Extended Essays in the limelight!
Every IB Diploma student writes a 4000-word extended essay. Rather than see this as a chore, we see it as a wonderful opportunity to sharpen academic skills and push personal frontiers to a new level. After all, none of the students have done anything quite like this before. The key to success is to treat this as a process, spread out over several months, first getting used to the idea, then exploring potential research questions, before reading, reflecting and writing the finished product. Students are never alone with the task; their supervisors offer guidance every step of the way and provide valuable feedback on the first draft. This process culminates with EE Day.
EE Day comprises a public interview in front of a sympathetic audience of Etis students, including all classmates, who listen as researchers share their findings and answer a series of probing questions from supervisors. This year there were eight subjects under scrutiny including two languages (English and mother tongue Finnish), all three sciences, Business Management, History and Visual Arts. Topics ranged from the effects of salinity on water retention, to the American Dream in US novels, holocracy in business culture, Sherman´s March to the Sea during the American Civil War, the legacy of Soviet architecture in Tallinn, the effect of guitar string mass on frequency, and identity issues in Tervo´s “Layla”.
Students were inspired to cover two whiteboards with helpful tips to future EE students with comments such as “choose a topic that interests you”, “make sure you are honest about use of AI” and “don´t be afraid to be a risk-taker”. One student even wrote: “Treat the first draft like the final deadline” and I think everyone who has written an EE knows what this is getting at. EE Day is above all a day of celebration. When the last interview was over, we reassembled in the canteen to share three delicious cakes and some fizzy drinks. Warm congratulations to all on a job well done!
David Crawford EE Coordinator
