IBDP Extended Essay Café

Apr 23, 2022
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Emily Stannard, Donald Cleary, Muna Darwish, Tanusankar Chakraborty, Love Trivedi, Rima Puri, Marwa Bkerat, Koelia Ojha, Susan Vaidyan, Jake Fisher and Kuntal Bhandare
2 min read

Join DP educators from around the world to brainstorm on best practices for the extended essay!

The extended essay (EE) is one of the centerpieces of the IB Diploma Programme. Designed as an independent, academic investigation into a topic of personal interest, the essay is a crucial step in students’ preparation for university studies. This interactive Meet-Up hosted DP extended essay coordinators and supervisors to explore meaningful ways to support students during the process of writing their essays. Watch extended essay experts from the International Collaboration of the Extended Essay (ICEE) and the Liferarian Association give insights into best practices that can be shared with students. Brainstorm how subject-specific criteria can be mapped to students’ extended essays, and how you can guide them to success!

Meet-Up objectives:

  • Learn how to help students build crucial skills for the EE such as formulating RQs
  • Collaboratively grade EE exemplars and unpack subject-specific criteria
  • Understand the crucial role of the librarian in the EE process
  • Take home free actionable resources to support the EE journey at your school

Session overviews

Session 1

Essential skills for the extended essay

In this keynote, Emily explores the different skills that can come in handy for EE coordinators and supervisors. This includes guiding students on important aspects of the essay such as developing research questions and writing reflections.

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Session 2

Subject-specific sessions

Unpack subject-specific assessment criteria for the extended essay and learn how students can be guided to successfully meet them.

Biology

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Business Management

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Economics

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English Language and Literature

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History

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Mathematics(A.I.)

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Physics

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Psychology

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World Studies

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Session 3

Role of the librarian for the extended essay

In this session, Kuntal focuses on the importance of the librarian in the EE process. As the head of the Liferarian Association, she understands the importance of research for the EE. Her session delves into the many ways in which librarians can support the EE journey and collaborate with DP and EE coordinators while doing so.

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Speakers
Emily Stannard
Extended Essay Coordinator and Head Librarian
Donald Cleary
Workshop Leader and Language & Literature Educator
Muna Darwish
DP History and Theory of Knowledge Educator
Tanusankar Chakraborty
Learning Leader and Head of I&S
Love Trivedi
ATL Coordinator, Head of Pastoral Care and Physics Educator
Rima Puri
Educator, Author and Assessment Expert
Marwa Bkerat
Program Manager, USAID Pre-service Teacher Education Project
Koelia Ojha
Head of Science
Susan Vaidyan
Associate Director (DP), Toddle
Jake Fisher
DP Math Educator (Applications and Interpretation)
Kuntal Bhandare
Extended Essay Coordinator, Secondary Librarian and Team Leader
Disclaimer - This event is organised independently of and not endorsed by the IB. Toddle’s events and webinars are organised to enable an exchange of practices and ideas within the educator community and are not a replacement for official IB workshops. Views and opinions expressed by the speakers are their personal views and should not be construed as official guidance by the IB. Please seek assistance from your school’s IB coordinator and/or refer to official IB documents before implementing shared ideas and strategies in your classroom.

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Emily Stannard
Emily has been the Extended Essay Coordinator at Bradfield College in Berkshire for the past two years and has been involved in overseeing EEs for seven years as Head Librarian. During the lockdown, she formed part of the International Collaboration of the Extended Essay (ICEE) and was involved in planning and running three large international workshops. She is now chair of the ICEE and helps facilitate workshops at various stages of the EE process for students and supervisors. Emily is a big fan of the Extended Essay and makes it her mission to know as much as possible to best support students and supervisors through the process.
Donald Cleary
Donald has been an IB DP English A educator for more than a decade. He is currently an IB DP English A and TOK educator at the American School of Doha, Qatar. Donald has taught internationally in the MENA region, as well as in Central America. During his time as an educator, Donald has held several positions of responsibility, including TOK Coordinator. Educated in Jamaica, Donald is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Education at the University of Bath, UK.
Muna Darwish
Muna Darwish has been an IB DP History and Theory of Knowledge educator since 1994. Over the course of her teaching career, she has held several positions of responsibility, namely IB DP Coordinator, IB MYP Coordinator, Theory of Knowledge Coordinator, and MYP I&S Educator. She has attended and delivered many workshops on Civic Education. As an educator, Muna has authored, edited, and accommodated the IB MYP I&S books for varied year levels. She is currently a member of the Lebanese Association for History.
Tanusankar Chakraborty
Tanusankar (Tanu) Chakraborty has taught IB Economics since 2005 at leading international schools in India, the UAE, and China. He has held the position of Department Head, Extended Essay Coordinator, and Diploma Programme Coordinator in different IB World Schools. With his tremendous experience and expertise he has led workshops in Business Management, Economics, CAS, the Extended Essay, and Approaches to Teaching and Learning and Leading Learning. Tanu is the co-author of Economics for the IB Diploma, published by Hodder Education and endorsed by the IB.
Love Trivedi
"Dr. Love Trivedi is an experienced Physics Teacher and ATL coordinator with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. He is a Core Team Member of the ScienceDiaries.org and also works as IBDP CAS Co-ordinator and IAYP Award Leader. Having received formal training and education in the subjects of Physics, Educational Technology, Curriculum Development, and as he claims football, Dr. Trivedi is a versatile leader and educator. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Physics from the University of Mumbai and attained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Industrial Automation & RFID systems from Siemens. On the side, Dr. Trivedi is an amateur archeologist who is also certified in Astrobiology and extraterrestrial life. But above all else, Dr. Love values sustainability and collaboration - values he hopes to bring to the table wherever he goes. A strong motivator for implementing SDGs, he has been appreciated by the Indian book of records for his work in Sustainability."
Rima Puri
Rima is an international educator with experience of almost two decades. She holds a Ph.D. and other qualifications, like M.Phil, PGDBM, and M.Com, from various accredited universities. Being part of IB since 2008, she has coached teachers in many schools in planning, executing, marking assignments, and providing feedback on students’ work. With her extensive experience in business management, she possesses the skills to design and create assessment frameworks adhering to that of the IB. She has also been training teachers to ensure that they assess various IBDP style assessments fairly and has facilitated several workshops in the past to collaborate with teachers across the globe to prepare them better and also learn different teaching practices across cultures. Additionally, she also teaches Business Management and is an Extended essay advisor with Pamoja Education.
Marwa Bkerat
"Marwa has over 20 years of experience in the field of education. She is currently a Senior Teacher Educator at Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA). Previously, Marwa worked as an IB DP Coordinator and DP Biology subject leader at the Jeddah Knowledge International School, where she established the IB DP department and supported the IB DP authorization processes. She authored the book 'Biology for IB Diploma Programme Course Preparation' published by Oxford. At present, she serves as the Program Manager for the USAID Pre-service Teacher Education Project in Jordan (PRESTIJ). She is also a Middle East Professional Learning Initiative (MEPLI) fellow, convener, and online workshop facilitator at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Marwa holds a Master's degree in the Arts of Education from the University of Sunderland, UK. She has completed the online program 'Certificate in Advanced Education Leadership (CAEL)' by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is also the founder and CEO of iMystro, an online learning platform that supports independent learning in different courses."
Koelia Ojha
Koelia has taught Physics to high school students across curricula for the past 20 years. She is currently working at Ecole Mondiale World School, Mumbai as the Head of Science and faculty of physics. She has a Master's degree in physics with a specialization in 'numerical application in physics'. She has also led sessions on teaching and learning methodology in physics or teachers on various forums for different curricula. She enjoys unraveling mysteries in class and a few of her favorite activities in class are analyzing action sequences in movies. The whole idea is to increase students' motivation by introducing a practical and recognizable problem with an educative component. The physics, logic, and feasibility! She believes that the extended essay is a fantastic tool to enhance critical thinking skills.
Susan Vaidyan
Susan has a wealth of experience in DP Psychology and is also a TOK educator. She is currently an Associate Director, Learning & Engagement, Toddle. She designs lessons in ways that maximize teacher and student engagement. She believes that learning is rapidly evolving, and teachers should adapt to changing student needs.
Jake Fisher
Jeffrey (Jake) Fisher is an MYP and DP Math educator and has taught in the United States and Spain for 8 years. He is currently teaching at the American School of Bilbao and is a Moderator for the Applications and Interpretation Mathematics Internal Assessment. Jake has found the Applications and Interpretation course to be a unique opportunity for teachers to incorporate the areas of mathematics they love the most into a rigorous yet approachable curriculum. Through his experiences in the IB, he hopes to be able to share resources and thoughts that can make this divergent mathematics course a rewarding experience for other teachers.
Kuntal Bhandare
Kuntal Bhandare has 20 years of experience as a librarian with five years as an EE coordinator. She is currently a secondary school librarian, EE coordinator, and Team leader at Ecole Mondiale world school. She is one of the founder members of Liferarian group and one of the core members of ICEE. She holds Master's degree in Library science and is a passionate librarian working towards upskilling librarians through the Liferarian association.
Extended Essay, For Coordinators, For Teaching Teams
IBDP Extended Essay Café
The extended essay (EE) is one of the centerpieces of the IB Diploma Programme. Designed as an independent investigation into a topic of students’ choice, the essay is a crucial step towards preparing for university studies. This interactive Meet-Up is intended for DP extended essay coordinators and supervisors to explore different ways to support students in the process of writing their extended essays. Join extended essay experts from the International Collaboration of the Extended Essay (ICEE) and the Lifrarian Association to get insights into best practices that can be shared with students. Brainstorm how subject-specific criteria can be applied to students’ extended essays.

Meet-Up Objectives:
1. Develop the skills needed for the EE such as formulating RQs and guiding reflections
2. Collaboratively grade EE exemplars and unpack subject-specific criteria
3. Understand the crucial role of the librarian in the EE process
4. Take home free actionable resources to support the EE journey at your school

Session 1: Essential skills for the extended essay
Speaker: Emily Stannard
(75mins) 9AM GMT | 2.30PM IST | 5PM ACT
In her keynote, Emily will explore the different skills that can come in handy for EE coordinators and supervisors. This will include guiding students on important aspects of the essay such as developing research questions and writing reflections. We will also release handbooks featuring tips and strategies for coordinators, supervisors, and students to support their roles and responsibilities towards the EE. You will also get a glimpse into how Toddle can support your school in successfully streamlining the EE process.

Session 2: Subject-specific sessions
(120 mins) 10.30AM GMT | 4PM IST | 6.30PM ACT
At each of these subject-specific sessions, DP educators from around the world will walk you through the assessment criteria for the extended essay in their subjects and how students can be guided to successfully meet them.
The sessions will be hosted by the following speakers:
1. Language and Literature: Donald Cleary
2. History: Muna Darwish
3. Economics: Tanusankar Chakraborty
4. World Studies: Love Trivedi
5. Business Management: Rima Puri
6. Biology: Marwa Bkerat
7. Physics: Koelia Ojha
8. Psychology: Susan Vaidyan
9. Math (AI): Jake Fisher

Session 3: Role of the librarian for the extended essay
Speaker: Kuntal Bhandare
(60 mins) 12.45PM GMT | 6.30PM IST | 8.45PM ACT
In this session, Kuntal will focus on the importance of the librarian in the EE process. As the head of the Lifrarian Association, she understands the importance of research in the EE and will focus on the different ways in which librarians can support th EE journey and how they can collaborate with DP and EE coordinators while doing so. You can also get a glimpse into how Toddle can support your school in successfully streamlining the EE process.