Project’s Name [font size 20]

(Here, you may insert a simple photo/picture related to your project)

Name Surname
ID No.
Date (Month and Year of submission)
Tutor: Samuel Stellini

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 Introduction and Outline (100 – 150 words)

Here, the student should write an introduction consisting of two paragraphs. In the first
paragraph, they should discuss the main topic of the project, explain why they chose this
subject, and demonstrate its relevance to the chosen area (Responsible Citizenship,
Environment, Aesthetics).

In the second paragraph, the student should provide an outline of the project, including
the number of activities and the average hours per activity. They should also outline the
objectives, values, and skills they learned, as well as the primary research method used
in the project (e.g., interviews and/or questionnaires, desk research).

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Formatting
The entire document should be formatted as shown below:
Font Times New Roman/Calibri

Font size 12 for normal text, 10 for captions

Line spacing 1.5 lines

Colour Black

Text alignment Justified

Page margins The default ones [2.54 cm]
Page numbers Bottom right corner

Printing Single-sided printing

Sections The main sections must start from a fresh page

You may add coloured footers such as those found in this document.

Structure
Title page
Full Project Booklet
Authentication Form
Introduction
List of Contents
About the Organisation [or Overseer]
Journal Reports [including photographic evidence]
Interview or Questionnaire Analysis (optional)
Long Essay
Scientific Research
Bibliography
Evidence Section
All the above must be bound in spiral binding with a transparent front cover and a black
back cover.

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 Table of Contents

Contents Pages
Introduction 2
About the Organisation 5
Journal Reports 6
Interview/Questionnaire 9
Long Essay 11
Scientific Research Essay 13
Bibliography 14
Evidence Section 16

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 About the Organisation [or Overseer (100 – 150 words)

Here the student must provide a brief historical background of the organisation. This section
should include information about its history, the organisational setup, the building in which it
is housed, and its main activities.

If the project was carried out with an independent overseer, the student write a biographical
description instead. It must include information on their education/training, qualifications, and
experience.

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Journal Reports (8-10 activitys/reports)

About the Evidence

The evidence must be varied and ample.

Firstly, there must be about three
photographs for each activity, half
representing the student at work. Photos
must be clear and of good quality and
document the progression of the
experience. Photographic evidence must be Figure 1 Most residents need walking aids due
placed in the journal reports, and links to to their fragile health. Here, I assisted one of
the residents during a short walk in the park.
the activities must be established. While assisting residents, I noticed their
happiness when they were in our company.

The student must also include various other types of evidence, such as recordings, DVDs,
questionnaires, leaflets of events, copies of email/letter correspondence etc.. These types of
evidence should be placed in the Evidence section with a separate section for each type. E.g.
Evidence A for questionnaires, Evidence B for email correspondence.

All items of evidence must be explained, analysed [with a caption], and referenced with a figure
number (see fig. 1).

The presentation of the photo evidence can be improved by:

- right-clicking on the photos, clicking 'insert captions' and inserting captions and figure
numbers.
- right-clicking on the photo, clicking 'wrap text', clicking 'square' so that text wraps around the
text.

All evidence in the journal or the Evidence section must be relevant and conducive to the
project's aim. Photos must respect data protection laws and be clear and of good quality. The
captions must be analytical and indicate who you are in the photo.

When referencing items in the Evidence section, the students must use the following method:
(see Evidence A, fig. 3).
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Journal Reports (300 – 350 words):

The tasks in the 20-hour hands-on experience must be varied and must be related not only to
the main chosen area but to the other areas too.

At the top of each journal report include the journal report number, the date, duration and
location of the activity.

The student must write the journal reports in three paragraphs as instructed below.

1st part – Description (about 120 words)

A simple description of the activity.

2nd part – Analysis (about 50 words)

The student must identify a value or theme that relates to the activity, research it, and explain
what it means in general. The values/themes must be picked from the syllabus. There is also
the option to make use of in-text citations. See page 15 of this guidebook for detailed
instructions.

3rd part Reflection (about 130 words)

The student must explain how the value or theme mentioned in the analysis was experienced
during the activity. How did the value/theme affect the activity, and how does the value/theme
affect society in general?

The values/themes discussion framework must not deviate too much from the framework set
by SOK syllabus and/or textbook. For example, suppose the student discusses the 'value of life'.
In such a case, the discussion should centre around the philosophy underpinning the extrinsic
and intrinsic value of the life of human beings, animals and plants rather than, say, the

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economic value of life, which is a concept used for insurance purposes. A discussion about the
latter would be out of point in the project.

The student must conclude the reflection with a brief discussion about a skill practised during
the activity. Pick a skill from the list found in the syllabus document.

If there is space, the student may also discuss a challenging situation and how it was solved.

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 Interview or Questionnaire (Optional)

In the SOK project, there is the option to do a 1 to 1 interview or a questionnaire. First, the
student must determine the information/data he/she/they needs to collect, particularly if the
information cannot be found in books or online research. The information may be directly or
indirectly related to the project's content. The next step is determining who will most likely
provide this information. Is it a single person or a group of respondents? Furthermore, is the
student looking for detailed/profound answers (qualitative data) or just statistics (quantitative)?

If an interview is the best option (qualitative data), the student needs to determine if
he/she/they wish to do a live or an email interview. In the case of a live interview, a transcript
of the interview must be produced. The questions in an interview must be open-ended ones
(e.g. not yes or no questions). The interview must be followed by an analysis which may be
placed in between the Journal Reports and the Long Essay. The transcript of the interview should
be placed in the Evidence section.

On the other hand, if the student chooses to do a questionnaire, the questions in a

questionnaire should be closed-ended with a rating system or multiple choice. It is also possible
to include open-ended questions, but such questions must be minimal as it is difficult to get
statistics out of such open-ended answers. Questionnaires can be done online using platforms
such as SurveyMonkey/Facebook/Google Forms or distributing hard copies.

The results should be presented in the form of pie-charts/bar charts etc., and an analysis of the
data should be carried out. The results/pie-charts and the analysis should be placed between
the Journal Reports and Long Essay, but the actual scripts (if you have hard copies) should be
placed in the Evidence section.

The interview and/or questionnaire should start with demographic questions, such as gender,
age etc. The questionnaire and the interview can be considered a activity if the overseer agrees
to sign for the activity on page 6/7 of the Matsec booklet. In such a case, a journal report must
be written for this activity in the regular journal report format.

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Doing an interview or questionnaire may also allow one to discuss concepts found in the module
4 section of the syllabus: subjectivity, objectivity, quantitative and qualitative research,
positivism, empirical evidence, and inductive and deductive reasoning. The student may carry
out this discussion in the introduction to the analysis of the interview/questionnaire or the long
essay.

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 Essay (1000 – 1100 words)

In the essay, the word limit must be respected, and marks are deducted as follows:
2 marks to be deducted for +/– 150 words
4 marks to be deducted for +/– 300 words

In your essay, you should:

 Discuss how the values you've encountered relate to your experiences and highlight
connections between at least three SOK modules.
 Link your personal experiences with broader syllabus topics and societal issues.
 Avoid merely summarising journal reports or listing values.
 Focus on values/themes not discussed in journal reports, or if they are, offer a unique
perspective.

For higher marks:

 Provide a well-researched, in-depth analysis of values and themes, including in-text (see
page 15) citations where appropriate. Do not use Wikipedia or dictionaries.
 Incorporate multiple perspectives and critiques.
 Use signposting language and ensure smooth transitions by linking ideas between
paragraphs. (e.g. "Importantly," "Additionally," "Furthermore," "Similarly,"
"Therefore," "In conclusion")

Introduction
In the introduction, the student must explain the project's main goals at a personal and
community level. [75 – 100 words]

Values
The first and second paragraphs are the most important in the entire essay. The student should
reflectively discuss four values selected from the syllabus or list, specifically from the section
related to the main area of the project. The long essay should not simply describe or summarise
the student's experience (which should be included in the journal), but rather should involve a

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deep discussion about how this experience has challenged, impacted, and enriched the
student's understanding of wider societal issues. Additionally, please include the subtitle
"Values” above these two paragraphs. [400 words]

The Interdisciplinary Aspect

In the third and fourth paragraphs, the student must discuss the values that relate to the
interdisciplinary dimension of the project. So, for example, if the project relates primarily to
module 1 – democracy and citizenship – in the interdisciplinary paragraphs, the discussion must
be about the values/themes (selected from the syllabus or the list) from two other modules;
any from the aesthetic/artistic, the environmental dimension of the project and the
scientific/technology values in two separate paragraphs.

On top of these three paragraphs, include a subtitle: The Interdisciplinary (each paragraph
about 150 words/ interdisciplinary total about 450 words).

Conclusion

In the conclusion paragraph, the student should indicate how successful he/she/they were in
achieving the aims set for the project, both on a personal and a community level (if applicable).
The student may also explain how knowledge, skills, values and a more positive attitude
acquired through this project have enriched his/her/their character. On top of the conclusion
paragraph, include the subtitle: Conclusion. (100 words)

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 Scientific research (separate essay of 400 words +/- 100)

As with the other sections of the project, any discussion of values/themes should be based on
research from books or reliable online resources.

For this section, the student must select one specific scientific principle from biology,
chemistry, and physics and relate it to the experience. In general, computer, electronic or
advanced technology must be avoided. The chosen topic for this research is the same the
student will note down in answer 5 of the First Meeting on the booklet [page 5].

In the scientific research essay introduction, explain the link between the scientific topic and
your experience.

Scientific principles are those 'objective principles that have been verified to be objectively
accurate using scientific methodology. For example, the student may select the principle of air
pressure in a ball, the law of light refraction in lenses or a common disease in dogs.

This essay must include scientifically detailed diagrams, images, figure numbers and captions.
[see the Sample Scientific Research Essay document for more details]

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 Bibliography

The bibliography is a crucial section of the project and should not be underestimated as it is an
essential indicator of the seriousness with which a student has taken his/her project. In this
section, the student must include a list of books and websites that he/she/they used while
writing the project. There should be at least as many book titles as websites. Furthermore, the
websites must be reliable. For example, 'official' websites, like institutional websites, are
considered reliable, but Wikipedia is not.

The list of references in the bibliography must be presented in alphabetical order. Most of all,
the student must write the bibliography in the APA format. There are three options:
1. Use the ‘References’ section in Word
2. Use the following web pages to generate the references:
https://www.scribbr.com/citation/generator/cite/webpage/
https://www.scribbr.com/citation/generator/cite/book/
3. Use the following system [without the table]:
Books

Author’s Name’s Publishing Book Where it Publishing house

surname Initial Date Title (In was published.

Italics)

See example: Berger, J. (1972) Ways of Seeing, London: Penguin

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 Websites

Author’s Name’s Title of Year of When was Available

surname Initial (Only page (in publication it retrieved (the URL

(Only when when quotation day when you
available) available) marks) accessed From …
the website)

See example:
“New child vaccine gets funding boost”. (2001). Retrieved October 21, 2010, from
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/story_13178.asp

In-Text Citations

In-text citations are used when ideas by other authors are used in our work. The APA
style in-text citation includes the Author and date, either both inside parentheses or with
the author names in running text and the date in parentheses. This is done to give credit
to the Author with an in-text citation.

For example:
The total number of cars increased by 30% between 2010 and 2014 (Baldacchino, 2015).
OR
Baldacchino (2015) states that the total number of cars increased by 30% between 2010
and 2014.
[Note that the complete reference of the book or webpage by Baldacchino must be
included in the bibliography. ]
Evidence

If the Author is unknown, the student must write the article's title in between inverted
commas: ("The World", 2018)

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If the title is unknown, the student must write the name of the website: (EducationCity,
2019)

The student must write 'n.d.' if the year is unknown: ("The World", n.d.)

Evidence

The student must put extra photographs (any extra ones left out of the journal), email
correspondence, interview/questionnaires, leaflets, video recordings (DVDs), diagrams,
pictures, designs, articles, and documents in this section. The items should be organised
and numbered correctly.

There should be an Evidence for each type of item. For example:

Evidence A – Interviews/Questionnaires
Evidence B – Email Correspondence
Evidence C – Leaflets
Evidence D - Documents
Etc.

All evidence, be it in the journal or the evidence section, needs to be relevant and
conducive to the project's aim. It needs to be explained, analysed [with a caption], and
referenced with a figure number. When referencing items in the evidence section, the
student must use the following method: (see Evidence A, fig. 3).

General Instructions

In the case of aesthetics projects, students should present their artefact and other related
material in a separate container.

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