Your internal assessment (IA) is a personal exploration of a mathematical topic of your choosing that is interesting to you: LOTTERY (could be a scenario)
You will be marked on 5 separate criteria, each of which has a different weighting.
Criterion A: Communication = maximum 4 marks
Criterion B: Mathematical presentation = maximum 3 marks
Criterion C: Personal engagement = maximum 4 marks
Criterion D: Reflection = maximum 3 marks
Criterion E: Use of mathematics = 6 marks
So the total possible score is 20 marks.
Criteria A & B are mostly about correct presentation, Criteria C & D are where you show your personal input – why you chose the topic, what you learnt, what you’d do differently etc. Criterion E requires “relevant mathematics commensurate with the level of the course is used”, which means that you need to choose a topic that allows you to explore one of the aspects of math that you have studied in math SL (or something else at a similar level).
As long as your topic has sufficient mathematics for you to explore, the most important thing is to choose a topic that you are interested in and you are able to make personal engagements in so that you will be motivated to spend time on your exploration and your interest will show in your writing.