Introduction

This section on Extended Essays looks at the processes involved in the types of research students will need to undertake. As a supervisor you are expected to spend about 3-5 hours discussing the progress of the Essay with the student. Note that this includes the time spent on the three mandatory reflection sessions. Some of this will involve giving them specific advice, such as how to construct a bibliography. Much of the supervision time will be spent reviewing and discussing what they have actually written – particularly the completed draft – but some of the time will also need to be spent giving students advice on how to go about doing the necessary research for their Extended Essay. I have broken this section into separate web pages which cover how to help the student decide first the subject and then the area of investigation. This is followed by how you can help the student to formulate an appropriately worded, sharply focused Research Question (Framing the Research Question) and then finally advice you can give to the student to help them research the information to inform and provide the argument given in support of the Research Question. This last section on Researching the Essay also deals with the question as to whether an Extended Essay in Chemistry should involve ‘hands on’ practical work by the student.