EE, my struggle⌗

The word ‘struggle’ doesn’t quite fit, but it is eye-catching, isn’t it? I mean, it embodies the truth to a limited degree, but it’s a bit of an exaggeration. Why? Because I’m referring to my process of writing the Extended Essay in Computer Science, which was challenging and, at the same time, really got me going. I chose the right subject and an up-to-date area of research, namely Artificial Intelligence, broadly speaking, of course.

The importance of this experience for this reflection stems from the fact that I gained an awful lot of valuable insights about the Extended Essay in Computer Science, which I wanted to share. I understand that mine has not been graded yet and still requires much polishing, but I have already spent a lot of time on it, and it made me reflect. Besides, I have come across great resources, which I also aim to share with like-minded compsci folks and I’ve already been creating a suitable place for that, so why not take advantage of it?

That’s it for the intro, I believe. Now, let us taste some details, pure facts, or whatever.

Extended Essay section⌗

You can visit the Extended Essay section by following this link, but here’s a short description of it:

I primarily based my information on two resources, which, naturally, I referenced as an exemplary IB student 😁. Those sources are Paul Baumgarten’s website and the subject-specific Extended Essay Computer Science guide. You can check them out. I don’t know why on God’s Earth you would do that (unless you’re interested in the CS EE yourself), but you can.

The EE section is split into three sub-sections: Overview, Assessment Criteria, and Examples.

What they are about is rather self-explanatory, but I’ll still go a little deeper.

Overview⌗

The Overview is a short answer to the “what” question asked in regard to the CS EE but gets more elaborated as you go. You can find useful tips here on how to choose a topic, especially about AI as it’s “the flavor of the month” according to the Baumgarten website.

Assessment Criteria⌗

Assessment Criteria are the same for EEs in all subjects, but this section goes on to explain how these criteria are tailored toward CS EE. It’s basically ripped from the above-mentioned guide but more concise and way more consumable. It’s a matter of language, really.

Examples⌗

There are no “physical” examples on the website; it’s just one big link to yet another website - CS EE World - where people submit their essays in CS with a grade and sometimes the author’s contact information. If you’re an IB student writing a CS EE, it’s a must-have.

Nuances⌗

As mentioned, I have also made some small changes, which are certainly less considerable than the whole new sections. However, I argue that they are still crucial.

The first thing is the updated “Welcome” (in the CS jargon known as “Hello, world”) page (see the cover or go to the website itself). Previously, it was merely an invite plus an encouragement for contributing. Now, I have also included a short website overview with the main sections briefly introduced. It’s almost the same thing as the project’s README, which is a second minor improvement.

A README file is something you don’t see when you’re on the website, and if that’s your only interest, you should not care. It’s basically a project description and the most basic documentation, which actually suffices for such a simple project. Anyway, since the EE section got bigger, it must have also been updated, which happened.

Emotions and confession⌗

I must admit, I am genuinely proud of how this project has evolved over the past two years. If someone had told me at the beginning that it would become what it is today, I probably wouldn’t have believed them or would have just chuckled. It’s truly amazing, and I hope it helps me secure admission to a school in the US. I won’t mention which one, but I have my aspirations.

Now, about the “confession” part—I don’t consider using ChatGPT a crime, but I should acknowledge that I embraced it to write the EE section. It was immensely helpful in generating concise bullet points. I could copy-paste the whole section from the guide and ask the chat to create concise bullet points, only needing to edit them if necessary. This not only saved me time but the extent of the time saved is a colossal understatement for this blog post’s introduction.

Regardless, I’m happy, and I’ll likely continue using it after I graduate. It’s enjoyable. While I might face burnout or have less spare time to continue the project at some point, I don’t care for now. I’ll keep on going, even though I have imprecise plans what the next step would be…

Learning outcomes:⌗

  • LO 1 Strength and Growth
  • LO 2 Challenge and Skills
  • LO 3 Initiative and Planning
  • LO 4 Commitment and Perseverance
  • LO 5 Collaborative Skills
  • LO 6 Global Engagement
  • LO 7 Ethics of Choices and Actions