IB CP Core: Reflective Project 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student's career-related study is in culinary arts. Which Reflective Project topic would be MOST appropriately linked to that field?
- The ethics of factory farming and its impact on the food industry (Correct answer)
- The history of French cuisine in the 20th century
- A comparison of Michelin star restaurant menus
- Calorie counting techniques for athletes
Correct answer: The ethics of factory farming and its impact on the food industry
Factory farming raises genuine ethical tensions around animal welfare, sustainability, and industry practice directly relevant to culinary arts professionals.
Question 2: What is the primary role of the supervisor in the Reflective Project process?
- To write sections of the project for the student
- To provide guidance, feedback, and authenticate the student's work (Correct answer)
- To select the ethical issue the student will investigate
- To grade the final project before IB submission
Correct answer: To provide guidance, feedback, and authenticate the student's work
Supervisors guide students through the process and authenticate that the work is genuinely the student's own, but do not write or choose topics for them.
Question 3: Which philosophical framework would a student use if they argued that the ethical rightness of an action depends entirely on its consequences?
- Deontological ethics
- Virtue ethics
- Consequentialism (Correct answer)
- Divine command theory
Correct answer: Consequentialism
Consequentialism, including utilitarianism, evaluates the morality of actions based on their outcomes or consequences.
Question 4: A student argues in their Reflective Project that a practice is wrong because it violates a professional duty, regardless of outcomes. Which ethical lens is this?
- Consequentialism
- Deontology (Correct answer)
- Relativism
- Egoism
Correct answer: Deontology
Deontological ethics focuses on duties, rules, and obligations rather than consequences as the basis for moral judgment.
Question 5: What does 'academic honesty' require of a student when they paraphrase a source in the Reflective Project?
- No citation is needed because the student rephrased the idea
- A citation is required because the idea originated with someone else (Correct answer)
- Only a footnote, not an in-text citation, is necessary
- The source must be quoted directly instead of paraphrased
Correct answer: A citation is required because the idea originated with someone else
IB academic integrity standards require citation whenever a student uses another person's ideas, whether quoted or paraphrased.
Question 6: Which of the following BEST describes a strong thesis statement for a Reflective Project?
- A broad question about the topic to be explored throughout the paper
- A clear, arguable claim that takes a position on the ethical issue (Correct answer)
- A summary of all sources the student plans to use
- A personal anecdote about how the student became interested in the topic
Correct answer: A clear, arguable claim that takes a position on the ethical issue
A strong thesis makes a specific, defensible claim that the rest of the project will support with evidence and reasoning.
Question 7: During the Reflective Project, a student discovers that their initial position on the ethical issue was oversimplified. What should they do?
- Ignore the new information to maintain a consistent argument
- Return to their supervisor and request a topic change
- Revise their analysis to incorporate the more nuanced understanding (Correct answer)
- Delete all earlier drafts and start from scratch without the old position
Correct answer: Revise their analysis to incorporate the more nuanced understanding
Revising one's position in response to new evidence demonstrates intellectual honesty and the kind of growth the Reflective Project is designed to foster.
IB CP Core: Reflective Project 3
A student's career-related study is in culinary arts.
Which Reflective Project topic would be MOST appropriately linked to that field?