IB has laid a lot of importance on Extended Essay. It is one of the core elements of the IB Diploma program. We all know that EE is a 4000-word research project which students have to complete. However, It was a pleasure to hear and listen from Kuntal Bhandare about the exact EE process. She being an EE coordinator was kind enough to share her experience and knowledge about the topic. Being a librarian herself has added a feather to her cap. This made us substantiate the fact that indeed librarians have a significant role in EE.
Librarians are involved not only in choosing a topic but also in actual research. They guide students, teachers and supervisors about formulating a research question, evaluating and selecting the resources, citing and referencing them. Organizing and presentation of information were other essential aspects of EE. Apart from these various types of sources that can be used for EE were also explained by her in detail.
Kuntal took us through various documents like timelines, Lesson plans which librarians can keep them ready beforehand. Apart from this, multiple resources and materials were shared by her, which made things more clear. The two critical factors in EE are – being prepared and being proactive. Any librarian who can follow this will create wonders in EE and move from just being a librarian to EE coordinator. According to her, librarians are best suited for the role of EE coordinator. The knowledge of a subject-specific teacher is limited to his/her subject, whereas being librarians, we can open up a plethora of topics. We do have an upper edge as compared to other subject teachers. This was well explained by highlighting her entire journey from being a librarian to EE coordinator.
The discussion was taken further by sharing a few examples and websites on EE. These will help us understand EE in depth. Her PD session did make fellow librarians knowledgeable and thinkers about the topic.
The session did not end with a simple thank you. But with an extended helping hand & making fellow librarians confident about EE.
Link for the PPT by Kuntal Bhandare
– Posted by Ketki Bedekar
