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Are you working on your Extended Essay reflections and you're unsure how to meet the assessment criteria? Clastify comes to the rescue! Below you will find a detailed guide that will help you understand what EE reflections are, how they are graded, and how to write them to receive the maximum points.
Extended Essay Reflections
The final criterion in the EE assessment is Criterion E: Reflection, worth 4 points. It is evaluated based on the Reflections and Progress Form (RPF) that you are required to submit along with your extended essay.
Reflections and Progress Form (RPF)
This document serves as a record of your thoughts on your planning and progress, as well as the content of your discussions with your supervisor. You are required to participate in three formal reflection sessions with your supervisor. The first session should center around your initial ideas and your research plans. The interim session occurs after a substantial portion of your research has been conducted. The final session will take the form of a viva voce interview after you have finished and submitted your Extended Essay (EE). After yo have completed all three reflection sessions, you will be required to submit a reflective statement outlining your EE-writing journey, right from brainstorming ideas to overcoming challenges. The total word count for the reflective statement on the RPF should not exceed 500 words.
Criterion E: Reflection
For a maximum of 4 points:
The RPF form showcases the student's progress and active involvement in the writing process.
The student outlines the skills acquired during the extended essay writing journey and critically assesses their approach to completing the EE.
Challenges faced during the process are described in detail, along with the strategies employed to address them.
The document reflects the personal significance and relevance of the work undertaken.
The reflections demonstrate clear evidence of intellectual and personal growth throughout the EE journey.
The student shows "transfer of learning" by explaining how the skills they gained can be used in other contexts, like future studies or careers.
Suggested Breakdown of the Reflective Statement
The reflective statement needs to be 500 words in total, and needs to outline insights you gained from each of your three reflection sessions with your EE supervisor. In this section, we'll outline our suggested breakdown of how many words to spend on each part of the reflective statement, but feel free to change this as you see fit!
After the first reflection session
We suggest devoting around 100 words to the first part of the reflective statement. In this early stage of your investigation right after beginning the reflection sessions with your supervisor, you are expected to describe your idea of the topic and research question for the extended essay. Discuss the possible approaches to answering the question as well as the reason for choosing this specific topic. Summarize the steps that you have undertaken so far.
Guiding questions:
What interests me about this research topic and what drives my exploration in this area?
What approaches could I take to conduct this research?
Are the research methods I've chosen appropriate for the subject area?
Is my research area sufficiently focused?
What potential challenges do I foresee encountering during my research?
How do I plan to employ the sources I've gathered?
After the second reflection session
The second reflection session is usually held around the middle of your writing process, approximately at the end of DP1 or early in DP2, depending on your school's EE deadline. You should dedicate around 200 words towards the reflective statement after this second reflection session. Discuss the progress that occurred in your investigation so far, as well as what challenges you faced and what your solutions were to address the encountered problems. Comment on the resulting changes that you adopted (perhaps you decided on a different research question or changed the methodology).
Guiding questions:
How has my topic evolved from the starting point?
Where do I currently stand? What do I do next?
How do I assess the reliability and relevance of my sources?
What problems did I encounter and how did I decide to solve them?
What are the biggest challenges to completing my extended essay at the moment?
Is there anywhere that I need to ask for extra help from my supervisor?
After the third reflection session
Use the remaining 200 words for the final part of the reflective statement. Comment on your entire EE writing journey. Discuss what it has taught you and what skills have you acquired. Discuss how the skills you gained through writing the EE can help you in your future studies at university. You should make sure to explain your thoughts in a reflective way instead of only describing what you did without any critical evaluation of the learning process.
Guiding questions:
What is the most significant lesson I've learned from this experience?
Which obstacle presented the greatest difficulty, and how did I manage to overcome it?
What further questions have come up as a result of my investigation?
What conclusions have I reached regarding the topic?
What I would have done differently if I were to repeat the experiment?
For a good example of an EE reflective statement, check out this post.
We hope you found this post helpful. For more useful materials associated with the IB, check out the wide variety of IA, EE and TOK exemplars available at Clastify and other guides available on our blog.
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