With the beginning of the new school year come new challenges and for this year’s seniors it’s writing and preparing for multiple IA’s alongside studying for finals and college applications. During this time the most important thing is to stay collected and organized in order to finish everything before deadlines come. That’s why in this month’s issue we are bringing you some useful IA tips and tricks to help you tackle IAs efficiently and thoroughly.
1. Start early
You’ve probably heard your teachers say this a thousand times, but starting early isn’t just about avoiding procrastination and the guilt it causes you to feel, it also gives you room to fail. You never know what might happen – maybe your experiment doesn’t work, your data disappears or your teacher notices that a big part of your research doesn’t make sense. If you start early, these disasters can still be fixed and the IA can be redone. A tip for you is to set fake deadlines for yourself. If your school’s submission is due in November, tell your brain it’s due in October. This way you’ll start and finish everything earlier and have more time if any mistakes or accidents happen.
2. Pick a topic you actually care about
Nothing kills motivation faster than spending hours researching something you don’t find interesting at all. You’re going to spend weeks working on your IAs so you might as well make it something you don’t hate, but rather find interesting and amusing. Try connecting your IA topics with your everyday life and hobbies – for language orals choose books you actually enjoy reading, try implementing your sport in your Math IA. Additionally, in sciences choose an IA that investigates the topics you’re interested in. If you’re engaged emotionally, the writing won’t feel like torture and your motivation will show in the final result.
3. Don’t aim for perfect
One of the biggest traps hard working students fall into is perfectionism. You’ll spend three hours rewriting the same paragraph, trying to make it sound more eloquent and admirable. If you are already caught up in the deadlines, what you need is efficiency, not perfection. Anyways, you’re a high school student, not an expert. The IAs are meant to test your understanding, not your ability to produce a publishable academic paper. Get your ideas down first and you can refine it later.
4. Use your teachers’ help
Sometimes we tend to forget that our teachers are the ones that know what our IAs should look like. They know what works and what doesn’t. If they give you feedback, take it seriously. Don’t take it personally, they’re trying to save you from losing marks on technicalities you didn’t even know existed. Therefore, ask them as many questions as needed and submit your drafts so they can give you feedback on time.
5. Research the criteria
This is where a lot of people lose easy points. You could have an amazing idea, but, if not executed properly, it will score low on the IB criteria.
Search up the criteria and read it carefully. Every sentence you write should somehow be linked to one of those criteria. If you can show evidence of critical thinking, personal engagement, and solid analysis, you have a good chance to score high and get a 7.
6. Don’t forget about formatting
This might sound repetitive, but formatting can make or break the impression of your IA. Focus on clear structure, consistent citations, labeled graphs, word count, numbered pages and visible and neat headings. All of it adds up to making your work look more professional.
7. The data struggle
For science or Math IAs, sometimes the data just doesn’t follow your expectations. Maybe your reaction rate graph looks unusual or the analysis of your data rejects the initial hypothesis. Don’t worry. The IB doesn’t expect perfect data, they expect you to analyze it and acknowledge the errors, explain what might have gone wrong, and suggest improvements. That’s what shows understanding.
9. Remember not to stress
IAs feel impossible to complete when you’re in the middle of them, but remember — they’re not your whole grade – just one of them. Most importantly, they don’t define your worth.
You’ll finish them, submit them and one day look back and laugh at how seriously you took all of it.
Finally, the IA season is stressful, but it also teaches you independence, time management, and how to fake confidence in scientific analysis. So, take a deep breath. You’ve got this.
