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Personal Project: Define a goal and global context for the project based on personal interests

Guidance for completing the MYP Personal Project
1 -2 3 - 4 5 - 6 7 - 8
The student is able to The student is able to The student is able to The student is able to

State a goal and global context for the project, based on personal interests, but this may be limited in depth or accessibility

  • The student states a goal that is unrealistic or shallow which does not have a clear connection to personal interests or the stated global context

Outline a basic and appropriate goal and global context for the project, based on personal interests

  • The student outlines a simple or easily- achievable goal that identifies a relevant global context

Develop a clear and challenging goal and global context for the project, based on personal interests

Based on personal interest, the student develops a clear goal that:

  • explains what make the goal personally challenging
  • details the goal’s relationship to a relevant global context

Develop a clear and highly challenging goal and global context for the project, based on personal interests

Based on personal interest, the student develops a clear goal that:

  • justifies the goal as highly challenging
  • meaningfully relates to a global context

 

Define a goal

A basic goal: what am I going to make or do?

A challenging goal: what am I going to do and for what purpose?

A  highly challenging goal has multiple parts to it and leads to greater learning.

Consider the number of verbs you have in the goal. The more verbs the greater the likelihood of learning and challenge. You must be able to justify why the goal is highly challenging to you. What makes it so?

Basic Challenging Highly Challenging
To design my own electric violin. To research violin design and making and then design my own electric violin. To research violin design and making and then design and produce my own 4 or 5 string electric violin.
To design my own summer clothing collection. To research current fashion trends and then design my own summer clothing collection. To research current fashion trends and how to design patterns. Then design and create a summer clothing collection and then learn how to create a 'template website'  to market my design.
To raise $400 for the education of an Indonesian child To sponsor an Indonesian child to university for 4 years by raising $1500. To volunteer at the International Humanities Foundation over the school term break and then raise $1500 to sponsor an Indonesian child to university for 4 years.
To donate money to a school in Bali To raise money for a school in Bali and then donate the money raised to the school. To research schools in Bali and then raise money to purchase stationery for the school to support education.

 

Possible explorations

Identities and Relationships

 

  • Competition and cooperation; teams, affiliation, & leadership  

  • Identity formation, self-esteem, status, roles & role models  

  • Personal efficacy and agency; attitudes, motivation, independence; happiness and the good life  

  • Development, transitions, health and wellness; physical, psychological and social well-being; lifestyle choices  

  • Human nature and human dignity; moral reasoning and ethical judgment, consciousness & mind

Orientation in Space and Time

  • Civilizations and social histories, heritage; pilgrimage, migration, displacement & exchange  

  • Epochs, eras, turning points and “big history”  

  • Scale, duration, frequency, and variability  

  • Peoples, boundaries, exchange, and interaction  

  • Natural & human landscapes and resources  

  • Evolution, constraints, & adaptation

Personal and Cultural Expression

  • Artistry, craft, creation, beauty – products, systems, & institutions  

  • Social constructions of reality; philosophies & ways of life; belief systems; ritual and play  

  • Critical literacy, languages & linguistic systems; histories of ideas, fields, and disciplines; analysis & argument

  • Metacognition & abstract thinking

  • Entrepreneurship, practice, & competency

Globalisation and Sustainability

  • Markets, commodities, & commercialization  

  • Human impact on the environment  

  • Commonality, diversity, & interconnection   

  • Natural resources & public goods

  • Consumption, conservation  

  • Population & demography  

  • Urban planning, strategy, & infrastructure

Fairness and Development

  • Democracy, politics, government, & civil society

  • Inequality, difference, & inclusion  

  • Human capability & development; social entrepreneurs  

  • Rights, law, civic responsibility, & the public sphere  Justice, peace, & conflict management  

  • Power & privilege  

  • Authority, security, & freedom  

  • Imagining a hopeful future

Scientific and Technological Innovation

  • systems, models, methods; products, processes and solutions

  • adaptation, ingenuity and progress

  • opportunity, risk, consequences and responsibility

  • modernization, industrialization and engineering

  • digital life, virtual environments and the information age

  • the biological revolution

  • mathematical puzzles, principles and discoveries