By Rita Kainulainen
In the last Café Science for 2022, we had the honour to receive not one or two but three guests. These guests, Miro, Rosa and Martina, are Rellu alumni who gave a presentation about their EE and IA works. IAs, also known as internal assessments, are different types of works that an IB student completes during their studies. During the IB years, the student completes only one EE but several IAs. In addition, our guests talked about their success in different science competitions and provided tips for writing an extended essay. The EE, shortened from extended essay, is one of the major components of the IB Diploma Programme. EE is an independent research paper of around 4000 words which an IB student writes during IB 1. The EE is a great chance for the student to explore their interests. Combining personal interests and academic work can be extremely rewarding and motivating.
Two of our guests, Miro and Rosa, introduced their EE and Martina introduced her biology IA. Miro’s EE subject was economics and Rosa’s was history. The EE can be quite different depending on the chosen IB subject, and especially sources can vary a lot based on chosen subjects. For example, in psychology you are not allowed to conduct your own experiment, whereas in natural sciences the EE is typically based on data collected from an experiment conducted by the student. In a history EE, typical sources typically include different types of archives. For her EE, Rosa visited the National Archives of Finland in Helsinki to discover material to use as her sources. Miro collected his own data by conducting online surveys and analysing their results.
EE is not only a piece of work you must complete to pass the IB. It can also be your one-way ticket to international academic success. All the works our three guests presented have been rewarded in different academic competitions. Miro’s EE won the shared first prize for the TuKoKe competition. TuKoKe is a Finnish science and technology competition for everyone under 20 years of age. You can participate with different types of projects, inventions or research. TuKoKe works do not have to be from the field of natural sciences, all type of projects are welcome.
Perhaps the best part is that as an IB student you don’t necessarily need to come up with anything new for the competition. As the IB Diploma Programme is heavily based on academic writing and conducting your own research, before the end of IB you have collected a portfolio of your skills on these areas. By just submitting your work and a brief introduction of it to TuKoKe, you can find yourself from the podium of an international science competition. As Miro’s EE was rewarded in the TuKoKe competition, he was sent abroad to present his work in the EUCYS competition. The EUCYS, EU Convention for Young Scientists, is a European competition which was organised in Leiden, Netherlands.
Writing the EE is a long road, and there are usually bumps on that road. The three guests had all faced their own challenges while working on their EEs. Regardless of this, all of them managed to complete their work and gained valuable experiences in the process. Some key advice given by Miro, Rosa and Martina were to start early, explore different options and to keep an open mind. In some subjects it can be difficult to receive a good grade. However, the grade is not what matters in the end. The EE is so much more than the final grade, the research itself and all the academic skills gained along the way are what truly matter.