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Extended Essay 专题论文: STEP 7. Interim Reflection Meeting

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Skills development in the EE

The process of researching and writing the EE represents the IB learner profile in action. Being open-minded, principled and reflective are key. The EE allows students to develop skills required for both tertiary education and employment in the 21st century. These skills relate closely to both the assessment criteria of the EE and approaches to teaching and learning within an IB education.

Preparation for the Interim Reflection session

This session is a continuation of the dialogue between supervisor and student in which the student must demonstrate the progress they have made in their research. They must also be able to discuss any challenges they have encountered, offer their own potential solutions and seek advice as necessary.

During this session the supervisor might discuss:

  • a completed piece of sustained writing from the student in order to ensure that they understand the academic writing requirements, including referencing formats
  • whether an appropriate range of sources has been accessed and how the student is critically evaluating the origin of those sources
  • what the student now has to do in order to produce the full draft of their essay, and ways and means of breaking down the task into manageable steps.

By the end of the interim reflection session both student and supervisor should feel satisfied that there is:

  • a clear and refined research question
  • a viable argument on which to base the essay
  • a sufficient range of appropriate sources
  • a clear vision for the final steps in the writing process.

Between the interim session and the completion of the extended essay, students should continue to see their supervisor as appropriate to their needs, although the third and final reflection session should not take place until after the extended essay has been completed and uploaded for submission.

source from: IB

Reflection Prompts

While these suggestions aren’t fail-proof, these sentence starters might helps to encourage more reflection and evaluation, rather than description:

  • This topic about _________ interests me because
  • I chose to write about _________ because
  • I have now modified my research question because__________
  • When researching for secondary source material, I found that
  • When citing secondary sources, I have learned that
  • When structuring my essay, I know I need to
  • At first, I_____however, now I _______
  • Now that I have written a first draft, I understand that
  • So far, my organisational skills have been _____ because
  • I am developing my analytical skills by
  • After my supervisor suggested that I ______ I am now intending to
  • After receiving feedback, I have decided to
  • Next, I intend to
  • Before my final submission, I need to
  • One challenge I have faced is
  • I have had difficulty
  • When editing my essay, I noticed that
  • My time-management skills have
  • One limitation of my essay is that
  • I believe one successful aspect of my essay is that
  • If I were to do the essay again, I would
  • If I had more time, I would have

What's Expected?

Handy Links:

Criterion E:  Engagement

What It Means:  This criterion 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 RPPF (Reflections on planning and progress form).

Questions to ask:  

  • Have you demonstrated your engagement with your research topic and the research process?
  • Have you highlighted challenges you faced and how you overcame them?
  • Will the examiner get a sense of your intellectual and skills development?
  • Will the examiner get a sense of your creativity and intellectual initiative?
  • Will the examiner get a sense of how you responded to actions and ideas in the research process?

(Source: IBO.org)