Writing the RPPF

EE Reflections – Criterion E

The EE reflections are worth 6 marks and make up 18% of the overall EE grade.

Getting full marks in your reflections isn’t too difficult, and could boost your EE grade by a grade or more.

Word count of the RPPF

The RPPF should make up a total of 500 words, including all 3 reflections. It is recommended that your reflections 1,2 and 3 are either150, 150, 200 respectively
120, 180, 200 respectively
Depending on which parts of the EE were most difficult and require more reflection on. 
Download the RPPF

Top Tips:

  • Tie in the IB learner profiles
    • Show the IB guy that you’re a good IB student
  • Try to tick as many of the IB ‘boxes’ as you can. Whoever is marking your EE is probably only doing it for the extra cash and probably has a checklist of stuff to look out for.
  • Be honest. Loads of chem EEs are really difficult and laborious.
    • Don’t say everything was good if it wasn’t. You’ll probably get extra marks for talking about what went wrong
  • Check your reflections with your supervisor before they go off.

Reflection 1

Reflection 1 should focus on the initial stages of your EE:

  • Brainstorming and developing ideas
    • Why certain ideas were or weren’t chosen
  • The preliminary research that was done on the topic
  • What ideas you have for your next steps in terms of research
    • Will you research more into methodology?

Reflection 2

Should focus on the process of writing the draft and what feedback you received from your supervisor

  • The preliminary trials and data collection
    • What went wrong and how did you fix it?
  • The writing of the report
    • How did you structure and focus your essay?
  • What did you find challenging?
  • Are you happy with your draft
  • What important feedback did you get from your supervisor
    • Only include this is if you have space, it’s not as important.

Reflection 3

A final reflection on the entire process. This reflection should be the biggest by far.

  • What you learnt from the process
    • Through what? e.g. I developed a strong work ethic after having to spend large amounts of time analysing data
  • What went well
  • What was challenging
  • What did you enjoy
    • (if anything)
  • Things you found interesting
    • This could be experimental methods, or cool new chemical theory you learnt
  • How this could help you in the future?
    • If you’re going into a sciency uni course and/or job, you can write about it

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