
IB DP Sciences Internal Assessment IA Evaluation Writing Guide
This structured writing guide supports students in developing high-quality IA evaluation sections by focusing on a key skill: explaining how methodological weaknesses affected results. It helps learners move beyond listing issues to analysing their impact and suggesting meaningful improvements.
What Is Included
• Complete evaluation writing guide with templates and frameworks
• Subject-specific examples for Chemistry, Biology, and Physics
• Model evaluation sections demonstrating high-level performance
• Weakness–Impact–Improvement structure to guide responses
• Quick reference language support and terminology
• Editable Word format
Understanding the Criterion
The guide explains how evaluation is assessed and clarifies differences between basic, developing, and strong responses. Students learn what examiners expect and how depth of explanation influences marks.
Structured Evaluation Framework
A clear paragraph model helps students organise each evaluation point:
Identify a specific weakness
Explain how it affected the investigation
Indicate the scale or significance of the impact
Propose a realistic improvement
Explain how the improvement would strengthen results
Language support and sentence prompts help students express reasoning clearly.
Subject-Specific Support
Chemistry
Focus on measurement precision, temperature control, concentration accuracy, and reaction completeness, with examples of realistic lab improvements.
Biology
Addresses biological variability, environmental control, sample size, and measurement limits, with guidance on managing living-system variables.
Physics
Covers instrumental precision, environmental influences, apparatus limits, and systematic effects, with examples linked to mechanics and measurement investigations.
Common Weakness Categories
Measurement and instrument limitations
Systematic and random errors
Design constraints
Procedural issues
Guidance is provided on suggesting feasible improvements within a school laboratory context.
Model Examples
Worked examples from Chemistry, Biology, and Physics demonstrate how to develop several detailed evaluation points that include clear impact explanations and justified improvements.
Ideal For
IB DP Science students writing their evaluation
Teachers supporting deeper scientific analysis
Students who struggle to explain the effect of limitations
Classes aiming to improve evaluation quality
This guide helps students replace vague statements with precise, reasoned evaluation. By linking weaknesses to their impact and realistic solutions, learners demonstrate stronger scientific understanding.
Part of a wider IA support series, this resource is used after analysis and conclusion writing. It provides a clear structure for producing thoughtful, criterion-aligned evaluations.
A practical tool for improving clarity, depth, and scientific reasoning in IA evaluation writing.
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