Building Your Research Plan | EE Research Strategy & Timeline | Grades 11–12

Building Your Research Plan | EE Research Strategy & Timeline | Grades 11–12

Help students move from a working research question to a clear, realistic plan for completing their Extended Essay. This no-prep lesson guides students through identifying what information and evidence they need, selecting appropriate research methods, organizing research tasks, and building a manageable timeline for the entire EE process.

Students consider how to use their approximately 40 hours of independent work across research, note-taking, outlining, drafting, supervisor meetings, and revision. They also establish a Researcher’s Reflection Space (RRS) to document decisions, questions, challenges, and next steps as their research develops.

What’s Included
- Teacher Directions
- Lesson Overview & Mini Research Questions
- 5-Step Group Activity
- Online Resources
- 3 Student Research & Planning Pages
- Color and B&W student versions

Why Teachers Love This
- Completely no prep and ready to use
- Breaks the EE research process into manageable steps
- Helps students create realistic deadlines instead of focusing only on the final due date
- Builds research, organization, reflection, and self-management skills
- Protects valuable time for drafting and revision
- Helps students arrive at supervisor meetings better prepared

Perfect For
- Extended Essay preparation
- IB Diploma Programme classrooms
- Research strategy and methods
- EE timeline planning
- RRS and reflection preparation
- Supervisor meeting preparation
- Grades 11–12

Rather than simply telling students to “manage their time,” this lesson gives them a concrete structure for deciding what they need to research, how they will gather it, when each stage needs to happen, and what they need to do next.
No Prep: Print or assign the pages and begin.

Please Note: This independently created educational resource is not an official International Baccalaureate (IB) product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to the International Baccalaureate Organization.