Description: CAT4 and 11+ Tutor Thivane shares her EPQ tips and how to successfully accomplish a topic of choice.
An EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) is an independent research project. There are several types but here are some general tips to help you produce a successful EPQ.
Plan from the beginning
Dedicate a portion of your week to your EPQ. An EPQ is a substantial amount of work to manage alongside your studies so this helps break it down into smaller, manageable chunks. Make a rough plan of what you want to cover each week so that your thoughts are organised and you have clear expectations of what you want to achieve that week. This approach will also prevent you from being last minute and rushing the project.
Pick a topic you enjoy
You’ll be spending a lot of time researching this topic, hence, you’ll be reading several academic papers/books about it. You need to make sure you enjoy the topic because no one will force you to do the work. Self-motivation is needed to get through the project. Remember, it’s okay to divert from your original topic, especially if there isn’t enough information available to write about it – just make sure you research something you enjoy.
Detail your production log
Say what you plan to do in detail, then explain how and why you want to do this particular thing. Another thing you should do is record every change you make to your project and give reasons why you did this. This can be for any modification, no matter how big or small (e.g. a title change, cutting out a small paragraph, changing a deadline), but make sure it is justified. This is an easy way to pick up marks in the EPQ because it shows that you are critical and organised.
Get feedback
This is useful for both your project and production log. You can act upon feedback given by your supervisor/friends/family to improve the quality of your project. However, you can also record it in your production log to justify any modifications you want to make due to the feedback. Make sure you record the feedback given, for example, voice memos so that you can come back to it whenever you need it and don’t forget whatever was said.
Harshly edit your report/dissertation
Your first draft most likely will not be the best quality of work you can produce so, make sure you constantly reflect on what you’ve written. You could print out a physical copy for yourself to annotate by cross things out and add corrections physically.
Proofread your dissertation to make sure everything is: engaging, coherent, makes sense and eliminate any grammatical errors. I found using Grammarly Premium and asking my peers to read through my work helped with this process.
Keep track of sources you use
I would suggest making a simple table of the title, link and what was useful about every source you want to use. This ensures that you don’t forget the sources you used and makes it easier to revisit them constantly throughout the project. Another suggestion would be to write them in chronological order of where they’ll be used in your project to make referencing more efficient.
Reference as you go along
Use a simple referencing style (e.g. author-date) and reference sources as soon as you decide you’ll use them in your project. This means that you won’t have to reference a load of sources at the end of your project and be overwhelmed by it.
Keep your source evaluation simple
You don’t have to evaluate every single source – gather a range of sources and analyse one of each such as academic studies, books, scientific reviews, etc. I would recommend making a simple table of strengths, for instance, peer-reviewed articles and weaknesses like outdated information of the sources.
Keep your presentation simple
If you’re making a PowerPoint, use a few slides with minimal text and one or two big images on them. Your presentation should act as a visual aid so that you aren’t just reading off the screen/script and being dull. Smile, have fun and interact with the audience. Talk about a few of your findings, strengths and weaknesses. Then, discuss how you feel about the overall outcome of your EPQ and what you learnt. Finally, answer some audience questions as this will help you gain marks.
Have some extra pieces of evidence
These will show your supervisor how dedicated you were to your project. Examples are a plan of want you wanted to accomplish every week and if you stuck to it, a simple document you used to keep track of your sources, evidence of an online course you’ve done relating to the EPQ.
By Tutor Thivane. Contact Us