IA CriteriaThe new assessment model contains five criteria:
Personal Engagement (PE), Exploration (EX), Analysis (AN),
Evalation (E!), and "ommnication ("#)$PE EX AN EV CM TotalMaximum
Marks2 6 6 6 4 24Percentage8% 25% 25% 25%
!%""%17%25%25%25%8%PEEXANEVCMThere is some overlap %t generally the
&A:'$ &s shorter( a%ot )*** words$)$ +e,ires less extensive
spporting literatre$ -st enogh relevant %ac.grond context to
evidence nderstanding / even from and &0 text %oo.$ 1$ "an %e
on a solidly sylla%s relevant topic$ 2$ &s less prescriptive in
its formal re,irements$3$ "an rationali4e sole se of secondary data
only explorations for the PE$What Can I Do?The method cold involve
any of the following:5practical la% experiment5modelling activity
sing a spreadsheet5analysis of data ta.en from a data%ase5a hy%rid
practical la% with analysis of secondary data5an investigation sing
an open(ended simlationPersonal Engagement56as the personal
experience helped design the investigation75&t doesn8t need to
%e %rand new research5#st demonstrate independent thoght in: choice
of topic, method of the experiment or presentation of reslts5&f
the experiment is too simple, it will %e hard to achieve high mar.s
in the EX and AN sections Personal EngagementMarksEvidence of
personal engagemen !i" e#ploraion$%"e &'si(caion given for
c"oosing "e researc" )'esion and*or "e opic 'nder
invesigaion$Evidence of personal inp' and iniiaive in "e designing+
implemenaion or presenaion$2Clear #it$ signi%cant
in&e'en&ent t$inking( initiati)e or creati)it*+,emonstrates
'ersonal signi%cance( interest or curiosit*+A lot1-imite& #it$
little in&e'en&ent t$inking( initiati)e or insig$t+,oes not
&emonstrate 'ersonal signi%cance( interest or
curiosit*+-ittle,.tan&ar& not reac$e&+.tan&ar&
not reac$e&+ .tan&ar& not
reac$e&+Exploration59evelop yor initial ideas into a wor.a%le
method for an experiment$ 5Needs to %e planned with reference to
yor scientific .nowledge$ 5A general discssion of the %iological
topic is not enogh, information needs to %e clearly focsed on the
research ,estion %eing tested$What is expected5a precise
investigation research ,estion and associated %iology theory$5a
clear method inclding varia%les, controls and a description of the
data to %e collected5enogh data for analysis ( leading to a
conclsion$5safety considerations ( ris. assessment ( and disposal
of any chemicals5+eference to the &0 gidelines for se of
animals (inclding hmans) / not needed for virtal la%s
etc$ExplorationMarks%"e opic of "e invesigaion is ideni(ed and
researc" )'esion$-ackgro'nd informaion provided for "e invesigaion
is$Appropriaeness of "e me"odolog. of "e invesigaion$Consideraion
of facors "a ma. in/'ence "e relevance relia0ili. and s'1cienc. of
colleced daa$Evidence of a!areness of "e signi(can safe.+ e"ical or
environmenal iss'es2/ele)ant an& 0ull* 0ocuse&+Entirel*
a''ro'riate an& rele)ant an& en$ances t$e
un&erstan&ing o0 t$e context o0 t$e
in)estigation+1ig$l*Nearl* all 0actors consi&ere&+2ull 3
all 'otential $a4ar&s i&enti%e& an& &ealt #it$
a''ro'riatel*3/ele)ant 5ut not 0ull* 0ocuse&+Mainl* a''ro'riate
an& rele)ant an& ai&s t$e un&erstan&ing o0 t$e
context o0 t$e in)estigation+Mainl*.ome 0actors
consi&ere&+-imite&2.ome rele)ance 5ut not
0ocuse&+.u'er%cial or o0 limite& rele)ance an& &oes
not ai& t$e un&erstan&ing o0 t$e context o0 t$e
in)estigation-imite&2e# 0actors
consi&ere&+.omeAnalysis59ata collection and processing$
5#st collect sfficient data, even if yo have to repeat some of the
data collection or find data from a simlation or data%ase to
reinforce the data collected$5All analysis and data processing
shold %e done with the aim of answering the research ,estion$
Analysis5&f varia%ility in the data ma.es it difficlt to
identify a clear conclsion yo shold demonstrate this varia%ility
and write a%ot it in the analysis$5The word :conclsion; in the
analysis refers to what the graph shows or how a statistical test
spports the conclsion$ 5"onclsions shold %e %ased on data collected
not on theory or expectations$5The comparison of the conclsion to
the research ,estion comes in the Evalation section$AnalysisMarks
4a! daa is 5aa processing6mpac of 'ncerainies6nerpreaion of
processed daa2.u6cient+ Coul& su''ort a &etaile&
an& )ali& conclusion+A''ro'riate an& su6cient accurac*
ena5les a conclusion to t$e /7 to 5e &ra#n t$at is 0ull*
consistent #it$ &ata+2ull an& a''ro'riate
consi&eration+Correct )ali& an& &etaile&
conclusion+3/ele)ant 5ut incom'lete+ Coul& su''ort a sim'le or
'artiall* )ali& conclusion+A''ro'riate an& su6cient+
Coul& lea& to a 5roa&l* )ali& conclusion 5ut
signi%cant inaccuracies an& inconsistencies in t$e
'rocessing+.ome consi&eration+8roa&l* )ali& limite&
conclusion+29nsu6cient to su''ort a )ali& conclusion+8asic(
inaccurate or too insu6cient to lea& to a )ali&
conclusion-ittle consi&eration+9ncorrect or insu6cient
in)ali& or )er* incom'lete, .tan&ar& not
reac$e&+.tan&ar& not reac$e&+.tan&ar& not
reac$e&+Evaluation59oes the conclsion spport yor original
thin.ing which (explained in the Exploration section)5&f not,
discss the limitations of the method and sggest how it cold %e
changed to ena%le collection of data that cold lead to a stronger
conclsion$5&f it does spport the original thin.ing then the
varia%ility of the data can %e mentioned to spport a statement a%ot
the relia%ility of the conclsion$5&n the evalation the focs is
on the limitations of the method and how to improve the
investigationEvaluationMarksConcl'sion daaConcl'sion "eor.7reng"s
and !eaknesses of "e invesigaion+ s'c" as limiaions of "e daa and
so'rces of error+ are4ealisic and relevan s'ggesions for "e
improvemen and e#ension of "e invesigaion$2,escri5e& in
&etail an& :usti%e&( entirel* rele)ant to t$e /7 0ull*
su''orte& 5* t$e &ata+;usti%e& t$roug$ rele)ant
com'arison to t$e acce'te& scienti%c context+,iscusse&
an& 'ro)i&e e)i&ence o0 a clear un&erstan&ing
o0 t$e met$o&ological issues in)ol)e& in esta5lis$ing t$e
conclusion+Are &iscusse&+ 3,escri5e&( rele)ant to t$e
researc$ =uestion an& su''orte& 5* t$e &ata+.ome
rele)ant com'arison to acce'te& scienti%c context+,escri5e&
an& 'ro)i&e e)i&ence o0 some a#areness o0 t$e
met$o&ological issues in)ol)e& in esta5lis$ing t$e
conclusion+.ome &escri5e&+ 2>utline& 5ut ma* not 5e
rele)ant to t$e researc$ =uestion or ma* not 5e su''orte& 5*
t$e &ata+Erroneous or su'er%ciall* com'are& to t$e
acce'te& scienti%c context+>utline& 5ut are
restricte& to an account o0 t$e 'ractical or 'roce&ural
issues 0ace&+Ver* 0e# outline&+ ,.tan&ar& not
reac$e&+.tan&ar& not reac$e&+.tan&ar& not
reac$e&+ .tan&ar& not reac$e&+ Communication5"overs
the whole investigation$ 5A good report can %e read easily withot
re(reading sections$5All the information shold %e focsed on the
research ,estion$5The voca%lary shold %e s%
