Reflections

What is a reflection? 

Reflection is an activity in which you recapture your experience and think about its impact on you as a learner. This includes how you envisage transferring the skills and lessons you have learned to other circumstances, including future studies, career or life in general.

To assist you with this, there are three formal reflection sessions with your supervisor.

Your reflective thinking is recorded as a 500-word reflective statement that is written at the end of the extended essay process.

Keeping an ongoing record of your reflective thinking will support you in the writing of the reflective statement.

The researcher’s reflection space

Use of an RRS is strongly recommended because it will allow you to understand and articulate your extended essay experience and the decisions you make more clearly. An RRS supports learning, thinking, critical analysis and evaluation, and helps you produce an extended essay that you will be proud of. Importantly, it is an excellent source when it comes to writing your reflective statement towards the end of the process.

The RRS is a personal learning environment that can be either a physical or virtual support tool. It is a space that helps you to connect personally with your topic and keep yourself motivated, a place where you can record reflections on what you are reading, writing and thinking. The RRS will help you prepare for reflection sessions with your supervisor as you look back on:

• personal reflections of the process of researching and writing your extended essay

• your responses to artefacts such as photos, newspaper clippings, social media feeds, blogs

• reactions to discussions that occurred in your classes or elsewhere

• your brainstorming of ideas

• your record of emerging questions.

Your RRS is also a planning tool that helps to scaffold the development of approaches to learning skills and conceptual understandings that are revealed as you research. The RRS can track the evolution of your thinking because it relates to the development of the line of argument in your essay. Think of your RRS as an expression of your voice in the overall extended essay experience, and do not hesitate to use excerpts from it when you speak with your supervisor. This brings a real sense of ownership and authenticity to your discussions, as well as demonstrating your planning and progress, and sharing what you are learning.

Reflection sessions and check-ins

It is important to distinguish between check-ins with your supervisor and the three mandatory reflection sessions. They are not the same.

You are encouraged to check in with your supervisor in between the mandatory, formal reflection sessions. How often you do this will depend on your needs and your supervisor’s requirements. A check-in may be a quick 10-minute chat about a timeline or clarification of feedback. Or it could be a longer discussion about, for example, access to resources. These check-ins do not form part of the formal reflection process and do not need to be recorded on the RPF. Nevertheless, they are an important part of the supervision process.