2 Personal Project Guidelines for MYP students IB World School 049713
STEP 3. Define a clear goal => State exactly in your process journal what you want to create for your personal project and how this
is based on your personal interest. Explain why you want to achieve something, how and when. What makes your project
personal? (interests, ideas or perhaps experiences?)
Source: Pictures from the training video:’How to write a goal’ ([Link])
STEP 4. Define a global context
Select one global context from the six global contexts below that best applies to your project:
• Identities and relationships
• Orientation in space and time
• Personal and cultural expression
• Scientific and technical innovation
• Globalization and sustainability
• Fairness and development.
Then decide on an area of exploration within this global context.
Explain in your process journal how the global context and area of exploration you have chosen can help you answer the following
questions:
•What do I want to achieve through my project?
•What do I want others to understand through my work?
•What impact do I want my project to have?
•How can a specific context give greater purpose to my project?
See attachment 2: ‘Defining a global context’
Example:
3 Personal Project Guidelines for MYP students IB World School 049713
Source: Pictures taken from the presentation created by [Link] ([Link])
STEP 5. Clarify Your Goal => clarify your initial goal and document this in the your process journal.
See attachment 3: ‘Clarifying your goal’
STEP 6: Identify prior-learning and subject-specific knowledge
In your process journal identify how much you already know, recall what you have learned in your MYP subjects and how this will
help you achieve your personal project goal.
4 Personal Project Guidelines for MYP students IB World School 049713
STEP 7: Start a research process and document the sources you have found
Use the research model below which you will include in your process journal. Make sure you have 1 – 3 primary sources and 4 – 8
secondary sources.
See attachment 4
Remember that all the sources should be documented in your process journal. Analyze the attached examples. Annotate
how you can apply these sources to your product/outcome.
STEP 8. Evaluate each source:
Authority – Who is responsible for presenting this information?
•Who has written or provided this information and can you check their qualifications?
•Is the information from an ‘expert’ in this field?
Accuracy – Is the information accurate, can it be proven and verified?
•Is the information correct?
•Can you check the accuracy of information through links, footnotes and bibliography?
Objectivity – Is the information based on facts, things you can observe or based more on opinions and emotions? Is it from just
one point-of-view?
•Is there personal bias?
•Can you verify that facts, statistics and links to sources are accurate and truthful?
Currency – How old is the information and is this important?
•Has the author(s) provided a date for when the information was written?
•Has the information been revised or updated, and if so, when?
Ensure you document your source evaluation in your process journal.
See attachment 5: ‘Evaluating your sources’
At the end of the phase of investigation, reflect on how your research skills have developed over the duration of the project. Have
you shared your research skills to help your peers as they progressed through their projects too? How and in what circumstances?
OBJECTIVE B: Planning
STEP 1: Develop criteria for your product/outcome
Develop a set of specifications for your product/outcome. Ask yourself the following questions:
•What form will my project take on?
•What is the purpose of my project?
•How will I know when I have achieved my goal?
5 Personal Project Guidelines for MYP students IB World School 049713
•How can I judge the quality of my product/outcome?
You need to create a minimum of five rigorous specifications for your criteria.
See attachment 6: ‘Designing criteria’
Present your specifications to your supervisor for approval. Write both the draft form and the final copy in your process journal.
STEP 2: Develop a plan and development process
Create a timeline with the following sections:
•due dates for particular phases of the Personal Project
•meetings with supervisor
•stages for the completion of your product/outcome
•how you will manage your time to complete your personal project
•draft of report
•final copy of report
•submission of whole personal project – process journal, report and product/outcome.
In your process journal constantly document your progress. See attachment 7: ‘Timeline’
STEP 3: Demonstrate self-management skills
As you create your product constantly document your self-management skills in your process journal. Reflect also on your ability
to move your project forward and putting your goal into action (which will be the main aspect in the next stage of your PP -
‘Taking action’).
Here are the skills that you should develop as you create your ‘Personal Project’:
Organisational skills:
•Meet deadlines
•Stick to your goal
•Maintain your process journal with regular updates
•Select and use technology effectively and productively
Affective skills:
•Mindfulness – practise strategies to overcome distractions and maintain mental focus
•Perseverance – demonstrate persistence and perseverance
•Self-motivation – practise analysing and attributing causes for failure and practise positive thinking
Reflection skills:
•Develop new skills, techniques and strategies for effective learning
•Keep a journal to record reflections
•Identify strengths and weaknesses of personal learning strategies (self-assessment)
See attachment 8: ‘ATL skills’
*In your process journal explain how you have overcome some of the self-management difficulties and how you can achieve
selfmanagement success.
OBJECTIVE C: Taking action
STEP 1: Create a product/outcome in response to the goal, context and criteria
In this part of your personal project you put your goal (specified in your ‘investigetion section’ and planned in your ‘planning’
section) into action. Remember to constantly document the creation of your product/outcome in your process journal. Take
regular photographs and annotate these in your process journal.
STEP 2: Demonstrate thinking skills
As you progress through creating your product/outcome you need to document your thinking skills. Focus on the following:
•Problems you encountered and how you critically and creatively solved these problems
6 Personal Project Guidelines for MYP students IB World School 049713
•How you have transferred and applied information from the documented primary and secondary sources to make decisions
when creating your product/outcome
•Skills you developed as you created your product/outcome
•How your prior-learning informed the creation of your product/outcome
•How your knowledge and skills have grown throughout the creation of your product/outcome
•How have you planned improvements
STEP 3: Demonstrate communication and social skills
As you progress through creating your product/outcome you need to document your communication and social skills. Focus on the
following:
•Communication with experts and how their advice informed the creation of your product/outcome (provide evidence for this)
•Communication with your supervisor and how their feedback informed the completion of your Personal Project (make sure you
save all emails and record Skype sessions, etc.)
•How you have got acquainted with a variety of sources for information on your personal project
•How you have transferred information given through communication to your product/outcome
•How you have made inferences and drawn conclusions.
See attachment 9: ‘Process Journal Exemplar – Taking Action’
OBJECTIVE D: Reflecting
STEP 1: Evaluate the quality of the product/outcome against their criteria
In order to evaluate the quality of the product go back to your specifications and criteria for success rubric that you created in your
‘planning’ part of the PP. In your process journal highlight what you think your product/outcome has achieved against the
specifications you have set. Justify your reasoning. If you have not achieved the top achievement levels you need to justify why and
explain how you can improve your product/outcome.
STEP 2: Reflect on how completing the personal project has extended your knowledge and understanding of the topic and the
global context
In your process journal answer in detail the following questions:
• How has completing the personal project extended your knowledge and understanding of the topic of your product/outcome?
• How has completing the personal project extended your knowledge and understanding of the global context you have chosen?
STEP 3: Reflect on development as a learner
Choose at least 2 of the learner profile attributes and reflect on how you have developed the attributes of the learner profiles
of your choice as you have progressed through the personal project. See attachment 10: ‘Process Journal Exemplar – IB
Learner Attributes’
See attachment 11: ‘IB Learner Profile’
V. Writing your personal project report
STEP 1: Start with a project report checklist
You have created your product/outcome and documented each step of the personal project. Now, you need to transfer this
information to your personal project report. This is a formal piece of writing (1500 words to 3500 words) that provides a report on
the completion of your personal project.
Start with a project report checklist and make sure that while writing a report you address each item given:
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Criteria A: Investigating
Define a clear goal and context In my report:
for the project, based on __ I give the precise meaning of the goal of my project; I explain “what I wanted to achieve; when, where, how and why I
personal interests wanted to achieve it”.
__ I define the global context that applies best to my project and explain its connection.
__ I describe what makes my project personal: the experiences, interest and ideas that make it important to me.
__ If I made changes to my goal during the project, I explain the changes and why I made them.
Identify prior learning and In my report:
subject-specific knowledge __ I identify what I already knew about this topic/project and the sources of my knowledge.
relevant to the project __ I identify what I learned in MYP subject before the project started, and how this was helpful.
Demonstrate research skills In my report:
__ I outline the research skills I had when I started the project.
__ I discuss the research skills I developed through the project.
__ I explain how I may have shared my research skills to help peers who needed more practice.
Criteria B: Planning
Develop criteria for the In my report:
product/outcome __ I refer to the criteria I designed to evaluate the project product/outcome.
__ If I made changes to my criteria during the project, I explain the changes and why I made them.
Plan and record the In my report:
development process of the __ I provide evidence of my planning through timelines, milestones or other tools/strategies.
project __ I present a record of how the project progressed from start to finish.
Demonstrate self-management In my report:
skills __ I outline the self-management skills I had when I started the project.
__ I discuss the self-management skills I developed through the project.
__ I explain how I may have shared my self-management skills to help peers who needed more practice.
Criteria C: Taking action
Create a product/outcome in In my report:
response to the goal, context __ I discuss the product/outcome as the result of the process undertaken during the project.
and criteria __ I check that I have included evidence of my product to be submitted with my report.
Demonstrate thinking skills In my report:
__ I outline thinking skills that I had when I started the project.
__ I discuss thinking skills I developed through the project.
__ I explain how I may have shared my thinking skills to help peers who needed more practice.
Demonstrate communication In my report:
and social skills __ I outline the communication and social skills I had when I started the project.
__ I discuss the communication and social skills I developed through the project.
__ I explain how I may have shared my communication and social skills to help peers who needed more practice.
Criteria D: Reflecting
Evaluate the quality of the In my report:
product/outcome against their __ I evaluate the product/outcome against the criteria I designed.
criteria __ I identify the strengths, weaknesses and possible improvements of the product/outcome.
Reflect on how completing the In my report:
project has extended their __ I identify challenges and the solutions I developed to meet them.
knowledge and understanding __ I demonstrate a deeper knowledge and understanding of my topic and the identified global context.
__ I base my reflection on evidence, including my process journal.
of the topic and global context
Reflect on their development as In my report:
IB learners through the project __ I identify how I have developed as a learner (using the IB learner profile as appropriate).
__ I discuss my strengths and weaknesses in completing the project.
__ I summarize the impact the project could have on my future learning.
See attachment 12: ‘Personal Project Report Exemplar’
See attachment 13: ‘Personal Project Assessment Criteria’
8 Personal Project Guidelines for MYP students IB World School 049713
STEP 2: Provide a bibliography and an appendix
Ensure you provide a bibliography and an appendix. See attachment 14: ‘Documenting sources’
STEP 3: Email your report to your personal project supervisor and make necessary improvements according to their feedback
Email your report to your personal project supervisor for their feedback. When they have responded with feedback you need to
update your report timely and accurately.
VI. Submission and Exhibition
STEP 1: Submit all the Pesonal Project components to the MYP Coordinator
Submit the following to the MYP Coordinator’s office:
•Report (with a bibliograpy and appendices=carefully selected evidence from your process journal to document your
achievement in each strand of the criteria => a maximum of 10 individual extracts to represent the key developments, with a
maximum total of
10 A4 pages. Also evidence of the product must be provided in the appendices of the report. )
•Whole Process Journal
•Academic honesty form, signed by yourself and your supervisor
•Product or evidence of outcome
The above components should be also e-mailed to the MYP Coordinator – Mrs Beata Urbaniak at: [Link]@[Link]
STEP 2: Prepare an Exibition of your product/outcome
Get ready and be prepared for the exhibition.
See attachment 15: ‘Photos from various Personal Project Exhibitions’
See attachment 16: ‘List of PPTopics from different schools’
References:
MYP: From principles into practice, 2014
Projects subject guide, 2014
Further guidance for MYP projects, 2015
OCC Support Materials for PP Teachers
Ready……. Steady…….. Go……. !
Attachments:
1. ‘MYP Personal Project’ brief
2. ‘Defining a global context’
3. ‘Clarifying your goal’ (in the text)
4. ‘Starting a research process’ (in the text)
5. ‘Evaluating your sources’
6. ‘Designing criteria’
7. ‘Sample Timeline’
8. ‘Personal Project ATL skills’
9. ‘Process Journal Exemplar – Taking Action’
10. ‘Process Journal Exemplar – IB Learner Attributes’
11. ‘IB Learner Profile’
12. ‘Personal Project Report Exemplar’
9 Personal Project Guidelines for MYP students IB World School 049713
13. ‘Personal Project Assessment Criteria’
14. ‘Documenting sources’
15. ‘Photos from various Personal Project Exhibitions’
16. ‘List of PP Topics from different schools’ (in the text)
17. ‘Tips how to achieve the highest grades’
10 Personal Project Guidelines for MYP students IB World School 049713