Middle Years Program (MYP)

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Middle Years Program (MYP)
Anglican International School Jerusalem
Personal Project
Dr Zinn Mr Dufty
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Personal Project What is the it?

• A significant body of work produced over an
  extended period
• Areas of interaction are central
• A creative product of the students own
  initiative as the culmination of the MYP
• Demonstrates skills in approaches to learning

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Form of Personal Projects

• An original work of art (eg. visual or
  performance)
• A written piece of work on a specific topic
• A piece of literary fiction
• An original science experiment
• An invention or specially designed object
• The presentation of a developed business,
  management or organisational plan, for a business
  or community-based organisation
• All written projects must be within a 4000 word
  limit

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Objectives

• Independent and sustained work
• Focused on a clearly formulated goal
• Research and integration
• Depth in areas of interaction
• Reflection and evaluation

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Examples of Successful Projects

• Creating a picture book for young children
• AIDS information for teenagers and young adults
• Writing a vegetarian recipe book
• Choreographing a dance performance
• Designing and constructing a beach chair
• The importance of sports for handicapped people
• Creating a travel guide
• Designing and making clothes and accessories
• Creating books and games for the visually
  impaired
• Designing a website for a zoo

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Guiding Questions

• Are complex and have multiple legitimate answers
• Are often ambiguous and provocative
• Lead us to asking more questions about the topic
• Guide students to deeper levels of thought,
  reflection and discovery
• Work with this essence of the topic under
  investigation
• Make a connection between the subject matter and
  world issues
• Must be interesting to the student
• Cannot be easily referenced
• Often tap into a universal question

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Examples of Guiding Questions

• How can humour heal the spirit? (English, Health
  Social Education)
• What are the rights and responsibilities of
  people in a community? (Drama, Community
  Service)
• How are accurate decisions made based on
  statistics? (Mathematics, Approaches to Learning)
• What is a hostile environment? (Humanities,
  Environment)
• What do artists do once everything has been
  tried? (Music, Homo Faber)
• Are addicts victims or criminals? (Drama, life
  skills, Health Social Education)
• Does travel open peoples minds or reinforce
  prejudice? (Language B, Approaches to Learning)
• Why do people make monuments? (Art, Homo Faber)
• What can money buy? (Mathematics, Homo Faber)
• Are the arts a need or a luxury? (Art, Health and
  Social Education)
• Does language unite or divide? (Language B,
  Community Service)
• How do we learn a language? (Language B,
  Approaches to Learning)
• What is the effect of human settlement on the
  ecosystem? (Science, Humanities, Environment)

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Assessment

• According to MYP criteria
• Stage 1 (Introduction)
• Nominate supervisor
• State guiding question
• Keep diary
• Submit Project plan
• Assessment criteria A, G
• Stage 2 (Product)
• Keep diary
• Assessment criteria B,C, D, G
• Stage 3 (Process)
• Write up draft 1 with feedback.
• Final draft
• Internal assessment
• Criteria A-G
• Exhibition
• In future, externally assessed by the IB.

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Assessment Criteria
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Personal Project Requirements

• Written in in any IB language (English, French,
  Spanish) that can be assessed internally by the
  school and moderated externally by the IB
• Includes at least one area of interaction
• Includes structured writing

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The Supervisor

• Will be
• An AISJ staff member
• Not necessarily a subject specialist
• Will
• Encourage and support the candidate
• Provide advice and feedback
• Guarantee that the project is authentic
• Assess the project against the MYP criteria
• Will not
• Give students a title
• Get the research material required
• Chase students to meet deadlines

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Developing the Project

• Select the topic
• Choose supervisor
• Define guiding question
• Planning
• Gathering the necessary information
• Organisation and production
• Presentation
• Evaluation

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Personal Project Diary

• Throughout the development of the project, you
  are required to use a diary.
• This should be updated regularly.
• It should be used to record progress, containing
  thoughts, ideas, decisions, feelings and
  reflections.

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Final Structure of the Personal Project

• All personal projects must include a structured
  piece of writing, whatever the overall plan.
• This piece of writing must include
• Title page
• Table of contents
• Introduction defining the goal of the personal
  project, describing explicit foci on the areas of
  interaction and providing and outline of how to
  achieve the goal
• Description of the process production steps,
  characteristics, aspects / components of the work
• Analysis research and influences guiding the
  work, the findings and decisions made, resulting
  product and process in terms of the goal and
  focus on the areas of interaction
• Conclusion reflection on the impact on the
  project and new perspectives that could be
  considered
• Bibliography
• Appendices - where appropriate

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Exhibition

• As a form of celebration, the school organizes an
  exhibition of all the projects.
• The Personal Project exhibition demonstrates the
  success of the MYP program where the projects
  represent the culmination of the MYP years.
• This unique opportunity for students to pursue
  their own personal interest is an excellent
  preparation for the Extended Essay in the Diploma
  Program.