A: Presentation Coherent Well organised Concise

0
1 Some coherence or some organisation
2 Some coherence and some organisation
3 Coherent and well organised
4 All All All
• Introduction • Introduction • DOES NOT show:
• Body flows well. • Describes Aim Repetitive
• Language of student • Conclusion calculations/
peers. • Graphs/tables/diagrams graphs/
• Parts link together in relevant place descriptions.
well. • Not to be placed in • Does not include
• Conclusion appendices work irrelevant to
Appendices for Large data the aim.
set/ additional graphs/
diagrams

B: Communication Relevant Appropriate Consistent

0
1 Some Partially
2 Some Relevant and Some Appropriate
3 All All Mostly
4 All All Throughout
Define (where required) • Appropriate language • Consistent
• Key terms • Notation
• Variables • Symbols
• Terminology
Multiple forms of maths
represented • Calculator and
• Formulae computer notation
• Diagrams accepted only if
• Tables software generated
• Charts
• Graphs
• Models

Deductive method
• Logical proof
 C: Personal Engagement Some Significant Outstanding
0
1 x
2 x
3 x
Personal interest. • Student demonstrates authentic personal
engagement

• On a few occasions • Numerous instances

and they are of a high
quality
• Evident that these drive the exploration forward
• in a creative way
• Student has
developed complete
understanding of
context of exploration
topic
• The reader better understands the writer’s
intentions.
Personal engagement
• Thinking independently or Creatively
• Presenting mathematical ideas in their own way
• Exploring the topic from different perspectives
• Making and testing predictions

Danger
• There must be evidence of personal engagement demonstrated in the student’s work. It is not sufficient that a
teacher comments that a student was highly engaged.
• Textbook style explorations or reproduction of readily available mathematics without the candidate’s own
perspective is unlikely to achieve the higher levels.
 Substantial (Critical
D: Reflection Limited Meaningful
reflection)
0
1 x
2 x
3 x
• Simply describing • Reflection linking to the Critical reflection:
results aims • Reflection that is
• Commenting on what crucial
they have learned • Deciding or deeply
• Considering some insightful.
limitation or comparing • It will often develop
different mathematical the exploration by
approaches. addressing the
mathematical results
and their impact on
the student’s
understanding of the
topic

Considering
• What next
• Different perspectives

Discussing
• Implications of results
• Strengths and
weaknesses of
approaches

Substantial evidence
• Critical reflection
present throughout.
• If it appears at the end
(conclusion) of the
exploration it must be
of high quality and
demonstrate how it
developed the
exploration in order to
achieve a level 3.
Reflection, how the student
• Reviews
• Analyses
• Evaluates

• Reflection may be seen in the conclusion to the exploration, it may also be found throughout the exploration.
 E: Use of Knowledge and Commensurate with
Relevant Mathematics
Mathematics understanding level of course
0
1 Some
2 Some Limited
3 Yes Limited Yes
4 Yes Some Yes Partially Correct
5 Yes Good Yes Mostly Correct
6 Yes Thorough Yes Correct
Relevant
• Mathematics that supports the development of the exploration towards the completion of its aim.
• Overly complicated mathematics where simple mathematics would suffice is not relevant.

A key word in the descriptor is demonstrated

• The command term demonstrate means to make clear by
o Reasoning
o Evidence
o Illustrating with examples
o or practical application
• Obtaining the correct answer is not sufficient to demonstrate understanding (even some understanding) in
order to achieve level 2 or higher.
• Knowledge and understanding to be thorough it must be demonstrated throughout.

Commensurate with level of course

• Produce work equivalent to DP level
• Should not be completely based on mathematics listed in the prior learning (MYP)
• Mathematics explored should either be part of the syllabus, or at a similar level

The Mathematics
• Regarded as correct even if there are occasional minor errors as long as they do not detract from the flow of
the mathematics or lead to an unreasonable outcome.
• Students are encouraged to use technology to obtain results where appropriate, but understanding must be
demonstrated in order for the student to achieve higher than level 1
o Merely substituting values into a formula does not necessarily demonstrate understanding
• The mathematics only needs to be what is required to support the development of the exploration.
• This could be a few small elements of mathematics or even a single topic (or sub-topic) from the syllabus.
• It is better to do a few things well than a lot of things not so well.

If the mathematics used is relevant to the topic being explored, commensurate with the level of the course and
understood by the student, then it can achieve a high level in this criterion.