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Personal Project FAQs
Why do I have to do the Personal Project (PP)?
The PP is the mandatory project in the Middle Years Programme. Following from your PYP exhibition and leading into the Extended Essay, it is an opportunity to explore a topic that is of interest to you, to develop your skills further and to create something unique to you. Achievement always feels great and should play a big part in being a learner at VIS. The PP is certainly a perfect chance for you to achieve something in an area which is relevant to YOU.
So what is the Personal Project?
The PP is similar to every other subject because you have to do the following:
- complete an extended period of study (about 5 months)
- use many of the Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills you learnt in other subjects
- produce items
- undergo assessment
The PP is different from many of your subjects because you have to do the following:
- complete your investigation with a connection to a Global Context
- work independently throughout the course
- interact with an adult supervisor whose role is to provide guidance and support only
The PP is exactly what the title says: A PERSONAL Project.
What do I hand in at the end of the project?
There are three components of your project that you will be turning in, each of which will be assessed:
1. Product/Outcome COMPLETION DUE DATE: January 13th, 2020
Your product or outcome is what you will accomplish or create in order to achieve your goal. A “product” is tangible and an “outcome” is something that happens.
You will come up with specifications or criteria that describe successful completion of your product or outcome as a part of your planning process, before you begin creating. You and your supervisor will use these specifications to evaluate in your report how well you achieved your goal.
2. Process Journal: COMPLETION DUE DATE: January 13th, 2020
Beginning when you first start thinking about your topic until you complete your product or outcome, you will reflect on your learning and experiences in the Process Journal on ManageBac. You will also need to keep track of all your work that goes into your project by uploading text, pictures, videos, or any other documents that will provide evidence of your process along the way.
You will need this evidence and integrate it in your final report. Monthly tasks that are set out for you as stepping stones will help you in the completion of the project. They prove that you have gone through a process, rather than finishing everything one week before the deadline.
These tasks should also be recorded in your journal.
During and after each meeting with your supervisor, you need to document your discussion in your process journal. You also need to write down your thoughts about what was discussed, including questions that came up for you, and new ideas and/or understandings about how you are developing your project.
3. Report DRAFT DUE DATE: Feb 10th, 2020
FINAL DUE DATE: March 19th, 2020
Your report is a formal explanation of the process you went through as you completed your product or outcome. You will use the entries in your Process Journal as the basis for the report.
The report must be a minimum of 1,500 words and a maximum of 3,500 words. If you chose an oral recording of your report, special requirements apply. The report will be assessed by your supervisor and moderated by the International Baccalaureate Organisation according to the four objectives described below.
What will be assessed?
All of the three items will be assessed. The report must include the evidence of your product or outcome (e.g. pictures of your artwork) and you will chose 10 journal excerpts pages to show evidence for your learning.
How will I be assessed?
The following objectives have been established by the IB for the personal project in the MYP as of September 2014:
Objective A: Investigating
Objective B: Planning
Objective C: Taking action
Objective D: Reflecting
In the MYP, objectives correspond to assessment criteria. Each criterion has nine possible levels of achievement (0–8), divided into four bands that generally represent limited (1–2), adequate (3–4), substantial (5–6) and excellent (7–8) performance. Each band has its own unique descriptor, which teachers use to make “best-fit” judgments about students’ progress and achievement.
To see the complete set of task specific criteria, please check here. Your supervisor will use these four criteria to assess your project at the end of the process, and s/he will also invite other supervisors to check the result. After a final check of the lower and higher projects by the MYP team, the school is asked to send off some samples to the IB organization to ensure that it is consistent with the international set for projects.
Will I need to present my project in some way?
You will be presenting your project on
- The Personal Project Exhibition Day/ Evening EXHIBITION DATE: March 26th, 2020
You will be sharing your work within the school during the day (Primary students, fellow Secondary students and staff) and the extended VIS community, including your parents in the evening- the set up is similar to a science fair. This is also a great way to collect feedback for your project!
Who can help me with my project?
The personal project is to be completed independently. However, support will be available to you:
1. You will have a supervisor to support you in the focus, organization and development of your project. Your supervisor will be a VIS secondary staff member who may or may not be an expert on your topic. His or her job is to listen to your explanations of your process of inquiry and project development and to support you in keeping on track, not to contribute to your body of work.
You must communicate on ManageBac and take responsibility for meeting with your supervisor on a regular basis in order to make sure you complete the various stages of the project according to the deadlines that have been set. What you discuss at these meetings must be documented in ManageBac. Show that you are a good IB communicator!
2. You may also seek out and secure a mentor who is an expert in your selected field.
Your mentor may contribute to your understanding or skill set related to your topic.
Your mentor can guide and teach you but cannot do any part of the project for you.
3. If you have a specific question about a source or research in general, see Mr. Bancroft in the library.
4. If you have general PP questions, please see Ms. Holzhacker in the PE office upstairs in the gallery!
How do I select my sources?
Like in all research, you will have to use a variety of sources to support your work. You will need to check their reliability and have evidence backed up by multiple sources. There is information on the selection of sources as well as citation techniques available on ManageBac.
How do I write the report?
After you complete your project outcome or product, you will produce a report about the process you went through. You will use your process journal entries as the foundation for your writing. We will provide a template for you on the Report Writing day in January 2018.
1. The title page must include the following:
Title of the project, Student name, School name, Year, Project Supervisor, Length
2. The table of contents must be a separate page. It must list the page numbers for each section in the body of the report, the bibliography, and the appendices.
3. The body of the report is structured around the objectives and assessment criteria and it must include these five sections:
- Introduction
- Investigation
- Planning
- Taking Action
- Reflection
4. The bibliography must include all sources utilized in the creation of your project following MLA formatting. Include sources that you cite in your report and sources that you accessed for general information about your topic.
5. The appendices will contain any supplementary material that supports and/or illustrates your project. In this section you will also include up to 10 excerpts of your ManageBac journal in order to prove that you followed a process.
6. The academic honesty form is an IB requirement and must be attached to the report to ensure you have followed the academic honesty principles.
Other requirements of the structured report are the following:
Font: 12-point Times New Roman or Arial
Double spaced
Margins 1.5 inches
Single-sided
1500-3500 words
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