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Unit: Bringing "Passion" to the IB Extended Essay
Grade: 11/12
Established Goals (Standards)
AASL Standards for the 21st Century
Standard 4: Students will: Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively (in) a democratic society.

4.1.1 Read, view, and listen for pleasure and personal growth.
4.1.2 Read widely and fluently to make connections with self, the world, and previous reading..
4.1.6 Organize personal knowledge in a way that can be called upon easily.
4.1.7 Use social networks and information tools to gather and share information.
.
4.2.1 Display curiosity by pursuing interests through multiple resources.
4.2.2 Demonstrate motivation by seeking information to answer personal questions and interests, trying a variety of
formats and genres, and displaying a willingness to go beyond academic requirements.
4.2.3 Maintain openness to new ideas by considering divergent opinions, changing opinions or conclusions when
evidence supports the change, and seeking information about new ideas encountered/

ISTE NETS*S
Standard 3. Research & Information Fluency: Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
Students:
a. plan strategies to guide inquiry.
b. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use info from a variety of sources/media.
c. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.
d. process data and report results.
Enduring UnderstandingsEssential Questions
  • Givens (IF) (New Blooms Taxonomy):
  • the rate of production of "Information" and the scaling of "Knowledge" about any topic is increasing at an exponential rate.
  • Comprehensive "Understanding" of the full body of knowledge in any academic, aesthetic or social discipline today is unattainable by an individual, but:
  • Micro-Level "Understanding" of some aspect of a problem is needed before meaningingful Application & Analysis can take place, leading to the Creation of New Understandings (HOTS)
  • Technology is the only means to effectively collate, filter and select Information which can lead to micro-level Knowledge which can be used to facilitate macro-level "Understanding"
  • THEN
  • Students MUST be involved in actively pursuing personal and aesthetic growth if they are to gain enduring understandings of how to make and retain sense of the ever and more-rapidly changing world.
  • It is no longer acceptable to simply Provide students with a "Body of Knowledge" from which they can maintain relevance in the world they face on exit from instittutions of "guided enquiry"
  • Students must be Actively Engaged in the process of moving from Lower to Higher Order Thinking Skills.
  • HOW will students:
  • demonstrate that they have pursued a comprehensive gathering of Knowledge about their topic (Macro Understanding/Backround)
  • illustrate "Understanding" of a particular aspect of the general discipline in which they are engaged?
  • illuminate how they have Applied Understandings of a discipline and Analyzed these Understandings in the Creation of new Knowledge or Understanding (bootstrpping new understandings or theories)
  • How can:
  • emerging technologies be used to best effect to help students in the metacognitive task of assessing their own learning?
  • the seductiveness of New and Emerging Technologies be harnessed to elicit "passionate" responses to the task of
  • WHAT evidence:
  • can be used to assess a level of commitment or "passion" for a topic?
  • can lead us to conclude that a student's "passion" for a topic has resulted in HOTS?
  • WHEN will we be able to conclude that meaningful (and enduring) Learning has taken place?
  • WHY is this important?
Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence
GRASPS TaskSix Facets of Understanding
Goal: Through the use of authentic technology, to Introduce a level of personal commitment to the IBO Diploma Program Extended Essay. Focus is on the selection, narrowing and designing of a thesis topic around which students will conduct authentic research/enquiry leading to meaningful/enduring learning

Role: To initially inspire students to a higher level of involvement in the Extended Essay project: to inject personal meaning into the process of developing a 4,000 word analysis of an authentic issue facing the world today. Subsequently to use tech connections to monitor student progress toward personal goals with personal intervention options as required/requested.

Audience: 2010 IBO Extended Essay Candidates

Situation: Extended Essay Research Workshop (June 15-17) This 3-day post-semester activity puts IB Extended Essay Candidates together with subject area specialists and school librarian to complete EE initial development work, including;
- Completion of background research
- Drafting and refining of Thesis statement
Activity 1: Explain (Six Facets of Understanding)
- Introduce the idea of becoming a "Thinkerer" rather
than just a "Thinker"

Extension Option: launch a Blog to track progress and thinking. Examples: Gutenberg's Intent Ning Student Writing Reflections (e.g. Victoria Chen blog pages at http://gutenbergsintent.ning.com)
- Designing follow-up reading, activities (e.g. site visits,
personal interviews) or hands-on research activities

Activity 2: Interpret (SFoU) - Individual Reflection
- Launching First Draft - trying on different Titles and
Thesis statements (HC or Word-Processes, dependant
on workshop organization.

Extension Options : Looking for inspiration at Del.ici.ous
or setting up a Personal Learning Activity (setting up a
Twitter Account)

Activity 3: Apply (SFoU) - Small Group Activitiy (open web search & share)
  • What if:
  • Steve Jobs had never come back to Apple?
  • Bill Gates had decided to leave his estate to his children rather than largely to charity?
  • Heath Ledger had not died before the release of "Dark Knight"?
  • Britney Spears had not had a breakout #1 hit while still in hidh school?
  • Personal "What if" favorites demonstrating "passion" for soemthing
Extension Opton: Blog Entry on "What if" scenario.

Activity 4: Perspective: Submit initial Works Cited for summer review (librarian) (HC or online, depending on organization of workshop)

Extension Optons:
a) Set up an RSS search to continue access to selected
online references on Topic
b) Add an RSS Reader to Facebook account to track new
info on topic)

Product Performance: End product (IBO designated) is a 4000 word Pursuasive Essay on a topic of the student's choice. For the purposes of this focus on the task (to promote personal involvement with the topic, the librarian will undertake to review, for as many students as practical (85 candidates);
- First Draft, expected August 1, 2009
- Turnitin Submisssions (appropriate citation check, rather than "plagiarlism" monitoring) (first draft expected September, 2009) (online)
- Final Draft Turnitin Submission (online)
- List of Works Cited/Consulted (online)

Extension:? On final submissions of 2009 Essays, collate reference data and compare to baseline data collected 2005 (Average number of citations, incidence of use of Google, Wikipedia, Open-Web & subscription sources
    • explain - initial whole-group powerpoint introducing the concept of personal "passion" in the choice of EE topic and approach to the research (a new concept for many, used to teacher-designed assignment). GRASPS Task: Activity 1
    • interpret — show examples of past Extended Essays, with emphasis on topics and titles which suggest different levels of personal involvement. (e.g. "An Analysis of the pH change of Rainwater through Seasonal Change" vs. "Why did Robet Jordan Have to Die?" (GRASPS Task 2)
    • apply —how does a "thinkerer"s personal involvement with a research or innovation project affect the end-result? Small-group activlity. (Grasps Task 3)
    • have perspective — share data on lists of works cited in past Extended Essays. Show specific exampes of essays with both limited and extensive lists of works consulted/cited.(GRASPS Task 4)
    • empathize — what about adding an RSS Feed to your Facebook page? Looking for alternatep points of view/perspectives. Collect RSS links from;
    • Open Web Sources
    • Personal web-pages (e.g. experts in the field)
    • School Subscription sites

    • have self-knowledge — share examples of ISB student self-initiated writing, linking the embedded themes and ideas to self-knowlege. Examples to share include
    • completed novel manuscripts (print)
    • short-story samples (print)
    • Gutenberg's Intent Ning Writers (http://gutenbergsintent.ning.com)
Lesson Notes:
CAVEAT: this "Unit" is an attempt to link the traditional print-oriented research and essay-writing assignment that is the IBO Extended Essay with current technology tools in order to enhance the relevance to today's student learning needs. The realities of EE workshop scheduling may limit the reality of conducting assessment followup noted.

Activities 1-4 of this Unit/Activity will be practical only if the HS Librarian is included in the Extended Essay Workshop staff for 2009. This has not always been the case, as the LIbrarian has been involved only for the past three years. This year's workshop is also truncated due to end-of-semester scheduling (last day of regular session on Wednesday: EE workshop scheduled for Thurs-Sat).

During the course of the workshop, the librarian generally has a short whole-group session to present overview topics (the "Passion Pitch") and general strategy sessions, and then works with small groups and individuals to further individual projects. This may limit the practicality of offering the listed Extension Options.

If the librarian is not included this year, the project will be limited to after-the-fact monitoring and anaylysis of apparent personal involvement based on Turnitin Submissions and Lists of Works Cited/Consulted



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rubisr 		Latest page update: made by rubisr , Mar 1 2009, 9:01 PM EST (about this update About This Update rubisr Edited by rubisr

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