Dear Supervisors,
The ofcial deadline or the next Extended Essay orm (Form 3) is the [date] . As per usual, please nd recommendations below or your next meeting with your tutees. 1 2 3 @ 1 2 3 . co . u k 1 2 3 @ 1 2 3 . co . u k S eco n d E E m eetin g To: Cc: Subject:
Second session:
Things to be prepared to discuss in your second supervisory session:
Passivity You may nd that you have not done as much as you would have hoped since your rst supervisory session. I this is the case, do discuss the reasons and causes or this with your supervisor and work with them to nd ways to overcome or avoid this in uture sessions. What is oten helpul are stricter deadlines and another quick ollow-up meeting in a week or two. The key here is to be honest and practical in your approach as the supervisor is there to guide you in these areas.
Reading Be prepared to discuss your reading and/or research (or example, experiments and feldwork) with your supervisor. Ideally, you should aim to comment on articles, chapters, journals, web pages and any other material you have researched.
What did you fnd out about the topic? Any surprises? Any useul lines o thought or approaches to the question?
Be wary o the common trap that most students fnd themselves in here, which is to assume that possessing materials or having done some preliminary scan or them is the same as having conducted research. The key here should be to be able to prove to your supervisor through your reading that the resources gathered are actually enough to substantiate your question. This is why the reading o resources or the conducting o experiments (where applicable) is important by this stage because it helps orm the core o your research investigation. Being prepared and able to answer questions about your research is thus a useul exercise.
Notes Ask yoursel i you have a workable note-taking system in place. There is an assumption that you will be fne with simply reading the material gathered and will then write o the top o your head rom memory. This is not a good approach to a pre-university research paper.
Seeing as you are required to cite sources when you use them (or keep running ootnotes) a note-taking system is essential. As a basic model, jotting down quotes or interesting points and the book title/page number(s) they came rom is a minimum expectation when it comes to notes. Work with your supervisor on a note-taking system that works well or the purposes o your Extended Essays chosen subject area.
Essay plan It is very important or you to go over your essay plan with your supervisor or begin looking at options in terms o how to best structure it. This could be in the orm o a mind-map, webbing and so orth. It will also help i you revisit your initial planning that was done in previous sessions with your supervisor and see what aspects may need urther work or adapting to new discoveries you have made as a result o your ongoing reading/research.
Once again, bear in mind that your supervisors role is not to prescribe any one approach to your question but simply to ask probing questions to help you clariy an optimum essay plan. Exem plars Go over existing Extended Essays again so that you have a better idea with regards the scope
o the paper you are going to fnally create along with dierent approaches to its overall structure (that is, what parts it may end up containing) .
It may also be a useul exercise to mark a pre-existing essay and then review the rationale or your marking with your supervisor. This allows you to engage with the assessment criteria frst hand and thus write your own essay with them frmly in mind.
Tim e-managem ent A usual problem with Extended Essays is time-management. Many students believe (erroneously) that they will have plenty o time to complete it later. Work with your supervisor on this and be prepared to make some adjustments to your normal routines to accommodate any delays or issues with your EE thus ar. Bear in mind these adjustments are necessary but temporary. Oten setting aside one ree period every two weeks to work on your EE helps signifcantly. Work with your supervisor to ormally set something on your timetable. Sticking to deadlines will ensure you can get this task done so that you can ocus on other work required as part o your studies.
Writing It is not essential or you to have written anything yet in terms o the actual EE, but it also does not hurt to have started jotting things down that you can then build the rest o your EE around. Bear in mind that writing proper should begin in the next ew months and in earnest during the end-o-year break. The more versions you are able to write, the better o your EE will be. You cant work with nothing so do commit to getting started on writing ater this supervisory session. Research question Tweaking o questions is perectly fne though you should avoid wholesale changes to