PERSONAL ENGAGEMENT

The first criterion of assessment is ‘Personal engagement’. This concerns the extent to which you make the investigation ‘your own’. Personal engagement can be recognised in several different ways. For example, addressing a personal interest, showing creativity, initiative or independent thinking. This might be in the choice of research question, the designing or in the implementation of the investigation. It has some similarities with the 'holistic criterion' for the Extended Essay.

To score the maximum of two marks the Individual Scientific Investigation needs to:

• Show clear evidence of significant independent thinking or creativity.
• Demonstrate personal significance, interest or curiosity in the choice of research question or topic under investigation.
• Provide evidence of personal input and initiative in the design, implementation or presentation.

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Nobody expects you to come up with something new to mankind in ten hours. You can show personal engagement in your choice of research question in several different ways. It may be that the topic is related to your own or a family member’s interest. For example, a particular drug someone has been prescribed, a possible pollution problem in the neighbourhood etc. You may take a standard approach but apply it to a new situation or you might extend or examine something you have learned in class or elsewhere. What is extremely important is that in your written investigation you clearly state why they chose the research question and explain its significance.

Students should avoid simplistic investigations where a ‘recipe’ is followed and the results are obvious. Some of the ways in which personal engagement can be shown include:

• Modifying apparatus or a standard method in order to fit the research question,
• Designing a novel method using simple materials or ideas,
• Combining seemingly unrelated areas to make connections
• Extending a known method to previously untried examples.

The presentation of the investigation is also assessed under the Communication criterion. What is required under ‘Personal engagement’ is whether the presentation is intellectually neat in the way that it addresses the research question and how it shows and presents evidence of personal input. For example, it might include a drawing or photograph of how equipment has been modified or explain how simple materials have been adapted to help solve the problem.