Page 5 - The Malvernian - July 2022

THE MALVERNIAN
International Baccalaureate News: Extended Essay Excellence!
Four students in the Upper Sixth have been recognised for their excellent research in the Extended Essay, which is a compulsory element of the IB Diploma intended to give students the opportunity to learn many of the important skills that they will need at university and beyond. This independent, self-directed piece of research concludes in a 4,000-word research paper and is renowned as a challenging undertaking for all students of the IB. Often students tackle complex issues which are of personal and global significance, conducting research and presenting their findings in an academically rigorous manner that is more akin to a university- style paper and is therefore excellent preparation for the next stage of their studies.
This year’s cohort produced some fascinating essays which explored a rich and diverse range of topics such as the effect of poverty and deprivation in coronary heart disease in Wales; the role of cognitive bias anchoring in the physical product market and the equity market; the function of moral luck, as understood by philosophers Nagel and Williams in holding people morally responsible for their actions; the use of ekphrasis in Bruegel the Elder’s artwork; the ethics of hostile design in solving homelessness; screening for childhood experiences in the prevention of bowel cancer and how the rhetorical techniques used by Michelle Obama resonate with individuals when addressing a mass audience. The variety of topics covered by our students is truly astonishing and the whole cohort should feel very proud of what they have achieved.
Among these students, Josi Jebens (EH) was awarded the Prize for an Essay of Exceptional Quality for her Extended Essay on the impact of the 1892 cholera epidemic on Hamburg. Josi demonstrated great scholarly independence and maturity through highly ambitious research, which was heavily based on primary sources from Hamburg’s archive, including 19th century manuscripts written in very challenging old German script. Josi was praised in particular for her ability to confidently address very different social, economic, political and scientific perspectives and to draw out insights into the wider significance of the outbreak for Germany as a whole and internationally, as well for her ability to assess the impact the epidemic had on Hamburg’s development.
Jack Bedford (House No.2) was awarded the prize for Exceptional Independent Research for his essay on the role of the ‘Dirty War’ into the collapse of the Argentine Junta in 1983. Jack impressively put his Language B Spanish skills to excellent use by contacting and collating sources from a historical archive in Argentina and spent a great deal of time translating primary sources from Spanish
so that he could make use of them in his Extended Essay. This was a highly impressive feat for a non-native speaker. Conducting this detailed research was excellent preparation for Jack who is hoping to study International Relations and Spanish at university.
The Extended Prize for Originality was awarded to Jacqueline Coulsman (House No.6) whose essay was entitled ‘To what extent is the Period Product Bill introduced in Scotland in 2019 a suitable measure to reduce the positive externality of consuming period products?’. For Jacqueline, the extended essay process very quickly moved away from being an intellectually interesting part of the IB Diploma to becoming a real understanding of need. Jacqueline, who is a member of the ‘Empower Her Voice’ society, chose this topic in the light of activism relating to gender issues. This essay had a huge impact on our community, since at the same time as writing up the final draft, Jacqueline was actively ensuring period products were available to female students in school in convenient locations, and was raising awareness of menstruation - chiming with the conclusions of the extended essay. Jacqueline’s accomplishments represented precisely the ethos that the IB curriculum seeks to foster since the research that she undertook lead her to commit to real action, deepening her understanding of citizenship and enabling her to make an active contribution to her community.
The Extended Essay Prize for Exceptional Personal Engagement was awarded to Floris Tjan (House No.9) who chose to pursue his research in Physics in an essay entitled ‘How does changing the angle of attack of an aerofoil affect the downforce it produces?’. Floris worked with incredible independence, intelligence and originality. He worked through numerous practical experiments to make sense of some surprising data.
All of these students demonstrated deep analytical and evaluative skills which will stand them in excellent stead for university. Not only that, but recent research conducted by the University of Oxford (2020) finds that International Baccalaureate pupils exhibit significantly stronger critical thinking skills than their peers and the Extended Essay was highlighted by both students and educators as pivotal to that development. These prize winners will therefore find themselves very well placed as they embark on their studies in Higher Education. In the words of Charlotte Williams (EH, 2021) now reading French and Arabic at Magdalene College Oxford: “The Extended Essay was the single most useful preparation I had for university study.”
Catherine Baxter | Extended Essay Co-Ordinator
THE MALVERNIAN
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