As part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) continuum, the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IB MYP) is a global educational curriculum for 11 to 16 years-old students. The Middle Year Program creates a strong foundation for students as they progress through the two-year IB Diploma Program. Students should participate in student-centered research throughout eight topic groups in the Middle Year Program. There are six advantages of the IB MYP discussed in this article.
The IB offers eAssessments that lead to the IB MYP certificate for students seeking a formal qualification at the end of Year 5. Students must complete on-screen tests in Language and Literature, Individuals and Society, Sciences, Mathematics, and Interdisciplinary Learning to acquire the MYP certificate. They should also complete an ePortfolio in Language Acquisition as well as one of the Arts, Design, or Physical and Health Education. In the end, they must complete a moderated personal project as well as school-based service as action requirements (community service). In this article, we will elaborate more on MYP Personal Project.
In IB Middle Years Programme Personal Projects, students should select an academic or non-academic topic, which they must complete over the course of the school year. Students should determine what they want to learn about and what they already know and need to learn to complete the project; They need to write a project proposal, plan, and record project developments. Students should make decisions and solve problems, communicate with their faculty advisor and others, and create and reflect on their product’s outcomes and learning.
1. Personal Project Aims
The MYP personal project encourages students to develop the IB learner profile qualities. It provides them with an essential opportunity to practice approaches to learning (ATL) skills developed through the MYP and strengthens their development as independent, active learners. Students can link their project to one of the global contexts if they desire, but it is not required. To be qualified for IB MYP course results and the IB MYP certificate, MYP year 5 students need to complete an externally moderated personal project.
The aims of IB Middle Years Programme Personal Projects are to help students to:
- Participate in a long-term, self-sufficient inquiry
- Lead to creative new ideas and develop better understandings through in-depth investigation
- Demonstrate the skills and knowledge needed to finish a project over an extended period
- Communicate effectively in different situations
- Demonstrate responsible action through learning
- Set goals and evaluate outcomes against them
- Value the learning process and take pride in their achievements.
2. Personal Project Components
Students address personal project objectives through:
- The process they are following
- The product or outcome they are creating
- The learning they are going through
- The report or presentation explaining what they have done and learned through the project
Students should go through a process for their personal projects. By specifying a product goal or outcome, as well as a learning goal, students record their thoughts, research procedure, and progress of their initial ideas. Filmmaking is an example of a product. Completing a course of study to learn a new skill or performing a concert are two examples of outcomes. Learning goals may derive from a deepening understanding of something the student has studied in discipline-specific studies or can come from something utterly unrelated to academic studies. Also, students should keep a record of their project work in the process journal. This learning strategy helps students record and learn from their work and promotes academic honesty. The students’ journals represent an evolving record of plans, ideas, and accomplishments. Extracts from the journal may be submitted as part of the report or presentation at the conclusion of the project.
3. Personal Project Assessment Criteria
There are three assessment criteria for students’ personal projects. Each criterion includes eight distinct achievement levels from 1 to 8. The achievement levels are separated into four bands, with their own set of qualifiers that teachers use to evaluate the students’ works.
- Criterion A: Planning
After students started a learning goal for the project and explained how a personal interest led to that goal, they should select an intended product/outcome and develop appropriate success criteria. Then, they should present a clear, comprehensive plan for attaining the product/outcome and the corresponding success criteria.
- Criterion B: Applying skills
Students explain how ATL skill(s) applied to the personal projects help them achieve their learning goal and product/ outcome.
- Criterion C: Reflecting
Students should explain the effects of the personal project on themselves and their learning. Also, students should evaluate the product/outcome based on their success criteria.
4. The External Moderation of the Personal Projects
All students should be assigned personal project supervisors who will guide them and give them feedback during the whole process. Supervisors evaluate projects against stated criteria, and schools conduct internal standardization to ensure that the criteria and student achievement are understood consistently.
All MYP schools in Year 5 must have their personal project marks externally validated. The IB moderates a sample of personal projects from each school throughout each examination session, revising grades as needed to guarantee the implementation of strong and attentive international standards.