By RJ Tarr at www.activehistory.co.

uk, using essential information from the IBO Extended Essay guide

Engagement - The Reflections on Planning and Progress Form

▪ This criterion, part of the formal mark scheme, assesses the student’s engagement with their research focus and the research process. It
will be applied by the examiner at the end of the assessment of the essay, after considering the student’s Reflections on planning and
progress Form (RPPF).

▪ Students are expected to provide reflections on the decision-making and planning process undertaken in completing the essay. Students
must demonstrate how they arrived at a topic as well as the methods and approach used. This criterion assesses the extent to which a
student has evidenced the rationale for decisions made throughout the planning process and the skills and understandings developed.

For example, students may reflect on:

• the approach and strategies they chose, and their relative success
• the Approaches to learning skills they have developed and their effect on the student as a learner
• how their conceptual understandings have developed or changed as a result of their research
• setbacks they faced in their research and how they overcame these
• questions that emerged as a result of their research
• what they would do differently if they were to undertake the research again.

▪ Effective reflection highlights the journey the student has engaged in through the EE process.
▪ Students must show evidence of critical and reflective thinking that goes beyond simply describing procedures that have been followed.
▪ The reflections must provide the examiner with an insight into student thinking, creativity and originality within the research process.
▪ The student voice must be clearly present and demonstrate the learning that has taken place.

In Managebac, three reflection spaces are provided.

June: First Reflection session – complete this to reflect your progress by the end of the Extended Essay day. Use it to demonstrate:
▪ how your arrived at your topic of study and why it’s historically significant.
▪ your planned scope / approach / structure
▪ The sources you settled upon use and how you decided upon them
▪ The progress you made up to and including the Extended Essay day - not just in terms of content, but of insight and skills
▪ Challenges and difficulties you faced
▪ Comments and suggestions made by your supervisor
▪ How you changed your question / approach / sources as necessary to meet these challenges

October: Interim Reflection – complete this after the first draft of your Extended Essay has been marked by your supervisor. Cover:
▪ The progress you made up over the Summer holidays – not just in terms of content, but of insight and skills
▪ Challenges and difficulties you faced
▪ Comments and suggestions made by your supervisor
▪ How you changed your question / approach / sources as necessary to meet these challenges

(after final submission of EE): Final Reflection - Viva Voce

▪ This box will be completed after the Viva Voce interview with your supervisor. The following questions might come up.
 Why did you decide upon this particular topic of study?
 What would you do differently next time?
 What advice would you give to the DP1 students who will be starting their EEs later this year?
 What did you learn from this exercise (apart from content)?
 Do you think confirmation bias influenced your research? If so, how could you address or avoid that in future?
 If you had more time and words, where would you have gone with this?
 What was your favourite part of the research process?
 When you discussed your EE with friends/parents/teachers who don't know this topic, how did you describe it to
them?
 In what ways and for what reasons did your EE change from the initial proposal to the final version?
 What was your most interesting/surprising finding?
 What could we (school/teachers/supervisor) have done differently to make this experience better?
 Describe the route that took you from topic, research question and on to your conclusions.
 Consider some of your key findings. How and when did they emerge?
 Identify a key challenge or obstacle in the EE process and how you overcame it.
 What qualities are needed to see the EE through to a successful completion?
 What IB Learner Profile attributes did you develop in this process?
 Which ATL skills have you developed through this process?