IB CP Core: Reflective Project 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student completes their Reflective Project but does not submit the required Reflective Statement alongside it. What is the likely consequence?
- The project is returned for resubmission with no penalty
- The student may lose marks on the reflection criterion (Correct answer)
- The examiner grades only the body of the project at full marks
- The project is automatically awarded a passing grade
Correct answer: The student may lose marks on the reflection criterion
The reflective component is assessed under Criterion D, so omitting it directly reduces the marks available in that criterion.
Question 2: Which scenario BEST demonstrates that a student has successfully connected their Reflective Project to the IB CP service learning experience?
- The student mentions community service in the introduction as a formality
- The student reflects on how service learning challenged their assumptions about the ethical issue (Correct answer)
- The student counts service hours as a substitute for research hours
- The student writes about service learning in a separate appendix
Correct answer: The student reflects on how service learning challenged their assumptions about the ethical issue
Genuine integration means the service learning experience actively informed the student's ethical thinking, not just appearing as a passing mention.
Question 3: Which of the following would constitute academic misconduct in the Reflective Project?
- Using a quote from a book and citing it correctly in footnotes
- Submitting a project that someone else wrote on the student's behalf (Correct answer)
- Interviewing a professional and including their name in the bibliography
- Changing an argument after receiving supervisor feedback
Correct answer: Submitting a project that someone else wrote on the student's behalf
Submitting work produced by another person as one's own is a clear violation of IB academic integrity policy.
Question 4: What does virtue ethics emphasize when analyzing an ethical issue in the Reflective Project?
- The duty-based rules that govern professional behavior
- The character traits and moral virtues of the people involved (Correct answer)
- The legal consequences of the action under examination
- The greatest happiness principle across all stakeholders
Correct answer: The character traits and moral virtues of the people involved
Virtue ethics, associated with Aristotle, focuses on the character and virtues of moral agents rather than rules or outcomes.
Question 5: A student's Reflective Project concludes by recommending a policy change in their career field. Which criterion does a well-reasoned recommendation most directly strengthen?
- Criterion A: Identification of the issue
- Criterion B: Knowledge and understanding
- Criterion C: Risk-taking and creativity (Correct answer)
- Criterion D: Reflection
Correct answer: Criterion C: Risk-taking and creativity
Proposing a concrete, reasoned recommendation shows intellectual risk-taking and creative synthesis, which are assessed under Criterion C.
Question 6: Why is it important for students to keep a process journal throughout the Reflective Project?
- The process journal is submitted to the IB as a separate graded component
- It helps students track their thinking, decisions, and development to inform the reflective component (Correct answer)
- The supervisor uses it to write the student's report on their behalf
- IB rules require a minimum of 50 journal entries before submission
Correct answer: It helps students track their thinking, decisions, and development to inform the reflective component
A process journal documents evolving thought and key decisions, providing material that enriches the reflective component of the final project.
Question 7: When a student identifies that their ethical issue affects multiple cultural communities differently, which IB Learner Profile attribute are they demonstrating?
- Balanced (Correct answer)
- Knowledgeable
- Communicator
- Inquirer
Correct answer: Balanced
The 'Balanced' attribute involves understanding and appreciating different cultural perspectives and recognizing that issues may be experienced differently across communities.
IB CP Core: Reflective Project 5
A student completes their Reflective Project but does not submit the required Reflective Statement alongside it.
What is the likely consequence?