If you are a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know I’m all about finding systems and structures to make challenging things less challenging. Or, to put it more simply, I like to do things the easy way. To that end, I want to show you how to make a few tweaks to your average [...]

The site is getting over 200,000 views a year now! That triples the number of readers I had just a year ago. To make it easier for all of you to use, I thought I should create a central resource page with all of the important stuff on it. If you’re looking for something really useful, it’s [...]

Ask questions when you don’t understand something and when you do. All of my classes are about questioning what we know, how we know it and how we change (and our actions change) as a result of knowing. So if I introduce something in class that you don’t get, stop me. If someone else offers [...]

Title page (with your Research Question) Acknowledgements Contents page Executive summary Introduction (approx. 200 words) Research Question Procedure or Method (approx. 200 words) Main Findings and results (approx. 200 words) –simply a summary of your findings Analysis and discussion (approx. 1000 words) This is where you J.A.M. (just like in the IB Business Extended Essay) [...]

I have found that the biggest challenge my students are having, in terms of scoring the top marks in the Business IA, is related to their use of analytical tools. In general, you have a Research Question and you’re trying to arrive at your answer. A very common mistake is that students do a lot [...]

This is your lucky day. You are finally going to find out the secret time-management weapon which has only been known to a few wildly successful students. Until now. (WARNING: Do not read this unless you are prepared for incredible academic success! However, if ready to have your life completely changed, read on.) I have [...]

Sometimes (normally in 8-mark questions) you will be asked to evaluate. This is about going beyond the insights you have made from doing your analysis (your Dr Tests). But let’s make sure you are clear on the difference between analysis and evaluation. By analyzing in Business we mean giving your Defi­ni­tions, Expla­na­tions, Exam­ples and Development [...]

Good note taking is essential for success as a student (in High School and University all the more). And yet most people don’t know how to do this well. With this in mind, here is some guidance for you, to help you take more effective notes. You are responsible for everything we cover, whether it’s [...]

Knowing how to cite your sources properly can get confusing. Here (with a lot of help from Mr Durbin) is a simplified guide for how to cite your various types of sources according to the new MLA format (2011). Of course, you can always use EasyBib.com However I think that using this guide you might [...]

Getting started with your Extended Essay is a major challenge. You have probably never written anything this long before. So you might find yourself staring at a blank page, wondering how exactly should you begin?I supervise Economics and Business Extended Essays (EE’s) and my students generally do very well. So I thought I’d share with [...]