Personal Project

 

Why Projects in MYP?

  • 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:
  • deciding what they want to learn about, identifying what they already know, and discovering what they will need to know to complete the project
  • creating proposals or criteria for their project, planning their time and materials, and recording developments of the project
  • making decisions, developing understandings and solving problems, communicating with their supervisor and others, and creating a product or developing an outcome
  • evaluating the product/outcome and reflecting on their project and their 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.2

2 Middle Years Programme Projects Guide, p. 16, September 2017

MYP Personal Project

Personal Project

The personal project encourages students to practice and strengthen their approaches to learning (ATL) skills, to consolidate prior and subject-specific learning, and to develop an area of personal interest. The personal project provides an excellent opportunity for students to produce a truly personal and often creative product/outcome and to demonstrate a consolidation of their learning in the MYP. The project offers many opportunities for differentiation of learning and expression according to students’ individual needs. The personal nature of the project is important; the project should revolve around a challenge that motivates and interests the individual student. Each student develops a personal project independently.

MYP projects are student-centered and age-appropriate, and they enable students to engage in practical explorations through a cycle of inquiry, action and reflection. MYP projects help students to develop the attributes of the IB learner profile; provide students with an essential opportunity to demonstrate ATL skills developed through the MYP; and foster the development of independent, lifelong learners.1

1 Middle Years Programme Projects Guide, p. 4, September 2017

Personal Project is a mandatory in-depth project that spans most of the tenth grade school year. The aims of the MYP projects are to encourage and enable students to:

  • participate in a sustained, self-directed inquiry within a global context
  • generate creative new insights and develop deeper understandings through in-depth investigation
  • demonstrate the skills, attitudes and knowledge required to complete a project over an extended period of time
  • communicate effectively in a variety of situations
  • demonstrate responsible action through, or as a result of, learning
  • appreciate the process of learning and take pride in their accomplishments. 

Students spend  25 hours on their personal project. This includes the formal report which can be produced in a variety of formats. Personal Project is started during the last 6-9 weeks of ninth grade during their Digital Communications course. Each student uses a program called ManageBac to help organize, structure, and monitor their project.

The project is designed so that the student advocates and negotiates the process as the primary initiator which is very important since the topic of study is self-selected.

Sophomore students have support for Personal Project through the library, advisory class, English II, an assigned supervisor, and work-sessions.

ManageBac is a system designed for IB students. Parents can also access ManageBac providing information about students' progress with the MYP (IB) standards. Just email cheryl.wegscheid@springbranchisd.com with your child's name and the email address you would like linked to ManageBac. 

For additional information email cheryl.wegscheid@springbranchisd.com or maria.larosa@springbranchisd.com