IB CP Core: Reflective Project 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which primary source type is MOST appropriate to include in the Reflective Project when investigating a real-world ethical issue?
- Textbook definitions of the ethical issue
- Interviews with professionals directly involved in the issue (Correct answer)
- Wikipedia summaries of related events
- Newspaper editorials from a single perspective
Correct answer: Interviews with professionals directly involved in the issue
Primary sources such as interviews with professionals provide direct, firsthand evidence that strengthens the investigation's credibility.
Question 2: The Reflective Project requires students to engage with an ethical dilemma related to their career-related study. What does 'ethical dilemma' specifically mean in this context?
- A topic with a clear right and wrong answer
- A situation where two or more morally defensible positions conflict (Correct answer)
- A legal question about professional misconduct
- A personal moral failing to be confessed
Correct answer: A situation where two or more morally defensible positions conflict
An ethical dilemma involves genuine tension between competing values or obligations, neither of which is obviously wrong.
Question 3: How does the Reflective Project differ from a standard academic research paper?
- It requires more citations than a research paper
- It emphasizes personal reflection alongside academic analysis (Correct answer)
- It must be written in a foreign language
- It focuses solely on career skills rather than ideas
Correct answer: It emphasizes personal reflection alongside academic analysis
The Reflective Project uniquely combines rigorous inquiry with genuine personal reflection on the student's own development and learning.
Question 4: A student writes only about the positive aspects of their chosen ethical topic, ignoring opposing viewpoints. Which IB criterion does this most directly harm?
- Criterion A: Identification of the issue
- Criterion B: Knowledge and understanding of the issue (Correct answer)
- Criterion C: Risk-taking and creativity
- Criterion D: Reflection
Correct answer: Criterion B: Knowledge and understanding of the issue
Criterion B assesses balanced use of sources and understanding of multiple perspectives, which is undermined by a one-sided analysis.
Question 5: When a student revises their Reflective Project after feedback from their supervisor, what IB CP core principle does this process best demonstrate?
- Risk-taking
- Caring
- Principled
- Reflective (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Reflective
Acting on feedback by reconsidering and improving work is a hallmark of the IB Learner Profile attribute 'Reflective'.
Question 6: The IB recommends the Reflective Project be approximately how long?
- 1,000–1,500 words
- 2,000–3,000 words
- 3,000–4,000 words (Correct answer)
- 5,000–6,000 words
Correct answer: 3,000–4,000 words
The IB specifies a word count of approximately 3,000–4,000 words for the completed Reflective Project.
Question 7: Which section of the Reflective Project is specifically designed to show how the student's thinking evolved throughout the process?
- Introduction
- Literature review
- Conclusion
- Reflective component (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Reflective component
The reflective component is where students explicitly articulate how their understanding, perspectives, and skills developed over time.
IB CP Core: Reflective Project 2
Which primary source type is MOST appropriate to include in the Reflective Project when investigating a real-world ethical issue?