MYP students present long-awaited PP Exhibition 2023
The personal project is an independent nine-month project that all IB Middle Years Program Grade 10 students embark upon that marks the end of their MYP. It is first introduced to students at the end of Grade 9 to provide them with the opportunity to begin their project during their summer vacation.
The personal project consists of a product of their own initiative and a 15-page report. The report is the only component that is assessed, but it reflects both the process and the product and is evidenced-based. The personal project gives students the opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have acquired over the five-year IB MYP. They start with two goals: what they want to learn and what they want to create.
All students are assigned a supervisor who will help guide them along the way, but it is entirely self-managed, as it is not attached to any one classroom or subject. The personal project helps prepare students for the IB Diploma Programme, as it is based on self-directed inquiry. If they choose the right project for them, it provides the opportunity to share with others something that is of great interest to them as an individual.
This year we had 97 students who participated with a range of products. Grade 10 student, Karem Hamden, researched the idea of developing a diagnostic test to detect both COVID-19 and MERS simultaneously. Another student, Emils Ekers, set out to understand the aerodynamics behind how an aircraft flies, and the process behind building an aircraft. Other projects included learning new pottery glazing techniques, creative recipes depicting a student’s own culture, anxiety and depression booklets for teenagers, and health and fitness. There was such a wide variety of interesting topics covered and too many to list them all here
They will be graded initially by teachers, standardized in groups and marked externally by the International Baccalaureate. A certificate will be issued with an IB grade out of 7 that shows their completion of the Middle Years Program. Next for the students will be the IB Diploma.
