

If you're highly interested in intelligence, memory, learning, and development, then you should pick something like that for your topic. Now, what is it that interests you in that? - that'll get you thinking about a topic

[XdraggonS]

I second cereja. Do something that you really enjoy. Cuz know that the EE will take a LONG time, especially for sciences and psychology since you have to do experiments.

One thing about the EE is that the IBO are trying to train you such that you understand how it's like to do a college level research paper. So the topic has to be at the right level.

An advice would be do the EE on a subject that you think you will study in colleges cuz it'll really help you in the later years.

Cheers!

[rue saint-denis]

I second cereja. Do something that you really enjoy. Cuz know that the EE will take a LONG time, especially for sciences and psychology since you have to do experiments.

I heard you don't have to do an experiment for the psychology EE. :|

[blindpet]

You certainly do NOT need to do an experiment for psych EE. Just look at Deus's, my ex didn't either . I do not advise you to do a psych EE if you don't have any teachers who are familiar with IB. However, inthemaking chose a subject that s/he? didn't study as part of her diploma but I imagine her supervisor was an IB teacher.... inthemaking?

[flsweetheart422]

If you really are interested in psychology and you want to do it for your EE, make sure that you look at the IB criteria.

I understand that your AP class probably leaves you feeling quite prepared for knowledge wise for to take on IB Psych, but do keep in mind that IB and AP are both completely different. I took both the AP Psych exam and the IB Psych SL exam last may, and I fell asleep after filling out half the multiple choice questions... 40 minutes later, I woke up with 50 questions and five minutes left. I finished everything and got a 5 on the AP Psych exam. With that said, I did not do nearly as well on the IB exam. So just if you do plan to tackle IB Psych, make sure you look at the assessment criteria and approach the topic from an IB style perspective.

[IBBII]

Hi!!

I'm an IB graduate of 2008 and I did my EE in Psychology so listen to my advice before undertaking an EE in the field I scored an A on mine so I am more than happy to answer any questions related to the EE and even help those who are stuck.

But, replying to posts in this topic, uou CERTAINLY CAN NOT DO AN EXPERIMENT FOR AN EXTENDED ESSAY IN PSYCHOLOGY!!! It is strongly advised not to do. Even if you decide to undertake an experiment under such circumstances, the IB will frown upon it and give you look a bad grade-- so just do a formal, written essay on any field of psychology.

Referring to the first post on this thread, you mentioned that you have taken AP psychology. Thus, you know the conventions of psychology, such as using studies, experiments, etc. to debate any point of view in psychology? In such a case, have you asked the AP psychology teachers whether they are willing to supervise your essay? When completing the essay, you will need the support of a teacher who is familiar with the field. This person will be able to help you in the course of writing your essay. So, even if your teacher is not strictly familiar with the IB outlines of writing the EE, do not worry; writing a psychology EE follows the same conventions as any research papers in psychology. Thus, if your AP Psychology teachers are willing to help, you can attempt the EE. Otherwise, think of another subject in which to write your EE as it will be too difficult for you.

Otherwise, the process of writing a psychology EE was both challenging, yet interesting. At first I had a difficult time deciding on the topic. I can admit that by the time we were supposed to return a first draft of the EE, I only had a slight view of what my work was going to look like. SO..before you start, have a broad idea of what you're interested in, and then narrow it down to the bottom. I changed my topic many times, and even completely started over at times.

Buttt...i dunno more what to say If you have any questions feel free to contact me and ask questions! I wish you the best of luck in your IB career.

[__inthemaking]

You certainly do NOT need to do an experiment for psych EE. Just look at Deus's, my ex didn't either . I do not advise you to do a psych EE if you don't have any teachers who are familiar with IB. However, inthemaking chose a subject that s/he? didn't study as part of her diploma but I imagine her supervisor was an IB teacher.... inthemaking?

She, heh .

And blindpet is correct, I did my EE in history and I didn't take history as an IB subject. I chose to do my EE in history because I really liked grade 10 pre-IB history with the same teacher who was my EE mentor. He's been an IB history teacher for a long time so he knew his stuff.

I don't suggest having a mentor who is either non-IB (some of my friends did this and the teachers had no idea what IB wanted in an EE) or who isn't teaching the subject.

[cuppakaka]

Heyy,

i just finished my first draft of my psych essay, and just got some comments from my supervisor... i did quite well but I had to do some adjustments and fixations cuz according to my supervisor "I needed to look closer at the criteria"

I think the most important thing about your EE is that you're very interested in the subject area, thats all

I'm currently doing SL psych, and I've been using some parts of the AP psych book to help me study, I don't think it's a problem, as long as you meet your supervisor regularly.. I guess meeting with a teacher and getting things in by deadlines is more important

but good luck!

[bryana_nc]

She, heh .

And blindpet is correct, I did my EE in history and I didn't take history as an IB subject. I chose to do my EE in history because I really liked grade 10 pre-IB history with the same teacher who was my EE mentor. He's been an IB history teacher for a long time so he knew his stuff.

I don't suggest having a mentor who is either non-IB (some of my friends did this and the teachers had no idea what IB wanted in an EE) or who isn't teaching the subject.

how can you write an EE in history

if you havent taken it?

Dont you need to take ib history

to be considered full ib,

and write an EE?

correct me if im wrong..

[Vvi]

how can you write an EE in history

if you havent taken it?

Dont you need to take ib history

to be considered full ib,

and write an EE?

correct me if im wrong..

The only subjects that are required by the IB are Math and English. You don't have to take History to be a full IB Diploma student. There are other options like Psychology and Geography that can be taken. Maybe in your school this isn't so, but in other schools it is.

The EE guidelines state that you can do an EE in any subject that the IB offers. You don't have to take it as part of your diploma. For example, there are IB subjects like Peace and Conflict Studies or World Religion that most schools don't offer. You are allowed to do your EE in a subject that you don't take, but it's not advised by the IB as students normally get low marks since they don't know the relevant theories.

[bryana_nc]

The only subjects that are required by the IB are Math and English. You don't have to take History to be a full IB Diploma student. There are other options like Psychology and Geography that can be taken. Maybe in your school this isn't so, but in other schools it is.

The EE guidelines state that you can do an EE in any subject that the IB offers. You don't have to take it as part of your diploma. For example, there are IB subjects like Peace and Conflict Studies or World Religion that most schools don't offer. You are allowed to do your EE in a subject that you don't take, but it's not advised by the IB as students normally get low marks since they don't know the relevant theories.

okay, thanks[:

i was really confused.

i wanted to write my EE in physics

but its only offered as a regular

class in my school :/

and at our school,

we are forced to take history,

because we have state exams we have to take

along with the ib exams :/

so we dont get options like that.

[johan1990]

I was reading the EE guidelines for a paper in psychology and it indicated that i should not do my essay under the psychology field if i did not take psychology as a part of the Diploma Programme.

My school does not offer psychology as a part of the Diploma Programme; however, i took AP psychology last year and did exceptionally well both in the course and on the test, so i am very familiar with psychology.

Should I still do my essay in psychology then? And if so, any ideas on what topic/research question i should choose?

i'm highly interested in intelligence, memory, learning, and development

well, i have written my EE in psychology, and it went quite good acually, even though i was unfamiliar with the guidelines to a certain degree. Just use your supervisor efficiently and ask questions about anything you might be uncertain off, and you should be good

[johan1990]

how can you write an EE in history

if you havent taken it?

Dont you need to take ib history

to be considered full ib,

and write an EE?

correct me if im wrong..

well, you can write an EE in a subject your school does not even offer for instance, a girl in my class wrote EE in Peace and Conflict! Our IB coordinator managed to find a supervisor, and thats all that matters hehe. as long as you know you can write EE in the subject, and IB finds you a supervisor, you are good to go

[__inthemaking]

how can you write an EE in history

if you havent taken it?

Dont you need to take ib history

to be considered full ib,

and write an EE?

correct me if im wrong..

As others have already said, you don't need history to be a diploma student. My school offered the choice between history or economics and I chose economics. But I love history so I did my EE on it, just didn't want to take both english AND history HL (too many essays), which is why I didn't choose to take the subject.

[roro]

hi

i have seen many extended essays that were done on physcology and I noticed that it is very difficult to get a 7.

One must go to great lengths describing and analyzing almost aspects of a certain type of behavior and how its effects on otheres.

I am sure if you are passionate about the subject you are writing about it will not be that difficult.

good luck

hope i have helped.

[StevenRStephens120690]

Personally, if my school did not offer psychology as an ib course, then I would not do my EE in psychology. On the other hand, if it is something that you really enjoy then go for it!

[Mahdi7]

I definitly think you should, from what you said, it seems like you enjoy physicology and have a profound knowledge in that field. By the way, you should talk to your IB coordinator about this because there may not be a mentor to help you with this topic.

[Rizzelet]

I'm currently writing my EE on psychology and am finding it quite accesible and enjoyable. I've found that especially with psychology, there are a lot of useful journals that can be obtained at a local university on almost any reasonable EE topic as far as psychology goes. You should make sure that you a relatively strong interest in your EE subject and topic as a few people have already said.

Edited March 22, 2009 by Rizzelet