Reflections

“I am capable of more than I had ever imagined”

Reflections on planning and progress form

Completing the 'Reflections on planning and progress form' (RPPF) is a requirement for the submission of the extended essay. It plays an important role in the assessment of the final essay and of the student’s engagement with the process of independent research.

The maximum total word limit for the three reflections on the RPPF is 500 words. Examiners will not read or assess beyond the maximum limit. Students whose word count exceeds this will compromise the assessment of their reflection as higher order reflections are be more likely to be present in the latter stages of the reflection process.

It should be noted that the RPPF must be completed in the language of the student’s extended essay submission. Please be aware that RPPFs submitted in a language other than that of the essay will be awarded 0 for this criterion.

If the RPPF is not submitted, or is blank, a 0 will be awarded for criterion E.

An important note

Once students have written their reflection and this has been initialled and dated by their supervisor they must not make changes to these comments - this could be a case for academic dishonesty. Examiners want to see the progression of ideas through the three reflection comments and if students make amendments at a later stage of the process this will undermine the authenticity of their experiences and affect the way in which examiners apply criterion E.

In appropriate circumstances, as long as reflection statements are not qualitatively changed, supervisors may oversee and authorise the deletion of content from the first and interim reflections in order to enable a student to include sufficient words in their final reflection.

"Some years after leaving school, I still find myself citing my EE in conversations ."

Exemplar RPPF

This completed RPPF enabled the student to receive full marks for Criterion E: Engagement. Read the reflections made and think about the themes of what is being written for each reflection.

reflections exemplar.pdf

Reflection 1

Approximately 150 words.

This reflection should focus on a descriptive nature; consider a selection of the most relevant of the following questions to help steer you.

Why is the topic/research question appropriate and worthy of study?
How have you moved from the topic to your specific research question?
Does your research question need to be modified in light of your initial research?
How has the ToK knowledge framework developed your idea?
How did you undertake the necessary research?
Were you successful in gathering the data/information/evidence that you wanted?
Does the data you have collected so far allow you to answer your research question?
Do you need more sources of information in order to answer your question? Where might you find the data required?
What issues or questions have emerged from your data collection/research that you were not anticipating?
What were the problems you faced? How did you tackle these problems?
Did your approach or methodology change in any way during the process so far?
What investigations are you undertaking?
What anticipated difficulties and challenges can you foresee in the next stage of the process? How do you intend to tackle or resolve these challenges?
Are there any issues or questions emerging from your data collection and research that you did not anticipate?
What have been the high and the low points of the research process?

Reflection 2

Approximately 150 words.

This reflection should focus on an analytical nature; consider a selection of the most relevant of the following questions to help steer you.

Did you change your approach or methodology during the process? If so, why did you do this?
Do you feel that you have a sufficient range of appropriate secondary research sources, as well as any relevant primary research sources that supplement your work? How do you know this?
What issues have you faced gathering data/information/evidence?
What have you learnt about applying research to develop an argument?
How have you critically evaluated the source materials used in producing the draft of your essay?
What have you learnt about the skills needed to undertake the research successfully?
How has your understanding of the topic and research question developed throughout the process so far?
What will you need to do in order to complete the final draft of your essay?

Reflection 3

Approximately 200 words.

This reflection should focus on an evaluative nature; consider a selection of the most relevant of the following questions to help steer you.

If you were to do this research question again, what would you do differently and why?
Were there any surprises in your learning journey? What did you learn from this?
What does success mean to you in the process of producing your EE?
To what extent do you think you have been successful in this process?
What were the limitations you experienced in this process?
Were the strategies you used for your research question the most appropriate for achieving success?
If you used alternative research methodologies and/or subject-specific theories, would this have led to a different outcome?
Are there any new or unanswered questions that emerged as a result of your research?
How could this investigation be developed further in the future?
How have you changed as a result of this process?
How have you benefited from having completed this process?
What advice would you give to next year's student who have yet to write their EE?

Page updated

Report abuse