This document provides guidance for students on structuring and writing their Personal Project Report. It outlines the required sections of the report including front page, cover pages, table of contents, body, appendices, works cited, and bibliography. The body should address the four criteria of investigating, planning, taking action, and reflecting. Guidance is provided for writing each criterion section, including what to discuss and reflect on. Students are advised to select up to 10 relevant extracts from their process journal to include in the appendices as evidence. Other tips covered include using MLA format, including photos, and word count. The goal is to help students understand how to concisely summarize their project learning and process in their final report.
3. Structure: What must the Report include?
1. Front page (with photo of product)
2. IBO Cover Page
3. Academic Honesty Page (IBO)
4. Academic Honesty Page (ICS)
5. Table of Contents
6. Body of the Report (including a few photos if relevant)
a. Criterion A: Investigating
b. Criterion B: Planning
c. Criterion C: Taking Action
d. Criterion D: Reflecting
7. Appendices - 10 pages maximum
a. Include extracts from Process Journal that you refer to directly
in the body of the report
8. Works Cited
a. Include all sources you cite in the body of your report
9. Bibliography
a. Include all sources you have USED to help your thinking, but
have NOT CITED in the body of your report
Maximum 3500 words (excluding the Appendices & Works Cited)
You MUST use MLA Format
- How to lay out your report in MLA -
Video
- Setting up your Google Doc in MLA
style
- Sample MLA Essay
- How to write in-text citations
5. Word Bank - powerful vocabulary to use in your writing
Influence
Connect
Evaluate
Evolve
Impact
Identify
Create
Select
Analyse
Formulate
Credible
Growth
Authenticate
Deviate
Organise
Prioritise
Obstruct
Achieve
Evaluate
Validate
Document
Critical
Negotiate
Consider
Generate
Responsibility
Brainstorm
Synthesise
Logical judgments
Inquire
Diverse perspectives
Assume
Recognise
Access Information
Read critically
Collect, verify &
process data
Make connections
Interpret
Interact
Structure
Respect
Transfer
Outline
Present
State
Define
Develop
6. i define a clear goal and global context for the project, based on personal
interests
ii identify prior learning and subject-specific knowledge relevant to the project
iii demonstrate research skills
Criterion A: Investigating
Assessment Descriptors
7. Criterion A: Investigating
i define a clear goal and global context for the project, based on personal
interests
Explain your goal (Past Tense)
❏ How did your personal interests influence the selection of your goal?
❏ Justify why your goal was highly challenging
❏ What did you create to achieve your goal?
Make the meaningful connection to the Global Context (GC)
❏ Why did you choose your GC?
❏ Which aspect of the GC did you explore?
❏ What was the relationship between your goal and GC?
*Remember - your choice of GC helps to lead your line of inquiry - your RESEARCH!
*if you have produced a questionnaire or survey you should describe and analyse it in the
report & include a segment of that completed survey
Reflect & Document
with Evidence
8. Criterion A: Investigating
ii identify prior learning and subject-specific knowledge relevant to the
project
Prior Learning (Past Tense)
❏ What did you know about your project before you started investigating and
how did this help you?
Subject Specific Knowledge
❏ What knowledge from your learning in school did you use in your project and
how did this help you? You must identify some learning in school.
*Analyse the relevance & contribution of your prior learning to your project
Refer to your information in PP: A: Investigating - Inquiry
Reflect & Document
with Evidence
9. Criterion A: Investigating
iii demonstrate research skills (Information literacy & media literacy)
Global Context
❏ How did the GC help to guide your research? (Past Tense)
Research
How did this research help you make decisions?
❏ What were those decisions?
❏ How did this research help you to move forward in a new way?
❏ What range of sources did you use?
❏ How did you you know your sources were credible? Accurate?
Relevant? Objective?
❏ How did you ‘store’ your sources? (NoodleTools ?) How was this
useful?
❏ Explain how you may have shared your research skills to help
❏ peers who needed more practice.
Refer to Survey / Questionnaire
Reflect & Document
with Evidence
Refer to OPVL Questions
* Discuss relevant source evaluation in
main body & include in appendices &
you must have a works cited at the back
of this report
10. i. develop criteria for the product/outcome
ii. plan and record the development process of the project
iii. demonstrate self-management skills
Criterion B: Planning
Assessment Descriptors
11. Criterion B: Planning
i. develop criteria for the product/outcome
Reflect & Document
with Evidence
Criteria
❏ What were your criteria? (Past Tense)
❏ Why did you select these? Justify your choice
❏ What makes your criteria personally challenging, specific, relevant, clearly-
explained?
❏ How are your criteria measureable?
❏ Are your criteria rigorous enough to define the characteristics of a high quality
product/outcome?
❏ Explain how relevant your research was to inform your criteria
❏ Explain any changes that you made during the course of the project
*Include your criteria (specifications) in the body of your text or refer to it and
include in the appendices - depending upon your final word count
Refer to Developing Criteria
12. Criterion B: Planning
ii. plan and record the development process of the project
Refer to your Process Journal
Reflect & Document
with Evidence
Planning
❏ Explain the the step-by-step process and timeline* you used as you worked
to complete your product
❏ Why did you choose this method?
❏ How was it helpful?
❏ Did you plan long and short term logical steps? Did/could this have helped?
❏ How did you record specific dates, deadlines and make records of any
necessary adjustments?
❏ Explain how decisions and actions related to the plan and any changes that
you made
❏ Explain the above & refer to specific process journal extracts you included
in your appendix
*this timeline can be included in your appendices
13. Criterion B: Planning
iii. demonstrate self-management skills
Refer to your Process Journal
Reflect & Document
with Evidence
Organisational skills
❏ How did you manage your time and resources effectively?
❏ What obstacles did you experience? How did you overcome those
obstacles?
❏ Justify your strengths and limitations
Affective skills
❏ How did you manage your state of mind (Perseverance, emotions
management, self-motivation, resilience)?
❏ What obstacles did you experience? How did you overcome those
obstacles?
❏ Justify your strengths and limitations
*refer to specific process journal extracts you included in your appendices
14. i. create a product/outcome in response to the goal, global context and
criteria
ii. demonstrate thinking skills
iii. demonstrate communication and social skills
Criterion C: Taking Action
Assessment Descriptors
15. Criterion C: Taking Action
i. create a product/outcome in response to the goal, global context and
criteria
Refer to your Process Journal
Reflect & Document
with Evidence
❏ Describe the product/outcome you created *Include photographs
In short state: you have created an excellent, substantial, basic or limited
product/outcome in response you your goal, global context and criteria - you
will reflect upon this in D
❏ Explain (with examples) how you referred to the Goal, Global Context
and Criteria when you were creating/making your product..did it help
you focus, did you follow this or diversify and to what degree?
● This criteria is about the PROCESS OF MAKING
● D is reflecting upon product after it is completed
Please note I have changed some of this to help not
repeat in D - Miss Caroline
16. Criterion C: Taking Action
ii. demonstrate thinking skills
Reflect & Document
with Evidence
Critical and Creative thinking skills
❏ Why did you choose to express your learning through your
product/outcome? = How does the product show what you have
learned about your topic?
❏ How does your product/outcome reflect new ideas and different
thinking? = how has developing your product make you see the topic
in a new/different light?
Transfer skills
❏ How did you transfer learning from your research to generate new
ideas or solve problems that helped to achieve your project’s goal?
= how the research you did help you to develop your product and
therefore meet your goal?
Refer to Approaches to Learning List
17. Criterion C: Taking Action
iii. demonstrate communication and social skills
Refer to your Process Journal
Reflect & Document
with Evidence
Communicating & collaborating with others
❏ With whom did you collaborate throughout your project? (supervisor, expert,
librarian, others)?
❏ How did you collaborate and how often?
❏ Were these sessions effective, if so how?
❏ If you were to do the project again how might you collaborate differently, and
why?
❏ How did you respond to feedback from others?
*refer to specific process journal extracts you included in your appendices
18. i. evaluate the quality of the product/outcome against their criteria
ii. reflect on how completing the project has extended their knowledge and
understanding of the topic and the global context
iii. reflect on their development as IB learners through the project
Criterion D: Reflecting
Assessment Descriptors
19. Criterion D: Reflecting
i. evaluate the quality of the product/outcome against their criteria
Identify your challenges and
your successes.
❏ what went well?
❏ what didn’t go well?
How did these
successes and
challenges inform your
decisions?
How did you grow as a
learner and a project
manager?
Refer to Product Evaluation Checklist
How did your product/outcome
meet each of the criteria that you
developed (specification)?
Reflect & Document
with Evidence
20. Use your Criteria to create a questionnaire and ask your audience to complete it
21. Criterion D: Reflecting
ii. reflect on how completing the project has extended their knowledge and
understanding of the topic and the global context
Refer to your Process Journal
Reflect & Document
with Evidence
Communicating with others
❏ How has completing the project extended your knowledge
and understanding of your topic?
❏ How has completing the project extended your knowledge
and understanding of the global context that you selected?
❏ How could you transfer your newly learned knowledge to
other areas of your life?
*refer to specific process journal extracts you included in your
appendices
22. Criterion D: Reflecting
iii. reflect on their development as IB learners through the project
Refer to Learner Profile Attributes
Reflect & Document
with Evidence
❏ Which IB Learner Profile Attributes did you develop throughout the
project?
23. Use these to help you to reflect - for the report use PAST TENSE
Reflection / Evaluation
How well did I do?
I used to think...now I think…
I should have realised...instead
I ….
I know...but I’m still not sure
about …
The most important thing I need
to remember is ….
I think… is a good or bad thing?
I discovered…
I learned…
I couldn’t believe…
I was surprised at…
I found out ...
Thinking & Decisions
I am confused about…
I ams disappointed by...so now I
will...
Instead of ...I am going to try…
I wonder…
I think…
It is ‘cool’ / amazing / surprising how
…
Were there any patterns in what I
did?
If … happened...what might the
ending have been?
How was… similar to…?
Can I distinguish between…?
What was the turning point?Why
did… changes occur?
What was the problem with…?
Future Action
I need help with…
I must ask...about …
If I do ...I imagine the result will
be ...so I need to do….to find
out
I need to test
I need time to …
I must plan my schedule to help
me…
My self-management is going
well because…
I need to manage my
organisation better in order to
...
25. Final Question Checklist click here
Criterion A: Investigating
Criterion B: Planning
Criterion C: Taking Action
Criterion D: Reflecting
26. The Final hand in: Report, Process Journal & Product
Friday, February 28 08.30 am
Students are to hand in their Product, Report, Process Journal, and Academic Honesty
Form:
● Report Copy 1/ Hard Copy to PP Coordinator DSC 5
● Report Copy 2/ Digitally uploaded to ManageBac as a PDF
● Process Journal all to be on ManageBac
● Process Journal ‘real book’ to be handed in to
Ms David (DSC
5) with the Report
● Product bring to exhibition,
March 9
● Proof of Product hard copy images (5 at most)
to DSC 5 with
Please include a photograph of the Product on the front cover of the report
27. In text Citations
All of their sources
Evidence to support
argument/reasoning
Works cited
Bibliography
Appendices = PJ
28. The Appendices / Process Journal Extracts
Show Process..Thinking!
❏ Extracts are are short sections from your process journal that exemplify
the knowledge, processes and skills you developed through the project
❏ Extracts are supporting evidence of the process and should be referred to in your
report
❏ You should select a maximum of 10 individual extracts to represent the key
developments of the project
❏ For assessment you will carefully select evidence from your process journal to
demonstrate development in all criteria
❏ These extracts are submitted as appendices of the report - ONLY include extracts
that you refer to directly in the body of the report
❏ You should select extracts that demonstrate how you have addressed each of
the objectives, or annotate extracts to highlight this information.
29. Selecting Process Journal Extracts - Maximum 10
An extract may include:
❏ visual thinking diagrams
❏ bulleted lists
❏ charts
❏ interviews/surveys
❏ notes or paragraphs
❏ thinking/decision-making
❏ timelines, action plans
❏ annotated illustrations
❏ annotated research
❏ artifacts from inspirational visits
to museums, performances,
galleries
❏ pictures, photographs, sketches
❏ up to 30 seconds of visual or
audio material
❏ screenshots of a blog or website
❏ self and peer assessment