The personal project provides an opportunity for students to undertake an independent and age- appropriate exploration into an area of personal interest. Through the process of inquiry, action and reflection, students are encouraged to demonstrate and strengthen their approaches to learning (ATL) skills.
Below are ideas to help students understand the nature of the personal project.
This document is a guide for students to help them complete the various steps of their personal project independently.
The purpose of the supervisor is to support the student during the personal project. Each student has his or her own supervisor.
The supervisor’s responsibilities are to provide guidance to students in the process and completion of the project:
Students should receive information and guidance that includes:
Supervisors will support students throughout the personal project. The frequency of meetings between students and their supervisor may change according to the type of project, the topic, characteristics of the students involved or the stages of the project. Supervisors are advised not to become project experts.
To complete a personal project, students must undertake independent learning. They are expected to spend approximately 25 hours on their personal project. This time covers the whole process, including meetings with their supervisor.
Through the personal project, students:
Specifically, students must:
Many members of the community, both within and beyond the school, can support the personal project.
Within the School (examples)
Beyond the School (examples)
A resource person can be useful during the research process or when complete in the product.
❖ Three objectives under pin a valid and reliable evaluation of the project.
❖ Each objective corresponds to a section of the report.
| Planning | Applying Skills | Reflecting | |
| Learning Goal | State a learning goal for the project and explain how a personal interest led to that goal | Explain how the ATL skill(s) was/were applied to help achieve their learning goal | Explain the impact of the project on themselves or their learning |
| Product | State an intended product and develop appropriate success criteria for the product |
To complete the personal project, students must follow the following steps.
Students are expected to document the process they followed to complete their project. In this way, they can demonstrate how they developed ATL skills and their academic honesty. Students must master different techniques for gathering evidence using portfolios, design projects, interdisciplinary projects or any other activity carried out during the project.
Students are not restricted to any single model for gathering evidence; however, they are responsible for producing evidence that shows they have fulfilled the personal project’s objectives. To foster their independence, students must develop their own ways of gathering evidence and of using media of their choosing, which can be written, visual, audio, digital or a combination of these.
Possible evidence may include:
| Evidence of the process is | Evidence of the process is not: |
| • gathered throughout the project to document its development • an evolving record of intents, processes, accomplishments • a collection of initial thoughts and developments, brainstorming, possible lines of inquiry and further questions raised • a record of interactions with sources, for example, teachers, supervisors, external contributors • a record of selected, annotated and/or edited research and to maintain a bibliography • a collection of useful information, for example, quotations, pictures, ideas, photographs • a means of exploring ideas and solutions • a place for evaluating work completed • reflection on learning • devised by the student | • collected on a daily basis (unless this is useful for the student) • written up after the process has been completed • additional work on top of the project; it is part of and supports the project • a diary with detailed writing about what was done (unless this is useful for the student) • a single, static document with only one format (unless this is useful for the student). |
The personal project is truly personal because each student sets their own goal based on something that they find interesting. Students may draw inspiration from their prior experience in the MYP, such as:
Similarly, students may draw inspiration from their interests and hobbies outside school. They may also consider developing new ones.
The project consists of two interrelated parts:
The project can change, if necessary, during the process.
The project’s starting point may be either the learning goal or the product. One learning goal can lead to different products, just as one product can relate to a variety of learning goals.
An example of starting with a learning goal to guide the creation of the project:
An example of starting with a product to guide the creation of the project:
MYP personal projects are student-centered and age-appropriate. They enable students to engage in practical explorations through a cycle of inquiry, action and reflection.
The success criteria, developed by the student, measure the degree of excellence to which the product aspires or the terms under which the product can be judged to have been successful.
❖ The success criteria must be testable, measurable and observable.
❖ The success criteria must evaluate the product.
❖ The success criteria must evaluate the impact on the student or the community.
Below are ideas of specific product features that may help students establish success criteria to evaluate the quality of their products.
Product form:
Product content:
“A detailed plan outlining actions needed to reach one or more goals.”(Wikipedia)
Working with the timeline provided by the school, students plan the time they need to spend on their personal projects by drawing up a timetable that gives them an overall view of everything they have to achieve. They can then add daily or weekly details showing everything they have to do.
The action plan must show how students will create the product and fulfill the success criteria.
For this step of the project, students may draw inspiration from similar action plans created for the individuals and societies subject.
The project is split into three main steps that correspond to the objectives.
Planning
Applying skills
Reflecting
*Students must regularly revisit this plan to document and explain any changes to the expected deadlines.
To complete the project, students must work through different steps to explore the learning goal and achieve the product.
Below are some ideas of how to do this.
Which ATL skills will be useful for your project?
Impact: “both negative and positive planned and unplanned consequences of a completed project, including those that only emerge sometime after the project ends”. (Translated from Guide de préparation d’un plan d’évaluation de projet, TÉLUQ.)
Below are ideas to help students assess the impact of their projects
Below are ideas to help students evaluate their products based on their chosen success criteria.
Maximum: 8
In the personal project, students should be able to:
i. state a learning goal for the project and explain how a personal interest led to that goal
ii. state an intended product and develop appropriate success criteria for the product
iii. present a clear, detailed plan for achieving the product and its associated success criteria.
| Achievement Level | Descriptor |
| 0 | The student does not achieve a standard described by any of the descriptors below. |
| 1-2 | i. states a learning goal ii. states their intended product iii. presents a plan that is superficial or that is not focused on a product. |
| 3-4 | i. states a learning goal and outlines the connection between personal interest(s) and that goal ii. states their intended product and presents basic success criteria for the product iii. presents a plan for achieving the product and some of its associated success criteria. |
| 5-6 | i. states a learning goal and describes the connection between personal interest(s) and that goal ii. states their intended product and presents multiple appropriate success criteria for the product iii. presents a detailed plan for achieving the product and most of its associated success criteria. |
| 7-8 | i. states a learning goal and explains the connection between personal interest(s) and that goal ii. states their intended product and presents multiple appropriate, detailed success criteria for the product iii. presents a detailed plan for achieving the product and all of its associated success criteria. |
Maximum: 8
In the personal project, students should be able to:
i. explain how the ATL skill(s) was/were applied to help achieve their learning goal
ii. explain how the ATL skill(s) was/were applied to help achieve their product.
| Achievement Level | Descriptor |
| 0 | The student does not achieve a standard described by any of the descriptors below. |
| 1-2 | i. states which ATL skill(s) was/were applied to help achieve their learning goal ii. states which ATL skill(s) was/were applied to help achieve their product. |
| 3-4 | i. outlines which ATL skill(s) was/were applied to help achieve their learning goal, with superficial examples or evidence ii. outlines which ATL skill(s) was/were applied to help achieve their product, with superficial examples or evidence. |
| 5-6 | i. describes how the ATL skill(s) was/were applied to help achieve their learning goal, with reference to examples or evidence ii. describes how the ATL skill(s) was/were applied to help achieve their product, with reference to examples or evidence. |
| 7-8 | i. explains how the ATL skill(s) was/were applied to help achieve their learning goal, supported with detailed examples or evidence ii. explains how the ATL skill(s) was/were applied to help achieve their product, supported with detailed examples or evidence. |
Maximum: 8
In the personal project, students should be able to:
i. explain the impact of the project on themselves or their learning
ii. evaluate the product based on the success criteria.
| Achievement Level | Descriptor |
| 0 | The student does not achieve a standard described by any of the descriptors below. |
| 1-2 | i. states the impact of the project on themselves or their learning ii. states whether the product was achieved. |
| 3-4 | i. outlines the impact of the project on themselves or their learning ii. states whether the product was achieved, partially supported with evidence or examples. |
| 5-6 | i. describes the impact of the project on themselves or their learning ii. evaluates the product based on the success criteria, partially supported with evidence or examples. |
| 7-8 | i. explains the impact of the project on themselves or their learning ii. evaluates the product based on the success criteria, fully supported with specific evidence or detailed examples. |
There are two possible formats for the MYP personal project report: written and/or oral. Students can combine these formats in a multimedia report.
Students may submit their report in written or recorded format, or a combination of the two. The table below shows the maximum length of students’ submissions.
| Document File Types .doc, .docx, .pdf, .rit | Recording File Types: mp3, m4a, mov, codex H264, m4v | |
| 15 pages | and | No recording |
| 14 pages | and | 1 minute |
| 13 pages | and | 2 minute |
| 12 pages | and | 3 minute |
| 11 pages | and | 4 minute |
| 10 pages | and | 5 minute |
| 9 pages | and | 6 minute |
| 8 pages | and | 7 minute |
| 7 pages | and | 8 minute |
| 6 pages | and | 9 minute |
| Grade | Descriptor |
| 1 | Produces work of a very limited quality. Conveys many misunderstandings of the process of learning independently. Very rarely demonstrates critical thinking. Very inflexible, rarely shows evidence of knowledge or skills. |
| 2 | Produces a report of limited quality. Communicates limited understanding of the process of learning independently. Demonstrates limited evidence of critical thinking. Limited evidence of transfer of knowledge or approaches to learning skills into the project. |
| 3 | Produces an acceptable report. Communicates basic understanding of the process of learning independently through the project. Begins to demonstrate some basic critical thinking. Begins to transfer knowledge and approaches to learning skills into the project. |
| 4 | Produces a good-quality report. Communicates basic understanding of the process of learning independently through all stages of the cycle of inquiry. Often demonstrates critical thinking. Transfers some knowledge and some approaches to learning skills into the project. |
| 5 | Produces a generally high-quality report that demonstrates a thorough process. Communicates good understanding of the process of learning independently through all stages of the cycle of inquiry. Demonstrates critical thinking, sometimes with sophistication. Usually transfers knowledge and approaches to learning skills into the project. |
| 6 | Produces a high-quality report that demonstrates a thorough process. Communicates extensive understanding of the process of learning independently through all stages of the cycle of inquiry. Demonstrates critical thinking, frequently with sophistication. Transfers knowledge and approaches to learning skills into the project. |
| 7 | Produces a high-quality report that demonstrates a thorough process. Communicates comprehensive, nuanced understanding of the process of learning independently through all stages of the cycle of inquiry. Consistently demonstrates sophisticated critical thinking. Successfully transfers knowledge and approaches to learning skills into the project with independence. |
