Below are samples of high scoring reflections
Sample 1 6/6
Reflection 1
Reading "Death at Seaworld" prompted me to design my research around the impact of bioaccumulated PCBs on Transient and Resident orcas. However, I soon found I had jumped into the topic without having done enough background research or formulating a clear research question. Moreover, the sources and data on this topic were not varied or sufficient enough to allow for the formulation of an argument. Thus, I've changed my research to dog nutrition, a topic which will allow me to apply knowledge learnt from my favourite biology topic: biochemistry. My interest in nutrition arose during my dog-sitting experiences as well as during my veterinary internships where I observed first-hand the importance of nutrition in animal health. This time, before starting the essay, I will determine a clear research question by taking an on line animal welfare course and gain enough background information to then write a structured essay plan
Reflection 2
A big challenge I've faced has been finding unbiased sources as the majority of sources on dog nutrition come from the dog food brands themselves. Thus, I've spent a lot of time corroborating and evaluating conflicting claims and evidence which has developed my critical-thinking skills. It has also been very insightful, allowing me to see firsthand how misleading health claims made by these brands can be. I've also found that my essay plan has been beneficial in guiding my research and developing my arguments. Though I started with a slight bias towards raw food, I've come to understand that it is not as simple as just one or the other. The more research I do, the more I've come to understand the intricacies and interconnections between essential macromolecules and animal physiology which has enhanced my appreciation of the complexity and importance of good nutrition.
Reflection 3
This research strengthened my critical-thinking skills as I had to analyze the nutritient contents myself using the knowledge I had gained through research. Though at first, I was unsure how to break down the health claims made by the brands, I found that my earlier analysis had been well-structured and clearly explained making it easy to form an argument. I also found keeping the word count down difficult as I was keen to put in as much information as possible. However, after speaking to my supervisor, I recognized that I had lots of detail not focused on the research question and learnt to be more concise. I acknowledge now that dog nutrition is not a simple topic and that the many misconceptions surrounding it leads to many preventable nutrition-related diseases. Conducting this research and furthering my knowledge with "Feeding Dogs" by Dr Conor Brady, I've also learnt that even veterinarians are not equipped to answer the question "What food is best for my dog?" because of the lack of nutritional education as well as the complex nature of and lack of research on this topic. Overall, this experience has furthered my interest and offered me the skills and insight into the area I wish to specialize in.
Sample 2 5/6
Reflection 1
During the first supervisor interview, we mainly worked on narrowing down the research question of my essay which was initially very vague. I have decided to focus on hydroelectric dams in Switzerland but need to find suitable measures that give an objective and well-rounded view of how dams help to improve communities. We est ablished the main format I'll use for my essay: firstly giving an overall perspective of the role of hydroelectric dams, then focusing on two contrasting case studies of dams, and finally comparing them to reach a conclusion based on my own reflection. Currently, I need to focus my research on hydroelectric dams and their role in Switzerland, finding suitable places for case studies where I can easily have access to data, and achieving a balance between content focused on geography and physics.
Refection 2
After my second meeting, I have chosen to expand my research question to include environmental impacts as well as economics so as to give a more rounded assessment of hydroelectric dams in Switzerland. Currently I am undecided over which direction to go with my case studies, I definitely want to investigate the impact of a large-scale gravity dam such as the Grande Dixence but I don't know which choice is best to show contrast. Another element I have been struggling with is getting data on the environmental and negative impacts of construction as the majority of large dams in Switzerland were built in the early-to-mid twentieth century, so not many records of local impacts are easily accessible. So far, I have not focused a lot of my research on the physics elements, apart from utilising concepts from the subject to explain the environmental impact of dams, but I will start researching the efficiency of the dams' turbines, how these turbines can be modernised, and optimised.
Reflection 3
Since submitting my extended essay, I feel a sense of achievement. When starting the essay and doing research, I was overwhelmed by the vast amount of information and the prospects of having to obtain a finished product, combined with the difficulty to find data which gave a critical view of hydropower in Switzerland. Gradually, however, things became more clear as I devised the structure of my essay and established the idea of what data needed quantifying. I believe what most helped me was my final research question. It encompassed global, national, and local issues I find incredibly important, which made me determined to try my best to resolve the problem and find an answer. If anything could be changed in the essay, I would make the links back to my subjects and their syllabi more explicit as, although both geography and physics are used and explored throughout my essay, the signposting is not always obvious. Ultimately, this essay also strengthened my desire to study civil engineering at university as I was completely drawn into the aspects which involved analysing the administration of hydroelectric projects and trying to observe the best way to mitigate negative effects while maximising energy production.
Sample 3 5/6
Reflection 1
Currently, I am at a point whereby I have just decided upon a first research question that will guide me throughout my research of this topic. In terms of how I plan to undertake my research, I have created a folder within my broader EE folder to drop in any interesting information that I discover while researching. This will also ease the task of citing sources, as all of the used sources will be contained in this folder. As there will likely be a large number of sources available online, the first stage will be to filter the information that is specific enough to my topic and dropping it into this folder. In regards to my research question, the question may change in the future if I notice that the information available is not specific enough to the topic and if I feel that the analysis the question provides is not concise.
Reflection 2
I am now at a point where I have gathered more research on the topic and have a general understanding of what the essay will entail. One difficulty I faced whilst doing my research was the lack of information available for one of my local examples, Nigeria. Because of this, I decided that it would be better to focus on another area, so I switched it to South Africa since there was more data available. However, I have realised that solely focusing on two countries will not provide enough data to make a stable conclusion on how development affects antibiotic resistance. Therefore, I may switch the local example to a specific antibiotic (fluoroquinolone) and focus on a larger spectrum of countries to mitigate this issue. This would be beneficial because it would provide more information to analyse and gives the possibility of producing graphs, allowing a possible correlation to be observed.
Reflection 3
The experience of writing this EE is one that will hold value when completing research projects in tertiary education. Despite the gruelling process of organising my research in a concise manner, the organisational and research skills this process has given me are evident. Perseverance has been vital throughout the process, particularly when having to acknowledge that my analysis section required restructuring as it lacked conciseness and clarity. My approach to writing the EE largely involved researching information in conjunction to writing the actual essay. This particular approach allowed me to start the process of writing much earlier, but hindered the planning aspect as there were moments where I was unsure which direction my analysis would take. However, gathering more information beforehand may have equally resulted in an overload of data, hindering any planning as the quantity of information may have been too large to properly organise. Thus, I have come to recognise that there is no approach that will prove optimal to everyone, but rather that each has its own set of flaws. Writing this EE has not only allowed me to consolidate a deeper understanding of antibiotic resistance, but also observe relationships between different subject groups.
Final sample - A reflection which did not score well. The following only received 2/6
Reflection 1
The first meeting with my EE supervisor made me much more aware of the issues with my proposal and that I have to change multiple things and make it more concise in order to have a good piece of writing. My supervisor also helped me realize that my original plan to compare two adult books would be a bit unrealistic and that it would maybe be easier and more effective to compare two different books that are part of two different genres (adult novel vs children's book). I found the two books that I wanted to focus on and will read and analyse them in the upcoming weeks so that I can get a start. She also helped me realize that my topic was far too vague and that I have to narrow it down. I normally go off topic, so this meeting was important to focus on staying on the right path. This meeting was very helpful and so I therefore think it is important that we had this meeting in order for me to stay on track and succeed in this piece of work.
Reflection 2
After writing my EE for a couple of months now, I have discovered a lot of things about the essay itself. I slightly modified and tweaked my research question so that it would be more applicable to both books instead of being exclusive to just one. My teacher helped me realize that I should be more specific about the writing itself, so I therefore changed structure (analysis of both books, similarities, differences, lit techniques, conclusion). Throughout this process, I also realized that I should spread my work out by writing little by little instead of all at once.
Reflection 3
The process of writing my EE was difficult but rich in learning experiences. I learnt that there is not a right or wrong way to interpret writing, and that it is purposefully written with the goal of having a multitude of understandings/perspectives. Through the different references and citations that I found, I grew a new understanding of simple ideas and concepts. I learnt how to properly sturcture an essay as well as being more aware of how much time I need to allocate to myself to properly write the essay. I struggled with the word count and making sure that it was under the 4000, because there was so much to say about each book. I also found it difficult to make the essay 50/50 and evenly spread out between the analysis of each book. On the other hand, I truly enjoyed the subject of this essay, considering it matches perfectly with what I want to do in University, Environmental Policy and Journalism. However, all of these experiences were the reasons that I was able to write a good extended essay that I was genuinely interested in.