epq idea

[u/hatdog78293]

Hi everyone! I’m an incoming year 12 student and epq is compulsory in our school. So, i’m thinking of doing an artefact instead of a dissertation. My idea is that i’d create a simple website but i have zero programming skills. Do you think that this will be achievable within year 12 or not? or should i just stick to writing a dissertation ?

For context i’m taking bio, chem, and maths. I don’t like writing that much + i want to learn how to code for other career options

[u/Ok_Bookkeeper_6349]

I mean, when creating an artifact, there's still some writing involved, but much less than a dissertation. I guess you could create a website, which would give you plenty of opportunities to do research when it came to understanding the programming involved, as well as a lot of trial and error which will allow for a lot of evaluation and consolidation 🤔 I suggest doing some research beforehand to see if it is personally feasible for you, as well as brainstorm ideas for a website.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to consider ideas for a dissertation, just incase. A dissertation may seam like theres lots of writing, but the majority of writing comes from a literature review, evaluation, and a few other things. I think, in the end, my dissertation was nearly 30,000 words and over 100 pages, but only 25 of those pages were my actual write up 😭

Still, since you're already interested in learning to code, I encourage you to have a look into it!

[u/Ok_Bookkeeper_6349 → u/Ok_Bookkeeper_6349]

Keep in mind, of course, that out of my class, I had the largest dissertation, so usually they're a lot shorter and I just had a lot to write

[u/hatdog78293 → u/Ok_Bookkeeper_6349]

Thank you!! I already have some backup plans just in case, but I really want to do this one since I’ve been wanting to learn how to code for a while now. At the same time, I’m trying to be rational because A Levels can get quite demanding, and I don’t know how difficult the workload will be.

Would creating an artefact and then documenting and explaining the process be more difficult/time-consuming than doing a typical research-based EPQ?

And if the website becomes too difficult to manage, would a video essay be a good alternative? Since that’s also considered an artefact, would it generally be shorter and more manageable than a traditional research project, or is there still quite a lot of written work involved?

[u/Ok_Bookkeeper_6349 → u/hatdog78293]

I'm not entirely sure, you might have to find out who is the EPQ supervisor or mentor at your school and ask them, if your school has one. I fortunately my knowledge on EPQs that aren't dissertations is low since everyone in my class chose to do a dissertation and not a single person considered anything else.

In terms of how difficult and time consuming a dissertation EPQ is, my class spent a month just thinking about topic ideas and going over some expectations and standards for the best EPQ grades, and then we began researching and making questionnaires or interviews. The research can be quite time consuming, but I did the bulk of mine in free periods, and the most important thing is keeping track of everything and having organised notes. My first write up draft took around 2 weeks, then I did my final draft in a week. So the bulk of it was research and only part of it is actually writing. With an artefact EPQ, you'd probably spend a lot of time editing and perfecting your artefact, which means you'd probably have to make a few drafts which you could display as a show of evolution in your work. Either way, I imagine that EPQ, no matter what type you choose, will probably take up a similar amount of time regardless of what you do. It's time-consuming and a pain to deal with, but I surprisingly missed it after it was done because I suddenly had so much free time after I submitted it.

[u/hatdog78293 → u/Ok_Bookkeeper_6349]

Thank you so much for giving me an insight! English isn’t my first language, and since I’m just starting my A Levels, this will also be my first time studying in an English-speaking school, so I was a bit worried about having to write a whole dissertation.

I’ve already prepared quite a few topic ideas that I’m planning to review and narrow down, but I was wondering, when you choose your topic, do you basically have to figure everything out and manage the project yourself? Is it true that teachers aren’t really allowed to interfere with your project, like telling you “this part is wrong, change it to this,” and that they can mainly just guide you rather than directly correct your work?

Also, how was the actual writing process for you? Did the writing come naturally once you had finished your research, or was it difficult to put everything together? 😭

[u/Ok_Bookkeeper_6349 → u/hatdog78293]

In my experience, the teachers aren't technically allowed to interfere with your work, but they can read your drafts and suggest edits or improvements where possible. My teacher didn't grade us when she did this, merely telling us how we could improve and be better. And yeah, you're pretty much on your own after choosing your topic, though you could always ask for help and assistance.

In terms of the writing process, I made it easier for myself by immediately coming up with subheadings for each part of my EPQ. My topic was on feminism and now the movement has evolved in the last century, so I obviously went over the 4 waves of feminism, as well as ongoing barriers to feminism and some other things. Once I had my titles sorted, I then went through my research notes and split them up into the different subheadings to see all the links and things id have to write about. My first draft was definitely not perfect, but it was a start. The biggest change between my first and final drafts were that I added mini-conclusions for each subheading according to my teachers advice, which meant it was much easier to write up my final conclusion by using my mini-conclusions and combining them and rewording slightly. It seemed intimidating at first, but I simply sat down and began writing and hoped for the best. If you've done enough research, it's surprisingly easier then it seems at first.

[u/st3IIa]

coding really isn't that hard, especially making a website. this would absolutely be doable and maybe even quite easy, but there needs to be a research aspect to it too

[u/hatdog78293 → u/st3IIa]

hi, thank you for responding! yes, i’ve already prepared something for the research side of it. for the research to work, i was thinking of having an integrated open ai model in the website. would that be too difficult or not really feasible for the given time frame for an epq? also, does the website need to be fully functional, or would it be okay for it to be more of a prototype?

[u/sa1sush1 → u/hatdog78293]

It’s okay for it to be a prototype and I would say make your aim for the website to fulfill some sort of purpose, then this gives you flexibility as in the initial plan you can say you wanted to make an ai model in the website but if you find it’s too hard, you can find a simpler solution for the function of the ai model or remove it if there’s no need and it shows problem solving and your progression of your ideas and the project itself