A guide for the IB MYP Personal Project

A structure geared toward young people, the Middle Years Programme aims to establish tangible links between the classroom and the outside world. So ensuring them success in their chosen academic fields and professions. The MYP seeks to create engaged learners and globally conscious young people who can sympathize with others and pursue meaningful lives. The curriculum gives students the freedom to research a wide range of topics and concepts that are important locally, nationally, and internationally for their myp personal project. Young individuals who are critical, creative, and reflective thinkers are the end outcome.

The MYP Curriculum framework consists of the following 8 subject groups:

1. Language Acquisition
2. Language and Literature
3. Individuals and Societies
4. Sciences
5. Mathematics
6. Arts
7. Physical and Health Education
8. Design

Each topic group demands at least 50 hours of teaching time throughout each of the MYP’s five academic years. Students in years 4 and 5 can choose to take courses from six of the eight subject categories, but only within specific parameters. Students in the MYP also participate in at least one jointly planned “interdisciplinary unit” that involves at least two subject groups every year. This course was developed with the intention of helping the students comprehend and combine bodies of knowledge from two or more topic areas.

Last but not least, the MYP mandates that students complete a long-term project in which they must select a topic to learn about, assess their prior knowledge, determine what they will need to know to finish the project, and develop a proposal or set of requirements for finishing it. Students are well-prepared for continued education after completing the MYP, including national and international programmes of study for 16–19-year-olds.

Here’s a guide to writing your MYP Personal Project:

Firstly, the Personal Project consists of three components: 

• Focus on a topic that leads towards a product or an outcome
• A process journal
• A report

Getting Started:

1. Document the process in your Process Journal:

Your process journal will consist of all your learnings throughout the projects. Your journal can be in the form of a word document, a blog, a video or any format that you like. 

• It is a place to record your initial thoughts, brainstorming, questions that you may have and developments.
• It is also a place where you record your interactions with your teachers, supervisors or external contributors for instance.
• You should also be able to reflect on your learning and evaluate the work that you have completed.
• You should maintain all the sources that you chose to use and annotate to maintain a bibliography.
• Make sure that you avoid cramming this part up at the last minute – do not write your Process Journal after the process itself has been completed.
• Sometimes, the idea of a process journal is confused with a diary. A process journal is not a diary as they do not expect you to have detailed writings about what was done. You need to vary without format thus making it interesting to see as well as giving them the gist of what they really need to know.

Keep in mind that you have to show your supervisor evidence of the process you documented:

• Plan out your template for your process journal
• Date every entry
• Make at least one entry per week. Entries can include:
  • Brainstorming and thinking maps
  • Notes and charts
  • Annotated research – have a bibliography of all the sources
• Pictures and sketches
• Self and peer assessment
  • Explaining how research was used in the project to attain your goal
  • All the challenges and difficulties you faces
  • Questions that you asked your supervisor and the responses you got

2. Choose a supervisor:

You may need some assistance while you do your personal project. Hence, identify a faculty who you think will guide you through your project from the beginning till the end. You will need to meet them at least once a month. It is also important to pick a teacher that you are comfortable with since you will need to go to them for anything regarding your project. 

3. Choose your project topic:

Choosing a topic can be a difficult feat. But here are some questions to guide you and nudge you in the right direction of picking a topic for your MYP personal project:

• What is something that you have always yearned to learn but you didn’t really have the opportunity to?
• What sort of problems do you wish to solve in our community?
• What could you innovate to improve the quality of life and how?

Also Read – Let’s Explore the IB Middle Years Programme (IBMYP)

4. Select your Global Context:

You can gain a deeper grasp of a subject and how it relates to the real world by conducting research on it in the context of the entire world. As you construct your MYP personal project, the questions you ask will be influenced by the global setting you have chosen. You can better explain why your project is important by using the larger context. There are 6 contexts you can choose from:

• Identities and Relationships: Who am I? Who are we?

The study of identity, beliefs, and values, as well as the physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being of each individual student, as well as the nature of human interactions with families, friends, communities, and cultures, will be covered in class. 

• Orientation in Time and Space: What is the meaning of “where” and when”?

Investigate personal histories, residences, and travels; historical turning points; discoveries; human adventures and migrations; and the connections and interdependence of people and civilizations from a personal, local, and global perspective. 

• Personal and Cultural Expression: What is the nature and purpose of creative expression?

Examine the methods in which we experience and communicate concepts, emotions, nature, culture, beliefs, and values; how we extend and appreciate our creativity; and how we value the beautiful.

• Scientific and Technical Innovation: How do we understand the world in which we live?

Learn about the laws of nature, how people interact with it, how they use scientific knowledge, how breakthroughs in science and technology affect communities and the environment, how environments affect human activities, and how people modify their surroundings to suit their requirements. 

• Globalization and Sustainability: How is everything connected?

Investigate how human-made systems and societies are interconnected, how local experiences influence global processes, the opportunities and challenges presented by global interconnection, and the effects of decision-making on people and the environment. 

• Fairness and Development: What are the consequences of our common humanity?

Examine rights and obligations, community relationships, sharing limited resources with other people and living things, equal opportunity access, and peace and conflict resolution.

5. Develop your goal and determine your product and outcome:

Create a goal that you can achieve but that also appropriately tests your abilities in terms of knowledge, skills, or approaches. Verify that you can accomplish your goal given the time and resources at your disposal. With the help of your supervisor, make sure your goal is reasonable and neither too simple nor too complex. 

6. Develop your process:

Your expertise will affect your work as you start your project. But throughout your assignment, you must provide proof of fresh learning. For the undertaking, prior knowledge alone cannot give enough depth or breadth of research. As a result, research will be an essential step in the development of your idea. 

Depending on the nature of your project, the number and kind of resources will change; nonetheless, in order to attain the best levels of success through investigation, you must choose a range of sources and a diversity of source kinds. ATL skills, particularly information and media literacy abilities, should be strengthened to improve your capacity to assess the reliability of sources.

7. Reflect:

• For your project to receive the maximum possible grade on the IB Rubrics, you must continuously reflect on your learning.
• You must record these reflections in your process journal.
• Topics for reflection on include:
  • Your growth in IB Approaches to Learning abilities (see below and ATLs in appendix). Which ATL competencies constituted your areas of strength before the Personal Project started? What skills did you develop from working on your individual project?

The ATL skills include:

1. Self Management
2. Collaboration
3. Communication
4. Information Literacy
5. Thinking

That’s the end of the blog! Your determination to get a good grade is evident if you’ve made it till the end. All the best for your MYP personal project!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: What is the IB MYP Personal Project?

A: The IB MYP Personal Project is a student-centered project that allows students to explore their interests and passions, and develop their creativity, critical thinking, and communication skills. It is a culminating project of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) and is completed in the final year of the programme.

Q2: What are the requirements of the IB MYP Personal Project?

A: The IB MYP Personal Project requires students to choose a topic, create a product or outcome, and document their learning process in a reflective report. The project must also demonstrate an understanding of the MYP global context and must be assessed by a supervisor and external examiner.

Q3: What are some examples of IB MYP Personal Projects?

A: Some examples of IB MYP Personal Projects include writing a novel, creating a website, designing a fashion collection, organizing a charity event, and building a robot. The project can be in any area of interest and should be challenging and meaningful to the student.

Q4: How does the IB MYP Personal Project prepare students for the future?

A: The IB MYP Personal Project prepares students for the future by developing their independent learning skills, research skills, time management, and self-reflection. It also encourages them to pursue their passions and interests, and to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world problems.

Q5: What are some tips for success in the IB MYP Personal Project?

A: Some tips for success in the IB MYP Personal Project include choosing a topic that is personally meaningful and challenging, creating a realistic timeline, seeking feedback and support from supervisors and peers, and documenting the learning process thoroughly.