Four Critical Elements of the

World Studies Extended Essay

May 17, 2024

I get a lot of questions about the World Studies Extended Essay.

So, this week, I thought I’d break it down so that you can see what it’s all about.

The first and most important thing I can say is this…

Think about the World Studies Extended Essay as different and distinct from every other Extended Essay. 

Does that make sense?  

The World Studies Extended Essay does not share any characteristics with any other Extended Essay.  It has its own clearly stated Subject Specific Guidance just like every other Extended Essay.

In my years of work leading Teacher Trainings and Workshops, this is the most misunderstood element of the World Studies Extended Essay. 

It is its own thing.


Here are some other misconceptions:

  • The Supervisor needs to be an expert in both Subject Areas
    • They don’t. Only one.
  • The World Studies Extended Essay necessitates two Supervisors
    • It doesn’t.  Only one.
  • It scores lower than other subject-specific Extended Essays
    • Nope.  The opposite is true.
  • The World Studies Extended Essay is more technical to write.
    • Nope.  Quite the opposite.


In fact, I feel quite strongly that the World Studies Extended Essay is a great option for every IB Student and Supervisor

While we will go into each of these more deeply, I want to want to lay out the Four Critical Elements of the World Studies Extended Essay:


The Four Critical Elements of The World Studies Extended Essay

  1. Element 1:  It must combine two IB Diploma Subjects
  2. Element 2:  It must be contemporary to the student’s lifetime
  3. Element 3:  It must be about a local manifestation of a global issue
  4. Element 4:  It must fit into one of these Six Areas of Study
    • Conflict, Peace, and Security
    • Culture, Language, and Identity
    • Environmental and/or Economic Sustainability
    • Equality and Inequality
    • Health and Development
    • Science, Technology, and Society


To say it straight…. 

If an essay doesn’t have these Four Critical Elements, then it is not a World Studies Extended Essay.  

That point is huge.  It must have all four of those elements or it will score poorly.

One more thing before we break down each element more specifically…

The World Studies Extended Essay is a case study.  

A case study.  

The student is going to research a local manifestation of a global issue and then use that case study as an example of what could be done in other parts of the world to address the same global issue.   

This is the task of the World Studies Extended Essay!  And this is why I love it so much.  It makes it so tangible and real and alive for the kid.  

So let’s get into it…

 

Element 1:  It Must Combine Two IB Diploma Subjects

What exactly does this mean?  

Let’s do what we’ll tell our students to do.  Take a look at the World Studies Subject Specific Guidance more closely.

Here’s what it says:

An EE in world studies gives students the opportunity to undertake an interdisciplinary study of an issue of contemporary global significance. 

“Interdisciplinary” in this context refers to research that draws on the methods, concepts and theories of two Diploma Programme subjects. It is strongly recommended that students are undertaking a course of study in at least one of the subjects chosen for their essay.” 

Translation?  

The essay is going to combine course content, knowledge, understandings, and concepts from two different IB Diploma courses.  That’s the cool part.  That’s the “interdisciplinary” part.

Also, the IB strongly suggests that the student be enrolled in at least one (if not both) of the IB courses that they are going to incorporate into their essay.  

My thoughts and advice:

  • Don’t ever let a student write a World Studies Extended Essay if they are not enrolled in at least one of the two subject areas.
    • The reason is fairly simple if the task is to combine the content, knowledge, understandings, and concepts from both courses, and while the exceptional student may do it, that’s just too big of a task for a kid, and we wouldn’t be setting them up for success.  
    • So, one course minimum.  Period.   Enforce that.
  • Not all IB courses are equal.  Some are much more “technical” or content-heavy than others.  
    • For example, courses like Economics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Music, Psychology, Film, Global Politics, Theatre, and Business Management, are courses that are much more technical than others.  
    • A student needs to be enrolled in these more “technical courses” in order to even attempt to use them as one of their two courses to combine in their World Studies Extended Essay.
    • Whereas courses like History, Language and Literature, Literature, and Mathematics are disciplines that students have been studying for their entire academic career.  
      • Hence a student who isn’t in IB History is more capable of choosing IB History as one of the two courses than a student who isn’t enrolled in IB Theatre for example.  
      • The IB Theatre course is just too technical for the student to use it unless they are enrolled in the class.

 

  • My Takeaways for Element 1:
    • Set the student up for success!  Period.   That is our role as Supervisors.
    • So, if students aren’t enrolled in either course, they can’t write the essay.
    • If students aren’t enrolled in the more “technical” of their two choices, they can’t use that course as one of their two. 
    • Good combinations of courses?
    • IB History is gold.  Almost any technical course that the student is enrolled in combined with the IB History will almost always work.
    • Other golden courses?  IB Math or IB Literature or IB Language and Literature are great second options to be combined with a more technical course.  
    • Trust your teacher gut.
    • If the combination seems too difficult to you, then it probably isn’t a wise choice for the student either.  
    • Any Extended Essay is a difficult task—so be sure you are setting them up for success as much as possible.

 

Element 2:  It Must Be Contemporary to the Student’s Lifetime

Here’s what the Subject Specific Guidance says:

“Contemporary” in this context refers to events that took place during the student’s lifetime. 

How about that?  

That might just be the clearest piece of guidance we’ve ever gotten from the IB.  

Contemporary = Student’s Lifetime

So, the investigation into the “events” in the essay must have taken place within the last 18 years.   That’s pretty clear.  

Key point!  This is a great example of where you must remember that the World Studies Extended Essay is its own beast!  Especially for you IB History and IB Economics teachers, the 10-year and 5-year rules that apply in each of those Subject Areas DO NOT APPLY to the World Studies Extended Essay.  

Isn’t that a relief?

Remember the guidance for this Extended Essay is as distinct and different as any other two Extended Essays are from one another. 

 

Element 3:  It Must be a Local Manifestation of a Global Issue

Ok, this point is huge. 

This element is the most difficult element to ensure is correct.  So here is where we have to be really informed as a Supervisor.  And this is where we begin building this thing as a case study.

Here is what the Subject Specific Guidance says:

Students are required to:

  • Identify an issue of global importance 
  • Identify a local manifestation of the issue of global importance 
  • Develop a clear rationale for taking an interdisciplinary approach and use the conceptual framework and vocabulary of two Diploma Programme subjects. 

 

This provides an opportunity for students to conduct independent interdisciplinary research (not necessarily primary research) that draws on Diploma Programme subjects and integrates them to produce a coherent and insightful analysis of the global issue they choose to investigate.  It should be noted that law and education are not Diploma Programme subjects. 

 

Check the words:  Local manifestation of a global issue. 

Here is where the student is going to begin to develop their case study.  It’s so cool.

The student must find a local example of some global issue to investigate in the essay.  That is the key task of the World Studies Extended Essay.   How do we get there?

Best advice I got?  Reverse engineer it—start big, go small.

Have the student think of a global issue they care deeply about.  Once that is established and clear, it is usually quite easy to find a local manifestation of the global issue.  

For example, if a student is passionate about climate change, poverty, women’s health, sanitation, sustainable agriculture, access to public education, or access to public health, or access to public parks, theaters, etc., it becomes very easy to find a local manifestation of those issues.  

Make sense?

The next most obvious question then is, “What exactly is a local manifestation?”

Right, exactly.  

Here’s my rule of thumb:  Local can be as large as a country.

While a local manifestation can be as small as a local community’s policies to fight climate change for example, “local” can also be as large as a country’s government’s efforts to fight climate change.

That is really helpful to know and this is where this process gets rolling.  Once they have their local manifestation of a global issue, boom!   The research and exploring can begin.

 

Element 4:  It Must Fit into One of These Six Areas of Study 

Ok, last element!

Let’s take a look at the Subject Specific Guidance for this one:

World studies Extended Essays are registered in one of six areas of study: these are not the same as the Diploma Programme subjects. They are: 

  • Conflict, Peace, and Security
  • Culture, Language, and Identity
  • Environmental and/or Economic Sustainability
  • Equality and Inequality
  • Health and Development
  • Science, Technology, and Society

 

Maybe this is obvious, but this is the easiest of the Four Elements to comply with.  

Why?  

Because nearly any essay we could ever imagine would fall into one of these Six Areas of Study.  Think about it.  

In fact, over the years I have never had a World Studies Extended Essay not fit into one of these areas.  

So that is comforting.  But this element is very important.  

Here’s why:

When World Studies Extended Essay are sent to the IB for marking they are sent to IB Examiners based on these Six Areas of Study.   

Did you read that?  

The IB assigns Examiners based on these Six Subject Areas, therefore if you misregister it, the consequences could be severe for a student.

Put in other terms, the IB obviously sends Economics Extended Essays to IB Economics Examiners.  In the case of the World Studies Extended Essay, the IB sends World Studies Extended Essays to Examiners trained in one of these Six Areas of Study regardless of the two IB Subjects that are used in the essay.  

That is really, really, really important to us when we upload the World Studies Extended Essay and send them off to the IB.  Otherwise, we could really screw this one up, with negative consequences to the kid. 

 

Big Conclusion?

If the essay doesn’t meet these four key elements, then it’s not a World Studies Extended Essay.

It’s that simple.  


Other Key Thoughts to Share…

Remember, don’t complicate it.   

The World Studies Extended Essay is exactly like every other Extended Essay in that it must meet all of the requirements of the Mark Scheme.   

Pay particular attention to the last section of the World Studies Subject Specific Guidance called, Interpreting the Extended Essay Assessment Criteria.  

That section tells you exactly how to hit the Mark Scheme each of the Five Criteria.  That’s pretty cool.

Lastly, here are three student samples of World Studies Extended Essays for you to use as a reference with your own students (much love to the students for permitting me to share their work!).  All three earned As.

  1. Student Example 1 | History & Global Politics | Grade A
  2. Student Example 2 | Biology & Economics |Grade A
  3. Student Example 3 | Global Politics & Business Management | Grade A


Where does that leave us?  

As my daughter would say, chilling, I hope!  

The World Studies Extended Essay is a tremendous opportunity for IB students to explore, research, and write about a topic they truly care about.  

And that’s why I love it so much.  

I love reading these papers—mainly because they take me out of my narrow field of expertise which in my case is IB Economics and to fascinating case studies of places trying to tackle global issues on a local level.  

It’s just inspiring to me.  

Alright, I hope you have a great weekend, and we’ll see you next Friday.

Whenever you are ready, here are 4 ways I can help:  

IB Core Workshops - Join my colleague Kurt Supplee and me for three different IB Core Workshops designed for IB Coordinators, EE Coordinators, TOK Teachers, and Extended Essay Supervisors.  Our upcoming workshops include The Cohort Model for the Extended Essay, Strategically Managing the IB Core, and our most popular workshop, Effectively Supervising Any Extended Essay.

Custom IB Faculty Training - Reach out and let me know how we can help work together to build a more robust and well-structured IB Programme at your school. We’ve worked with teachers and coordinators from hundreds of schools around the world. 

IB Economics Teacher Workshops - Join me for both my live and on-demand teacher workshops which cover all aspects of the IB Economics curriculum including the Internal Assessment, Extended Essay, Understanding IB Assessments, and content-based courses on Teaching Macroeconomics, Market Power, and The Global Economy. 

IB Economics New Teacher Workshop - New to teaching Economics in the IB Diploma Programme?  Together we will study the essential components of the International Baccalaureate Program, every section of the IB Economics syllabus, every IB assessment, every mark scheme, and discuss practical teaching strategies that will allow you to excel in the classroom.