Topic

The topic you select should be relevant and related to Design Technology. Most importantly, the topic should be of interest to you. The topic should be directly related to a topic in the Design Technology course. Speak to your EE supervisor, or visit the IB website to learn more about appropriate topics in Design Technology.  

Topics to avoid:

• Topics that just review existing products or technologies. (i.e. A comparison of different 3D printing technologies)

• Historical reviews of a topic (i.e. The evolution of the shape of aircraft wings from World War I to present day)

• Topics not directly or strongly related to DT content (i.e. The impact of Nike's marketing strategies on its bottom line.)

• Topics that overlap your DT IA project.

Research Question

Your EE should be organized and focused around a research question. This is what guides your inquiry. It is the reason for doing the inquiry.  

Your Research Question should be:

• Related to Design Technology content: You should be able to connect it to at least one DT topic

• Specific enough that authentic research can be undertaken

• Provide a lens or perspective through which to engage with the inquiry

• Stated somewhere in the introduction

Primary research is essential

Your EE needs to be based on primary research. The results of this research should be analyzed within the context of the problem. 

Primary research can take the form of:

• testing various existing products to determine their performance characteristics

• testing various materials to determine their performance characteristics

• testing various models, that you design, to determine their performance characteristics

• interviewing several experts in the field in order to understand the scope of a problem or design context.