Every subtopic of DP Extended Essay, ready to teach.

This unit guides students through the foundational decisions of the Extended Essay: how to construct a focused, arguable research question; how to situate that question within a single DP subject or across an interdisciplinary framework; and how to align the depth of inquiry with the demands of the chosen pathway. Three topics address the characteristics of a well-formed question, the five interdisciplinary frameworks available under the World Studies option, and the process of identifying a focused topic within a subject area.

Skills & assessment. Lessons develop the inquiry skills that underpin the EE from the outset — narrowing scope, establishing disciplinary fit, and registering the essay within the correct IB framework — all of which bear directly on Criterion A (Focus and method) of the EE assessment criteria.

Across 12 lessons and four topics, this unit addresses the transferable academic skills at the heart of the EE: interpreting and evaluating sources; constructing and sustaining a line of argument; balancing discussion with counter-argument; and meeting the structural and referencing conventions of a 4,000-word academic essay. Each topic isolates a distinct skill set — analysis of evidence, argumentation, discussion and evaluation, and presentation — so that supervisors can target support precisely.

Skills & assessment. Lessons map directly to EE assessment criteria B (Knowledge and understanding), C (Critical thinking), and D (Presentation), with explicit attention to the command terms — analyse, evaluate, discuss, examine — that distinguish high-scoring responses from descriptive ones.

These 9 lessons across three topics address the research foundations of the EE: choosing between qualitative and quantitative methods; designing primary and secondary investigations; selecting and evaluating scholarly sources; and meeting the IB's requirements for ethical research practice and academic integrity. Each topic is treated as a distinct, teachable skill — not a checklist — so students develop genuine methodological understanding.

Skills & assessment. The unit supports EE Criterion A (Focus and method) and Criterion E (Engagement), with particular attention to the honest, transparent representation of sources, data, and the limitations of chosen methods — all of which are visible to examiners in the final essay and the RPPF.

Nine lessons across three topics address the craft of EE writing: sustaining an appropriate academic register; using comparison and contrast as an analytical — rather than merely descriptive — strategy; and reflecting meaningfully on the intellectual journey of the research and writing process. Each topic engages with a distinct dimension of the written EE, from sentence-level precision to the RPPF's requirement for genuine intellectual reflection.

Skills & assessment. Lessons connect directly to EE Criterion D (Presentation), Criterion C (Critical thinking), and Criterion E (Engagement), with a focus on the qualities that examiners look for: confident scholarly voice, purposeful evidence use, and documented intellectual growth across the EE process.

Four lessons address the four essential dimensions of an English A: Literature EE: framing a focused research question with appropriate literary scope; applying subject-specific methods, theories, and close reading practices; satisfying the five EE assessment criteria as they operate in this subject; and avoiding the pitfalls — over-description, biographical drift, insufficient textual grounding — most common in Literature essays.

Skills & assessment. Each lesson makes explicit how the EE assessment criteria apply within English A: Literature conventions, with attention to the kind of literary analysis — comparative, thematic, stylistic — that the subject demands and examiners reward.

Four lessons address the four key dimensions of an English A: Language and Literature EE: constructing a focused research question that reflects the dual linguistic and literary scope of the subject; applying appropriate textual analysis methods and theories; meeting the five EE assessment criteria within this subject's conventions; and navigating the pitfalls specific to Language and Literature essays, including scope creep and the risk of treating the essay as either purely linguistic or purely literary.

Skills & assessment. Lessons make explicit how examiners assess Language and Literature EEs differently from Literature-only essays, with attention to the integration of language analysis and literary inquiry that defines strong work in this subject.

Three lessons address the core requirements of a Language B or ab initio EE: constructing a research question that reflects the linguistic and cultural scope of the subject; applying methods and sources appropriate to target-language inquiry; and satisfying the five EE assessment criteria within the particular expectations of language acquisition essays.

Skills & assessment. Lessons clarify the specific demands of writing an EE in a language being acquired — including the relationship between linguistic competence and analytical depth — and how the five assessment criteria are applied in this context.

Four lessons address the particular requirements of a Classical Languages EE: developing a focused research question within the disciplinary traditions of classical scholarship; applying appropriate philological and contextual methods; meeting the five EE assessment criteria in this subject; and avoiding pitfalls such as over-translation, insufficient argumentation, and inadequate engagement with secondary scholarship.

Skills & assessment. Lessons situate Classical Languages EE work within the conventions of classical scholarship — close textual analysis, use of critical editions and commentaries, and the construction of historically and linguistically grounded arguments — mapping these directly to the five assessment criteria.

Four lessons address the four essential dimensions of a Business Management EE: framing a focused research question with a genuine business problem at its centre; applying subject-appropriate analytical tools, models, and primary research methods; meeting the five EE assessment criteria within Business Management conventions; and avoiding common pitfalls such as over-reliance on a single source, descriptive case study writing, and scope that exceeds what 4,000 words can sustain.

Skills & assessment. Lessons are grounded in Business Management's expectation that EEs engage analytically with a specific organisation or business context, connecting theory and evidence in a way that responds directly to the research question.

Four lessons address the defining features of a strong Economics EE: constructing a research question that is genuinely economic in framing; applying appropriate microeconomic or macroeconomic theory and evidence; satisfying the five EE assessment criteria within Economics conventions; and avoiding the discipline-specific pitfalls — journalistic treatment, insufficient theoretical grounding, over-broad scope — that distinguish weaker essays.

Skills & assessment. Lessons make explicit how examiners assess the integration of theory and evidence in Economics EEs, and how students should select and use data sources, economic models, and real-world examples to sustain a coherent, analytical argument.

Three lessons address the core requirements of a Geography EE: constructing a research question situated within a specific geographical context; applying fieldwork, spatial, and secondary research methods appropriate to the subject; and satisfying the five EE assessment criteria within Geography's disciplinary expectations. The unit addresses the importance of place and scale as organising concepts in geographical inquiry.

Skills & assessment. Lessons draw out the specific expectations for Geography EEs — particularly around the use of primary fieldwork data, geographical theory, and the application of place-based reasoning — and map these to the five assessment criteria.

Four lessons address the specific demands of a Global Politics EE: developing a research question that is precisely scoped and politically analytical; applying global politics concepts, theories, and case-based evidence; satisfying the five EE assessment criteria within Global Politics conventions; and avoiding pitfalls such as journalistic argumentation, over-broad scope, and insufficient engagement with political theory.

Skills & assessment. Lessons make explicit the distinction between political analysis and political description, and how students should use theoretical frameworks — power, sovereignty, human rights, development — to construct and sustain an argumentative position across 4,000 words.

Four lessons address the defining requirements of a History EE: framing a focused historical research question with appropriate chronological and thematic scope; applying historical methods — source analysis, corroboration, contextualisation — and engaging critically with historiographical perspectives; meeting the five EE assessment criteria in History; and avoiding the most common pitfalls, including narrative drift, over-breadth, and uncritical source use.

Skills & assessment. Lessons foreground the distinction between historical narrative and historical argument, and make explicit how examiners assess the use of primary and secondary evidence, the handling of historiographical debate, and the construction of a coherent interpretive position.

Four lessons address the specific demands of a Philosophy EE: developing a focused, philosophically tractable research question; applying philosophical methods including conceptual analysis, logical argument construction, and engagement with canonical and contemporary philosophical texts; meeting the five EE assessment criteria within Philosophy's conventions; and avoiding pitfalls such as pseudo-philosophical speculation, insufficient engagement with philosophical literature, and question framing that is too broad or too empirical.

Skills & assessment. Lessons make explicit what constitutes genuine philosophical argument in an EE context, and how students should demonstrate philosophical reasoning — rather than merely expressing informed opinion — across all five assessment criteria.

Four lessons address the core requirements of a Psychology EE: framing a research question within psychology's empirical and theoretical traditions; applying appropriate qualitative or quantitative methods, psychological theories, and peer-reviewed research; satisfying the five EE assessment criteria within Psychology conventions; and navigating pitfalls including over-reliance on popular psychology sources, insufficient theoretical grounding, and ethical issues in data collection.

Skills & assessment. Lessons ground Psychology EE work in the discipline's expectations for evidence — peer-reviewed studies, named theories, and critical evaluation of methodology — and map these to all five EE assessment criteria.

Four lessons address the specific requirements of a Social and Cultural Anthropology EE: constructing a focused, analytically productive research question within anthropological traditions; applying ethnographic methods, anthropological theory, and appropriate secondary sources; meeting the five EE assessment criteria as they apply in this subject; and avoiding pitfalls such as descriptive ethnographic summary, insufficient theoretical engagement, and ethical issues in fieldwork-based inquiry.

Skills & assessment. Lessons make explicit the distinction between ethnographic description and anthropological analysis, and how students should situate their inquiry within broader theoretical frameworks — kinship, identity, ritual, power — to satisfy the assessment criteria.

Four lessons address the particular demands of a Digital Society EE: framing a research question that is conceptually grounded within the Digital Society framework; applying appropriate interdisciplinary methods and sources; satisfying the five EE assessment criteria in this subject; and avoiding scope problems, superficial treatment of technology, and the pitfalls of uncritical source selection that commonly affect essays in this area.

Skills & assessment. Lessons clarify how Digital Society's interdisciplinary nature affects EE methodology and argumentation, and how students should construct a coherent analytical position that draws on the subject's conceptual frameworks — sustainability, access, identity, ethics — across 4,000 words.

Four lessons address the defining requirements of a World Religions EE: constructing a focused research question within the academic study of religion; applying subject-appropriate methods, theoretical lenses, and primary and secondary sources; meeting the five EE assessment criteria in World Religions; and avoiding pitfalls including personal belief-based argument, insufficient scholarly engagement, and scope that extends beyond what the essay format can sustain.

Skills & assessment. Lessons make explicit the distinction between confessional writing and academic religious studies, and how students should use theological, anthropological, and historical lenses to construct evidence-based argument across all five assessment criteria.

Four lessons address the specific requirements of a Biology EE: framing a research question that is genuinely biological in focus and treatment; applying appropriate experimental or secondary research methods with attention to variables, controls, and data analysis; satisfying the five EE assessment criteria within Biology conventions; and avoiding pitfalls including questions that are too broad, methods that lack biological rigour, and the misrepresentation of sources.

Skills & assessment. Lessons connect Biology EE work to the discipline's expectations for evidence — controlled investigation, peer-reviewed literature, transparent methodology — and map these explicitly to all five assessment criteria, with attention to the distinctions between EE and Internal Assessment.

Four lessons address the core requirements of a Chemistry EE: developing a focused research question with appropriate chemical scope; designing and conducting experimental or secondary investigations with attention to variables, safety, and data analysis; satisfying the five EE assessment criteria within Chemistry's conventions; and avoiding pitfalls including over-ambitious experimental design, insufficient data analysis, and questions that stray outside chemistry's disciplinary boundaries.

Skills & assessment. Lessons clarify the specific expectations for Chemistry EEs — including the relationship between experimental rigour, theoretical grounding, and analytical depth — and map these to all five assessment criteria.

Four lessons address the specific requirements of a Physics EE: constructing a narrow, testable research question grounded in physical principles; applying experimental or theoretical methods with appropriate attention to uncertainty, data analysis, and physical theory; meeting the five EE assessment criteria in Physics; and avoiding the pitfalls — over-broad questions, insufficient error analysis, weak theoretical framework — that distinguish lower-scoring essays.

Skills & assessment. Lessons make explicit how Physics EEs are assessed differently from Internal Assessment reports, with attention to the integration of theoretical argument and experimental evidence that examiners expect across all five criteria.

Four lessons address the defining requirements of a Computer Science EE: framing a research question with genuine disciplinary specificity; applying appropriate computational, comparative, or analytical methods; satisfying the five EE assessment criteria within Computer Science conventions; and avoiding pitfalls such as overly descriptive treatment of technology, scope that cannot be addressed in 4,000 words, and inadequate engagement with academic computing literature.

Skills & assessment. Lessons clarify what constitutes substantive computer science inquiry in an EE — as distinct from a product or software development project — and map disciplinary expectations to all five assessment criteria.

Four lessons address the core requirements of a Design Technology EE: developing a focused research question that is genuinely design-technological in treatment; applying appropriate design analysis, testing, and evaluation methods; meeting the five EE assessment criteria within Design Technology conventions; and avoiding pitfalls including product description, insufficient analytical depth, and research questions that function more as design briefs than academic inquiries.

Skills & assessment. Lessons clarify the distinction between a Design Technology EE and a design project, and how students should apply design principles, technical knowledge, and evaluative reasoning to construct a persuasive, evidence-based argument across all five criteria.

Four lessons address the specific requirements of a Sports, Exercise and Health Science EE: framing a focused, scientifically tractable research question; applying appropriate experimental or review-based methods with attention to variables, ethical considerations, and data analysis; satisfying the five EE assessment criteria within SEHS conventions; and avoiding pitfalls including anecdotal evidence, insufficient scientific rigour, and research questions that lack specificity.

Skills & assessment. Lessons connect SEHS EE work to the subject's scientific foundations — physiological, psychological, and biomechanical — and map the expectations for evidence-based argument and transparent methodology to all five assessment criteria.

Four lessons address the particular demands of an Environmental Systems and Societies EE: constructing a research question that genuinely integrates environmental and societal dimensions; applying ESS-appropriate methods including systems thinking, fieldwork, and secondary research; meeting the five EE assessment criteria within ESS conventions; and avoiding pitfalls such as treating the essay as either purely scientific or purely social, and failing to integrate both dimensions analytically.

Skills & assessment. Lessons make explicit how ESS's interdisciplinary nature shapes EE methodology and argumentation, and how students should use systems concepts — flows, feedback, sustainability — to structure an evidence-based, integrative argument across all five criteria.

Four lessons address the defining requirements of a Mathematics EE: framing a focused research question that is genuinely mathematical — not merely numerically descriptive; applying appropriate mathematical tools, proof strategies, and modelling approaches; satisfying the five EE assessment criteria within Mathematics conventions; and avoiding pitfalls including insufficiently original treatment, poor attribution of mathematical results, and scope that cannot be addressed with the required depth in 4,000 words.

Skills & assessment. Lessons clarify what constitutes mathematical argument and investigation at EE level — as distinct from textbook problem-solving — and map the discipline's expectations for logical rigour, notation, and presentation to all five assessment criteria.

Four lessons address the specific requirements of a Dance EE: developing a focused research question with a distinctly dance-based treatment; applying methods appropriate to the academic study of dance — choreographic analysis, cultural and historical contextualisation, theoretical frameworks; meeting the five EE assessment criteria in Dance; and avoiding pitfalls including personal performance narrative, insufficient scholarly engagement, and descriptive rather than analytical writing.

Skills & assessment. Lessons make explicit what distinguishes analytical writing about dance from descriptive or appreciative commentary, and how students should draw on dance scholarship, notation, and theoretical literature to construct a persuasive argument across all five criteria.

Four lessons address the core requirements of a Film EE: framing a focused, answerable research question grounded in film studies; applying film-appropriate analytical methods — formal analysis, genre theory, auteur criticism, cultural contextualisation; meeting the five EE assessment criteria within Film conventions; and avoiding pitfalls including plot summary, journalistic reviewing, and insufficient engagement with film theory and scholarship.

Skills & assessment. Lessons clarify the distinction between film reviewing and film analysis, and how students should deploy theoretical frameworks and formal evidence from the films themselves to construct a sustained, original argument across all five assessment criteria.

Four lessons address the defining requirements of a Music EE: developing a focused research question that is analytically musical — not merely biographical or historical; applying methods appropriate to academic music study including score analysis, musicological frameworks, and engagement with music scholarship; satisfying the five EE assessment criteria in Music; and avoiding pitfalls such as descriptive programme notes, over-reliance on biography, and insufficient analytical engagement with the music itself.

Skills & assessment. Lessons make explicit how examiners distinguish music analysis from music appreciation in an EE, and how students should use musical evidence — harmonic, structural, textural — alongside secondary scholarship to sustain an original argument across all five criteria.

Four lessons address the particular requirements of a Theatre EE: constructing a focused research question grounded in theatrical analysis; applying theatre-appropriate methods — dramaturgical analysis, performance theory, historical and cultural contextualisation; meeting the five EE assessment criteria in Theatre; and avoiding pitfalls including impressionistic performance response, descriptive production review, and insufficient engagement with theatre theory and scholarship.

Skills & assessment. Lessons clarify the distinction between theatrical appreciation and theatrical analysis, and how students should draw on practitioner theory, dramatic text, and performance scholarship to construct a coherent analytical argument across all five criteria.

Four lessons address the specific requirements of a Visual Arts EE: framing a precise, analytically productive research question about visual arts practice, theory, or history; applying appropriate methods including formal analysis, contextualised interpretation, and engagement with art historical and critical scholarship; satisfying the five EE assessment criteria in Visual Arts; and avoiding pitfalls such as descriptive ekphrasis, over-biographical treatment, and insufficient critical engagement with the works themselves.

Skills & assessment. Lessons make explicit the distinction between art appreciation and art-historical argument, and how students should use formal, contextual, and theoretical evidence to construct a sustained, evidence-based position across all five assessment criteria.

Four lessons address the distinctive requirements of the World Studies interdisciplinary EE: constructing a research question that genuinely integrates knowledge and methods from two DP subjects; applying the five official World Studies frameworks and their global themes; satisfying the five EE assessment criteria as they apply to interdisciplinary essays; and avoiding the specific pitfalls of this option — parallel rather than integrated treatment of the two disciplines, and global issues addressed at too general a scale.

Skills & assessment. Lessons make explicit what interdisciplinary integration means in practice — how concepts, methods, and evidence from two subjects must be synthesised, not merely juxtaposed — and map these expectations to all five assessment criteria, with particular attention to the additional integration criterion that distinguishes World Studies EE assessment.