Personal Project Workshop 20078 and beyond

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Personal Project Workshop 2007-8 (and beyond)
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What is the Personal Project?

• A required assignment for the 5th and final year
  of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years
  Program (IBMYP).
• An independent project that the student
  self-selects, self-designs, and self-develops.
• A means for students to make real world
  connections and use real life applications
• A major accomplishment for the student and one
  he or she may take pride in!
• The Personal Project is NOT
• part of a subject specific class assignment
• A project that can be completed without
  research/investigation
• A project that can be completed in 2 or 3 weeks.
  It takes substantial time and effort, though not
  so much that a student can not complete it by due
  date.

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What does the Personal Project consist of?

• The Personal Project is made up of three
  components that all must be turned in on due
  date
• The Process Journal
• The Project in the form chosen by student
  (sometimes referred to as Project form)
• The Written Statement the process and
  reflection paper you write about your project
• What is the Process Journal?
• The Process Journal is a journal the student
  keeps throughout his or her time working on the
  project. Students record all information in the
  journal including (but not limited to)
• Personal Timeline
• Investigation and Research Notes
• Bibliography Data
• Log Entries of tasks that were accomplished each
  day project was worked on.

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What is the Project form?

• The Project form refers to the end product.
  Students have several options for demonstrating
  their end product including (but not limited to)
• An art project (including photography, painting,
  drawing, etc)
• A performing arts project (including an original
  play or original choreographed dance, etc)
• A research paper (a 7 to 10 page paper on a
  specific topic. This paper follows standard
  research paper format including parenthetical
  citations and a Works Cited page.
• A museum quality display
• An original science experiment
• A Self-designed Community Service project

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What is the Written Statement?

• It is a structured piece of writing wherein the
  student deeply reflects on all stages of the
  Personal Project process, from introduction of
  idea and goal statement, through the process of
  creation, and a self-evaluation of their outcome.
• The statement is typed and double-spaced.
  Students must follow standard MLA format ( 12
  size readable font, 1-inch margins all borders,
  pages numbered in upper right hand corner,
  parenthetical citations and a Work Cited page).
• This structured writing is also organized into
  distinct sections. The next slide shows the
  required organization for the writing.

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Structured writing format

• Title Page (no decorations just title, your full
  name and the date)
• Table of Contents with corresponding page numbers
• Introduction Section
• Define the purpose/interest in the project topic.
  Define the goal of the project in a
  direct/explicit way , and relate the
  explicit/direct focus on the chosen Area of
  Interaction (AOI).
• Explain how you intend to achieve your project
  goal.
• Include your proposed timeline.
• Description and Analysis Section
• Fully describe the process of creating and
  completing the project including resources used,
  research citations and production steps. BE
  DESCRIPTIVE.
• Interweave AOI focus and applications as they
  apply.
• Evaluation and Conclusion Section
• Include a personal evaluation on how you feel you
  conducted yourself as a learner and student while
  completing this project. Reflect back on your
  original goals and discuss why changes were made
  (IF any were made).
• Correctly formatted Work Cited Page (also known
  as Bibliography)
• Appendix Section (not mandatory, but recommended)
• Appropriate charts, graphs, sketches, photos,
  etc. may be placed in an Appendix section at the
  end of your structured writing. If you choose to
  have an Appendix section, make sure you label
  each chart or graph, etc and include it in your
  Table of Contents. In-text Citations (we use MLA
  style)
• Other important point You must CITE sources
  within the text of your structured writing where
  relevant! This includes all relevant books,
  personal interviews, etc. If your actual project
  form was an essay or research paper, the same
  requirement applies.

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How Do I select a topic for my Personal Project?

• First, look to the Areas of Interaction (AOI)
  the 5 themes that are at the center of the
  International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program.
  They include
• Approaches to Learning
• Community and Service
• Homo faber (humans as creators)
• Environment
• Health and Social Education
• Your project must have one or more of these AOI
  at its core.

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What is Approaches to Learning?

• Approaches to learning (ATL) is concerned with
  developing the intellectual discipline,
  attitudes, strategies and skills which will
  result in critical, coherent and independent
  thought and the capacity for problem solving and
  decision making. It goes far beyond study skills,
  having to do with learning how to learn and
  with developing an awareness of thought processes
  and their strategic use. This area of interaction
  recognizes that true learning is more than the
  acquisition of knowledge it involves its
  thoughtful application, as well as critical
  thinking and problem solving, both individually
  and collaboratively.
• Students interested in an Approaches to Learning
  topic might consider projects that
• teach skills or concepts
• Explore how people learn

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What is Community and Service?

• This AOI emphasizes development of community
  awareness and concern, a sense of responsibility,
  and the skills and attitudes needed to make an
  effective contribution to society.
• Students interested in a Community and Service
  oriented project might consider projects that
• Raise money for a charity by holding an event
• Raise awareness of a community need through a
  letter writing campaign or some other means of
  raising awareness
• Honor those who unselfishly give of their time to
  help the community for example, creating a
  pictorial display that can be put in the City
  Hall

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What is Homo Faber?

• Homo faber allows students to focus on the
  evolution, processes and products of human
  creativity. It considers their impact on society
  and on the mind. Students learn to appreciate and
  to put into practice the human capacity to
  influence, transform, enjoy and improve the
  quality of life. This area of interaction
  encourages students to explore the relationships
  between science, aesthetics, technology and
  ethics.
• Students interested in a Homo Faber centered
  project might consider
• Exploring poetry as an art form and creating
  their own poems in a manner that will influence
  or transform the reader
• Designing and carrying out an original science
  project to improve quality of life

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What is Health and Social Education?

• Health and social education prepares students for
  a physically and mentally healthy life, aware of
  potential hazards and able to make informed
  choices. It develops in students a sense of
  responsibility for their own well-being and for
  the physical and social environment. This area
  encourages students to explore their own selves
  as they develop healthy relationships with
  others. This Area could include raising
  awareness of social issues such as needs of the
  homeless, for example.
• Students interested in a Health and Social
  Education oriented project might consider
• Designing their own fitness program and
  monitoring progress
• Exploring the topic of bullying and why people
  engage in it

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What is Environment?

• Environment aims to make students aware of their
  interdependence with the environment so that they
  accept their responsibility for maintaining an
  environment fit for the future. Students are
  confronted with global environmental issues as
  well as environmental situations at home and at
  school which require decision making. This area
  of interaction places the students in a position
  where they take positive, responsible action for
  the future.
• Students who are interested in Environment
  oriented projects might consider
• Creating a museum quality display that reports an
  environmental concern while also offering a
  possible solution
• Organizing a local clean up event at the beach or
  a park.
• Starting a paper recycling program in their
  neighborhood.

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What else must I do to select a topic?

• You have reviewed the Areas of Interaction. Now
  you need to brainstorm potential project ideas.
  Think of your passions and interestsif you like
  your topic, you will do a better project
• List your ideas. Then go through the list to see
  which ideas seem feasible. For example,
  composing 3 chapters for an original novel is
  feasible, but composing a 25 chapter novel is
  probably NOT feasible.
• Go out and do some preliminary research to see if
  you project is even feasible, and if it really
  will interest you.
• Discuss your project choice with your advisor,
  your parent, an expert in the field, etc. Think
  of potential challenges. Then turn your topic
  into a specific goal Example My topic is
  Fostering Kittens and my project goal is to
  obtain two feral (wild) kittens from the Humane
  Society, foster them according to Humane Society
  guidelines so that they are adoptable, and find
  homes for the kittens.

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I have my topic and goal. Ive done some
preliminary research. Now what? Creating
further questions

• Now that you have your topic and goal, you need
  to figure out what you need to know.
• Taking the Foster Kitten idea, your need to
  know questions might be
• Will my parents be ok with my project?
• How will I get the kittens?
• How much will it cost to take care of the
  kittens?
• What types of things must I do to socialize the
  kittens?
• What nutrition do they need?
• How do I make sure a worthy person adopts the
  kittens?
• Can I make people aware of spaying and neutering
  pets so that there are fewer orphaned cats?

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Now that you have your questions, create a
timeline or task check off sheet

• For example
• Create or buy a month by month calendar and set
  benchmark goals for yourself
• Make a check off list of benchmark goals so that
  you can check off as you complete
• Be as detailed with your benchmark goals as you
  can. Planning now creates less work later.

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Do I need to do research and investigation for my
project?

• Yes use different ways to find information.
  Dont forget to record sources in a working
  bibliography

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Annotated Bibliography

• You should be keeping a running bibliography of
  all research sources you will use for your
  Personal Project. Although annotations are not
  required on the bibliography, they are an
  excellent addition to help you remember how you
  used each source. An example of an annotated
  bibliography entry follows

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Example Annotated Bibliography Entry for a
newspaper article found on line

• Vartabedian, Ralph. AQMD want to put the brakes
  on polluters. Los Angeles Times 19 September
  2007. 19 September 2007 lthttp//www.latimes.com/ne
  ws/printedition/highway1/lahywheels19sep19,0,66263
  67gt.
• This news article explains that a new technology
  device is being tested on LA freeways. It kind
  of works like a speed tracking gun used by the
  Highway Patrol, but this device can detect the
  amount of pollutants your exhaust pipe is putting
  out. In the future, people will get fines or
  even have their cars impounded if they do not
  comply with the state auto emissions standards.