Who else did it this year? + my personal experience

[jahabbi]

Sup guys!! 

I was one of those guinea pigs that actually did EI as one of my 3/4s in its pilot year. Just noticed that this board existed and it looks kinda lonely...

So to let future EI peeps to get a feel for the subject, here's a Q&A from a dodgy person: ME! If you also did it this year, join in and answer these too!


1. Why did you decide to do EI?
I chose it because in the pilot year (this year, 2013) you just need to pass the course to get an increment and I thought the chances of me not failing was achievable. Yeah, I know, how ambitious. Bless those souls who are actually getting a study score next year. The course itself is pretty much = freedom and you get be "an independent black woman who don't no man". Also cuz the teacher covering it is kind of a pushover.

2. What was your EI topic about? What did it involve?
To summarise: I researched about the influences on consumerism and brands in the supermarket. I researched what past market studies have discovered and compared their findings with my data (gathered by interviewing people about their opinions + personal choices when buying stuff).

3. Was there anything you wished that you could have done differently?
I wish I didn't leave my thesis write-up to the night before. LOL (approx. 4000 words if you're wondering)

4. Was it worth it?
Even though I chose it because I thought it was gonna be such a bludge (it was for me, but you shouldn't treat it as one next year), I got exposed to a lot of handy critical thinking skills that I never really cared to think much about before.

5. Any tips for future + potential students of EI?
Ofc, don't procrastinate like I did.
If you're already keen to do well at uni, EI will give you a grasp of how people write reports at university. Are you passionate about something? Do you have a first for knowledge and are you an independent learner? Then this is the subject for you! Apparently it scales up as much as a language...

eghhh. I hope that's enough to spark your interest. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me! Don't be shy, and say hi! This is also my first post.

[mdntimp]

What is EI?

[The Brightest Witch]

What is EI?

It's a new VCE subject they're bringing in, and stands for Extended Investigation

[faithly]

I actually love you so much, do you have any tips on finalising a research question?

[freykf]

I'm undertaking Extended Investigation this year and I have a tip for finalising a research question, that is this.
Make sure it's an open-ended question ie. one that has more than one answer. My question is; How effective is Blue-green Algae (Cyanobacteria) in reducing the levels of Carbon Dioxide in the air? This is open-ended as I'm finding out, not only are there many difficulties in trying to find an answer for this question but it's proving that there are many different answers (as there are many different ways of measuring Carbon Dioxide gas levels). Also we were given a criteria at the start of this year, which we ticked our questions against before submitting them. The criteria were;
F- Feasible (adequate subjects,
technical expertise, time and
money, and scope)
I- Interesting to the investigator (student), ask yourself if you will be able to keep working on the topic you have chosen for the entire year.
N- Novel (confirms or refutes
previous findings, provides
new findings)
E- Ethical
R- Relevant (to scientific
knowledge, clinical and
health policy, future research.

Don't worry about how long it might take to find the right question, I went through at least 4 different topics before I found the right one. We also used a model which is the SHEEP-T framework. Put your broad topic or general question in the middle and around the outside break your paper into 6 sections. Label each section with S-Social, H- Historical, E-Environmental, E-  Economical, P- Political and T- Technological. Then try and break your broad topic down by coming up with a question for each section. Eg. Why do trees have plastic coverings on their trunks? A Historical question could be; How long have these coverings been used for? and an Environmental one could be; What are the benefits for these trees? This breaking down should help you to find a more specific question for your research. Hope this makes sense, please feel free to write back to me if it doesn't or if you have any other questions. This isn't much but I hope it helps.