The Personal Project (PP) is a challenging student-directed venture completed during the final year of the MYP. The project provides an excellent opportunity for you to produce a truly special and creative work to demonstrate how your learning has impacted on your attitudes and behavior.
The personal nature of the project is important; the project should be based around a topic that motivates and interests YOU.
You will have your own supervisor, however, the supervisor’s role is to: provide guidance, ensure the work is authentic and assess it.
The personal nature of the project is important; the project should be based around a topic that motivates and interests YOU.
You will have your own supervisor, however, the supervisor’s role is to: provide guidance, ensure the work is authentic and assess it.
The process can be assisted by external specialists in the community, who can model good practice and facilitate access to research and evidence, but the project cannot be assessed by this person.
How long will the project take?
The process of completing the Personal Project will take no less than 25 hours and this will include meetings with supervisors, research and reporting. The PP aims to develop independent, life-long learners, but sometimes students can find the independence and organizational skills required challenging. Ensure that you familiarize yourself with the expectations of the student, and plan accordingly.
What is the aim of the project?
As written in The IB Projects Guide, “The inquiry process in MYP projects involves students in a wide range of activities to extend their knowledge and understanding and to develop their skills and attitudes." These student-planned learning activities include:
"As students become involved in the self-initiated and self-directed learning process, they will find it easier to construct in-depth knowledge on their topic as well as to develop an understanding of themselves as learners.” (IB Project Guide, 2014.)
The project also requires you to consider and explore your humanity and responsibility to demonstrate guardianship of the planet. As such, you must choose one of the Global Contexts to establish the relevance of your inquiry.
In addition, you must demonstrate clearly how you have met the Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills when presenting and reporting on your project. These are affective skills that complement your personal learning and include – mindfulness, perseverance, emotional management, self-motivation and resilience to name a few.
The Personal Project is a challenging experience for all MYP 5 students. However, it is a unique opportunity for you to focus your academic interests in a meaningful way that showcases your passion for learning.
- deciding what you want to learn about,
- identifying what you already know,
- discovering what you will need to know to complete the project,
- creating proposals or criteria for your project,
- planning your time and materials,
- recording developments of the project,
- making decisions,
- developing understandings and solving problems,
- communicating with your supervisor and others,
- creating a product or developing an outcome,
- evaluating the product/outcome,
- reflecting on your project and your learning
"As students become involved in the self-initiated and self-directed learning process, they will find it easier to construct in-depth knowledge on their topic as well as to develop an understanding of themselves as learners.” (IB Project Guide, 2014.)
The project also requires you to consider and explore your humanity and responsibility to demonstrate guardianship of the planet. As such, you must choose one of the Global Contexts to establish the relevance of your inquiry.
In addition, you must demonstrate clearly how you have met the Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills when presenting and reporting on your project. These are affective skills that complement your personal learning and include – mindfulness, perseverance, emotional management, self-motivation and resilience to name a few.
The Personal Project is a challenging experience for all MYP 5 students. However, it is a unique opportunity for you to focus your academic interests in a meaningful way that showcases your passion for learning.