Coaching IA

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Topic selection is the first step of your math IA journey. A high-achieving math IA topic is unique, mathematically rigorous, and personally engaging. Most importantly, fully understanding the topic and executing the production of a well-written investigation should be manageable within the student’s academic aptitude. This is why the topic selection process can be troublesome for both students and teachers; finding the right topic that is just difficult enough to be intellectually stimulating, yet not too difficult to be beyond the student’s capabilities is an arduous drill that takes everyone involved on a roller coaster of emotions (e.g. excitement at the discovery of a topic, quickly followed by disappointment as one realizes one or more disqualifying factors for the topic). Teachers often reject a student's initial topic that does not fulfill the aforementioned criteria. Common reasons for topic rejection include:

If your topic is rejected, it is crucial to understand the specific reason. How can we lower the likelihood of a topic being rejected? And how can we wisely respond to topic rejection?

Overlapping topics with classmates

Your teacher may decline your topic if other classmates are already working on a similar topic. Some teachers may utilize a first come, first served policy when two students pitch similar research questions. Hence, you should start brainstorming as soon as possible and check with your teacher before writing the first draft to avoid overlapping with your classmates. Nevertheless, if your topic is rejected due to overlapping, you should try pivoting to a similar topic or you should quickly develop a new topic.

Cliché

Topic Rejection

As an IB diploma candidate, you should have good time management skills and responsibility for meeting all deadlines on time. However, things do not always go as planned. There are many reasons you would need a deadline extension, such as:

In the math IA, there are two main deadlines: the first draft submission and the final draft submission. In fact, there is a separate deadline for the teacher for official submission to IBO, and there are cases where teachers allow extra time to adjust your IA before the official submission even after the final draft submission. Shoutout to all teachers who do this (you guys are the true heroes), but this is usually the exception rather than the norm. Hence, you should always try to submit your final draft on time. Nevertheless, when all else fails and things do not work out as planned, we have no choice but to ask for a deadline extension.

Be honest

If you think that you will not be able to meet the deadline because you have personal issues or other commitments, you should communicate your situation transparently to your teacher as early as possible. The teacher may understand and empathize with your circumstance and give an extension. Even if you have a valid excuse, the teacher may not allow an extension if you wait until the day before the deadline. Hence, you should be honest and quick with your actions.

Persuade your teacher

Deadline Extension

During the course of your math IA, you are entitled to only one official written feedback from your teacher, in accordance with IBO policy, so you better make the most out of this opportunity. Nevertheless, your teacher may happily provide occasional oral feedback to students who proactively ask for it. Although it is the teacher who gives you the feedback, your role is also essential in extracting useful feedback from them and effectively utilizing it to improve your draft.

Here are some suggestions to elicit quality feedback:

Submit a complete first draft

You will receive feedback covering all criteria of a math IA only if you submit a complete first draft. If your IA is incomplete or contains mechanical errors, such as mistakes in labels and figures and citation errors, you have no grounds to complain even when the teacher is giving feedback that feels closer to nitpicking and micromanaging. After all, how can your teacher focus on the bigger picture to give you holistic feedback if you haven't given them the full picture to begin with?

When it comes to your IA drafts, treat the first draft deadline as if it is your final deadline. Hold your first draft to the high standards as you would for your final submission to the IB. Trust me, even at this stage, you will be surprised at how many careless mistakes you might have missed and how much room there is for improvement.

Responding to Teacher Comments

It is essential to clearly know where your first IA draft is in the criteria. Depending on the teacher, you may get a numerical grade out of 20 on your first math IA draft. Otherwise, you can predict your own score based on the teacher’s comments. If you received a low score on the first draft, do not panic right away (that comes later, on the day before the deadline). Plenty of students were able to successfully improve their grades between their submissions of first draft and final draft. To do so, it is highly important that you do not react emotionally– for instance, nagging and begging for scores or getting your parents involved (the nuclear option to be used as a last resort; by last resort I mean NEVER) which are strongly advised against. Then, what steps should we take to maximize your IA scores?

Calmly assess your situation from a realistic standpoint

Before taking action, you should assess your situation from an objective perspective. You should ask yourself,

Your teacher may have provided a certain improvement plan in the feedback.

Appealing for Higher Grade

Can you retake IB math IA?

Mostly, students are not permitted to retake an IB math IA after submission. Yet, they may be granted a retake when there are:

Technical difficulties beyond the student’s control

Extenuating circumstances (i.e. serious illness and personal emergencies)

Appeals process

You must first discuss this with your DP coordinator before making a request. Since the process would be complicated and the chance of approval of a retake would be low, the students are encouraged to successfully submit their IA on their first time.

Common Issues/ FAQ/ Do’s and Don’ts

Honesty is always the best policy: completing your IA on time will actually save you from the headache of deadline negotiations and deception. However, if you identify as a morally grey character and are out of options for any further extensions,there is one final resolution you may use: submit a corrupt file. The trick is that your teacher will think you submitted your IA on time, but they cannot open the file due to a technological issue, and you will earn extra time to finish your IA until the “technological issue” is solved. You can use an online service to corrupt your file: https://corrupt-a-file.net/.

Many teachers may already be aware of this trick, as they may have used it themselves when they were students (even teachers procrastinate!). Also, this should be used to grant yourself an extension for the first draft submission (the IB final submission deadline is non-negotiable).

Conclusion

The concepts introduced here provide a brief preview/sneak peek into the high scoring math IA topics that some of our past students have successfully written. Taking the ideas in this document at face value and straight up copying the formulas/derivations/graphs will not guarantee a high score. The concepts are to be used as a benchmark guide / reference / playbook that will set a standard on the complexity/depth/breadth of IA topics. If you truly want a 7 (or 18/20 and above), you must dedicate sufficient time and effort to understand your topic inside and out, then customize the investigation with elements that evidently reflect your own academic interests.

Take inspiration from the high level concepts and techniques from each topic and let it serve as a rough framework. The specific data gathering, modeling, context and scope definition should vary according to standards personally tailored to your own goals, interests, and academic needs.

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