Choosing a Subject for the EE?

[emilyd123]

Hi there guys,

I have to choose the subject I am wanting to write my EE on in one week. I am a junior in high school in Hong Kong and plan on going to Canada for university. The subjects I currently take are:

HL: Design & Technology, Film Studies, Business & Management

SL: English, French Ab Initio, Math Studies

I want to study Psychology in university (I decided this after I chose my subjects - unfortunately I can't change to Psychology now) and I was wondering if it's possible to write an EE for psychology if I do my own research.

Do you think this is possible?

Have any of you guys had experience writing an EE in the subjects I currently take?

A response or any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thank you!

[sweetnsimple786]

IB allows you to write an EE on a subject you're not taking, but they warn you it's going to be significantly harder for you to get a good grade. Your school's policies on doing an EE on a subject you're not taking might be different. My IB coordinator doesn't allow us to do an EE on a course that isn't offered at my school.

I don't have any of the same classes as you haha

The main thing to remember about the EE is that it can be your pride and joy. My coordinator straight up told me that I didn't need an extra point from a good EE, and from my topic, it'd be hard to get a good grade for my EE. He still let me do it because it's something I really wanted to do. If you can find a topic in psych you'll enjoy slaving over, go for it. Just remember that you have other options too. I want to go into physics/engineering in uni, but I'm doing my EE under history because I really like some architecture from Spain. Don't do a psychology EE just because you want to study psychology. Do it because the topic is interesting on top of everything else. Do it because you know after all the stress you will incur, it'll still make you happy. =)

[Feist]

I wouldn't recommend it. My school strayed away from even discussing the topic of doing an EE not in our IB courses, as you are a huge disadvantage not being able to have an experienced teacher who can give you guidance and look over it. IB students I know who are doing their EE in history told me they basically had to revise everything after having it looked at by their supervisor. Canadian universities do consider IB but certainly not as heavily as the top American schools, so the topic of your EE won't be too significant, if you do really well, however, it can contribute to boosting your overall score which will be better for you in the long run.

I was doing an EE in Math (not Math Studies) and after extensive research I realized that my topic was just not possible with the resources that I have available, so I had to change it nearing the time when we should have been submitting our rough drafts. Finding a teacher who knows a lot about the topic and who can give you guidance is ideal.

Hope this helped

[Sandwich]

Although it's recommended you preferably do an EE in a subject you study, for Psychology in the subject-specific section of the Extended Essay Guidelines it's doubly recommended that you don't do a Psychology essay if you don't take the subject. Largely I think because of the approach taken to the subject, which you won't be familiar with unless you do study it formally. There're several subjects where approach is very important and (apparently! I didn't take it) Psychology is one of them. I'd go along with that -- the subject I did my EE in would also, I imagine, be hugely misinterpreted unless you took the class and know how to treat that sort of a topic.

[David Russell]

I would agree with the other posters. If you are not studying a subject, then completing an EE in that subject would be doubly hard...consider:

An EE is all about taking the knowledge you are learning in your coursework, and extending it to an additional level. It is either original research beyond the scope of the core curriculum, or additional research into an area not fully covered in the curriculum. In either case, you would be expected to know the core curriculum of the subject relatively well to know where you are extending it.

Psychology can also be a complex topic. I know nothing about IB Psychology, but I do know that in psychology, there are a miriad of different theories, and branches.

What you could do, if you wish, is try to merge a psychology issue from one of your existing subjects. An example that comes to mind would be Industrial Psychology as a subset of Business and Management. Industrial psychology is very important in motivational theories, leadership theories and change management. Other aspects could be career counselling and planning, disciplinary action, recruitment and training - Industrial psychologists get involved in all of these! That way you can work through the coursework of one of your subjects (at a HL), and add the facet of psychology to make it potentially more interesting.

[emilyd123]

I would agree with the other posters. If you are not studying a subject, then completing an EE in that subject would be doubly hard...consider:

An EE is all about taking the knowledge you are learning in your coursework, and extending it to an additional level. It is either original research beyond the scope of the core curriculum, or additional research into an area not fully covered in the curriculum. In either case, you would be expected to know the core curriculum of the subject relatively well to know where you are extending it.

Psychology can also be a complex topic. I know nothing about IB Psychology, but I do know that in psychology, there are a miriad of different theories, and branches.

What you could do, if you wish, is try to merge a psychology issue from one of your existing subjects. An example that comes to mind would be Industrial Psychology as a subset of Business and Management. Industrial psychology is very important in motivational theories, leadership theories and change management. Other aspects could be career counselling and planning, disciplinary action, recruitment and training - Industrial psychologists get involved in all of these! That way you can work through the coursework of one of your subjects (at a HL), and add the facet of psychology to make it potentially more interesting.

Great answer! Thanks so much. Also to the other answerers!