Ultimate EPQ thread

Ok thank you for your response.
In regards to the presentation, what is it supposed to be about - is it actually presenting the findings of the essay, or is it the methods used to research?
I was also wondering whether the supervisors judge the essay in relationto particular boundaries or assessment criteria? (e.g: ao1, ao2 etc).

Thanks again

So for the record of initial planning can I simply put in a timeline of what I found/done on "Your first ideas of research and development of your project"

For example
development
16/3/12- Created a spider diagram based on antibiotic resistances, this helped me enable me to identify topics that I can write and research about it bla bla bla...*insert spider diagram*.

Did we have to be that specific? i.e:spider diagram etc. I just noted what I intended to research and how (books, journals etc) That's all the title says: "Your ideas for research and development of your project"

Have people been this specific on the Planning Review and Project Reviews also????

Okay so if your doing AQA then its out of 50.

10 marks for A01 - Manage, Identify, design, plan, and carry out a project, applying a range of skills, strategies and methods to achieve objectives.

10 marks for -AO2 Use Resources, Research, critically select, organise and use information, and select and use a range of resources. Analyse data, apply it relevantly and demonstrate understanding of any links, connections and complexities of the topic.

20 marks for - AO3 Develop and Realise, Select and use a range of skills, including, where appropriate, new technologies and problem solving, to take decisions critically and achieve planned outcomes.

10 marks for - AO4 ReviewEvaluate all aspects of the extended project, including how outcomes relate to stated objectives and own learning and performance. Select and use a range of communication skills and media, in an appropriate format, to present evidence of project outcomes and conclusions.


As you can see you only get 40% of the marks from the actual project.
What you need to make sure is excellent is your log book and evaluation.

So in your evaluation make sure you say
-you may want to add an extra bit of evaluation at the end of the project, separate from the log book (this is what i did)
-what you could have done better and why didn't you
-limitations you faced, such as access to journals
-what went well
-did you come to a conclusion
-how accurate was the information you used
-what areas did you NOT include that may have been relevant and why (you can pick up lots of evaluation marks for this)

Using your log book:
-make sure you date everything (make it up if needed )
-the conclusion part of the evaluation is rather like an abstract. Which should summarise your findings. This is not an evaluation, but you might like to touch on aspects like limitations of data/information collection.
-Keep in neat and tidy if you can

Other key points
-CHANGE YOUR TITLE (you can gain lots of marks by just changing your title and saying why in your evaluation and this shows development of your question)
- If you have done a research project make sure you include an abstract at the begging.
-Referencing is verryyyyy important (to avoid plagiarism). The best way to reference work is the Harvard method unless its research orientated then you might like to use something like the American Psychological version of referencing.


If you need any more help just ask
-make sure your bibliography is up to date-as it sometimes checked

Hi im struggling on the planning review section in my logbook im not exactly sure what they are asking me to talk about here. Am I supposed to list the things I plan to research :s . The question is "outline the next steps in your planned research/initial development"

Yeah in this bit you just list what avenues of research you expect to do in the near future. You can even say things like I have looked at this which led me to this and I will now look at.....
Also it is a good place to write general sources of info, so say I will go to the library, look online or go to a uni library etc etc
You may want to suggest how you think your title is developing as you continue to research and discover new information - and if you may need to alter your title you could briefly mention this. However this section is, as you say, mostly for what you PLAN to do, look up and where you will go to do so

If you have any more questions, just ask. Or if its complex/want me to look at anything just PM me

Hope this helps!

What are you looking to do after your A Levels?
If you're going to uni then I'd do it on something that'll relate to the course you want to do because you could mention it in your personal statement & it'll probably boost your application (because it'll show that you're interested in the subject etc.)
If you're not going to uni then do it on whatever you find interesting.
Maybe have a brain storming session & do a mind map of ideas, read around on the internet on some topics and then hopefully you'll get closer to narrowing down what you want to write about

i have to start my extended project in a few days time therefore i have have to decide what topic to chose asap but i am completly blank so i was thinking if anyonee would recommend anny topics i can do either as the products and 1000 words or as the 5000 words essay,, help wiil be much appreciated


at the moment i am taking AS subjects: maths, biology, chemistry and psychology and i want to do pharmacy further on so it would more useful if i can get topics related to these area, thanks again