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MYP Personal Project Overview

Personal Project Introduction Video

MYP Personal Project

The Personal Project:

Is self-directed project that requires a minimum of 25 hours of work time (including meeting with supervisors)
Is based on a student's personal interests and passions
Involves planning, applying skills and reflecting
Results in the development of a tangible product or a non-tangible outcome that supports completion of a learning goal
Ends with a Project Report that reflects on the Planning, Applying Skills and Reflection processes
A student’s level of achievement is derived from the Project Report

The Format

The Personal Project can take shape in many possible ways.

Some examples include:

An invention
A selection of personal works of art
A piece of creative writing
A written piece of work on a global or local issue
The coordination of an event or organization
The development of an organization focused on students or the community

The Parts

The Personal Project is made up of Four Parts:

Part 1: The Goal

The Project Goal has two components:

The Product / Outcome
The Learning Goal

Once a topic of interest is chosen, a product must be identified followed by a learning goal. (or vice versa - see below)

SMARTI goals is a great tool for students to ensure the goal is successful. Use the acronym below to help identify the goal for the project.

Specific: Is the goal clear and concise or is it ambiguous in nature?
Measurable: Does the goal have standards which allows others to agree whether it has been met?
Ambitious: Is the goal challenging?
Realistic: Can the goal be achieved? Is it too challenging?
Time-Bound: Does the goal have clearly defined deadlines? Can it be achieved by the due date?
Inspired: What has been your inspiration for your goal? Where did this come from?

Product / Outcome: the end result that is created or organized

This is what comes to be as a result of thinking, dreaming, planning, organizing and execution of tasks for meeting your goal

The Learning Goal: what does the student want to learn as a result of the Product/Outcome

**Conversely, once a topic of interest is chosen, the student could begin with a learning goal to help guide their choice of a product.

The image below, from the IBO Personal Project Guide, will help students to understand the possible processes.

Goal Creation

How do I come up with a goal for myself?

Students are encouraged to explore ideas related to past experiences such as:

past involvement in a service or volunteer experience that they wish to build upon
a MYP global context that is of particular interest to them
an inquiry project or exploration that they would like to dive deeper into
a particular interest or hobby they would like to pursue further (or begin pursuing) outside of school
See tools 1,2,13,14 & 26 in the Downloadable Resources section for help

Developing the Action Plan including Success Criteria for the Product/Outcome

Once a specific goal, that will result in a product or outcome, has been chosen, students must develop an action plan that includes success criteria to help measure the quality of the product or outcome.

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Success Criteria is the list that the student creates which helps them to know if their product/outcome and learning goal were successful.

See tools 3,4,10,17 & 22 available in the Downloadable Resources section to help with creating the Action Plan. One such tool from the IBO is shown below.