The viva voce is a short interview between the student and the supervisor to conclude the extended essay process.
You should use the following information to add a detailed reflection to your RRS BEFORE you go into your viva voce. After your viva voce you must then add a final reflection on the entire EE process to your Planning and Progress Form on Managebac. Use up all remaining words in your word count carefully.
Viva Voce has the following purposes.
- A check on plagiarism and malpractice in general
- An opportunity to reflect on successes and difficulties in the research process
- An opportunity to reflect on what has been learned
- An aid to the supervisor’s report
The viva voce should last between 10 and 15 minutes but may be longer if you and your Supervisor enjoy talking about your topic and experiences!
The following are examples of things that you may want to discuss:
- What was learned during the EE process.
- Any issues that might have come up during the research, writing, etc.
- Suggestions for future students
- Successes during the EE process.
Some types of questions you could be asked during the Viva Voce:
- How did your initial Research Question or focus change?
- Biggest challenges/biggest successes?
- How have you changed as a result of writing your EE? What have you learned about yourself? About how you think, how you work, how you approach this type of process?
- Links to learner profile?
- What are you most proud of in this process?
- How do you feel about your topic/essay now?
- Is there anything you would have done differently?
- What advice would you give to Y12s starting in on this process? To Y11s considering whether to study IB and who are apprehensive about the EE?
- What worked/didn’t work for you in terms of your supervisor and advice you got? How could you have been better supported? How could you have used the support network in school more effectively?
- What surprised you? What happened that you didn’t expect?
- You came to this conclusion; can you explain how you got there? Talk to me about your research – why did you use this vs. that? (Note: If this discussion, in conjunction with the Turnitin Similarity Report raises concerns, the Supervisor will be discussing it with the DP Coordinator: students who can't really discuss their research/don’t seem familiar with findings/etc. may have had unacknowledged support from someone else like a tutor, parents, older students and ISB must verify that this is the student's own work before it is submitted).
Always remember that:
- Examiners want to know that students understand any material (which must be properly referenced) that they have included in their essays. The viva voce will help confirm this.
- Minor slips in citation and referencing may lose the odd mark. If there appear to be major shortcomings, the supervisor should investigate thoroughly. No essay will be authenticated if the supervisor believes it contains plagiarism.
- In making a holistic judgment, examiners will take into account any information given in the report about unusual intellectual inventiveness or persistence in the face of unexpected difficulties.