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The Team Project & the Individual Research Report (IRR)

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What Performance Task 1 asks

The Team Project and Presentation (Performance Task 1) has two graded parts. First, each team member writes an Individual Research Report (IRR) — roughly 1,200 words — investigating a piece of the team’s shared research question from their own angle, with their own sources. Second, the team builds and delivers a Team Multimedia Presentation (TMP), an 8–10 minute defense of a proposed solution or resolution, followed by questions. The IRR is individual work; the TMP is collective. Together they test whether you can both research independently and integrate your findings with others.

The IRR: your slice of the question

The IRR is not a summary of everything on the topic — it is your investigation of one dimension of the team’s question, using a specific lens or perspective the team divided among its members. A strong IRR identifies an area of investigation, gathers and evaluates credible sources, and reports findings and their significance, all in your own analytical voice. Because the whole team’s question is only as good as its parts, your IRR must be genuinely researched and cited — and it feeds directly into what the team can argue together.

Collaboration that actually works

Effective teams do not just divide labor; they integrate it. Agree early on the shared question and each member’s angle, set internal deadlines, and — crucially — leave time to connect the individual findings into one coherent line of reasoning, not a relay of unrelated mini-talks. Productive collaboration also means managing disagreement constructively (treating it as multiple perspectives to weigh, not a fight to win) and holding one another accountable. The presentation should sound like one argument delivered by several people, not several arguments sharing a room.

Worked example

A four-person team’s shared question is "How should our city reduce food waste?" Show how to divide the research so each IRR strengthens the team’s TMP.

  1. 1.Agree on the shared question and the solution-oriented goal of the TMP: a recommended approach the team can defend.
  2. 2.Divide by lens/stakeholder so IRRs do not overlap: Member 1 — economic angle (cost of waste and of solutions); Member 2 — environmental angle (emissions from landfilled food).
  3. 3.Continue: Member 3 — policy angle (what other cities tried and results); Member 4 — community angle (household behavior and grocery/restaurant practices).
  4. 4.Each member independently researches, evaluates sources, and writes their IRR on their slice.
  5. 5.Reconvene to synthesize: combine the four findings into one recommendation, using the economic and policy IRRs to justify feasibility and the environmental and community IRRs to justify need and buy-in.
Answer: The team divides the question by lens/stakeholder — economic, environmental, policy, and community — so each member’s IRR investigates a distinct dimension. In the TMP they synthesize the four IRRs into a single, defensible recommendation, letting the individual research support one integrated line of reasoning rather than four disconnected reports.
Checkpoint

What is the primary purpose of the Individual Research Report (IRR) within the Team Project?

Tip

Divide the research by lens or stakeholder so members’ IRRs complement rather than duplicate one another. Overlapping IRRs waste effort and leave gaps in the team’s coverage of the question.

Checkpoint

A team’s presentation consists of four members each delivering their own separate mini-report with no connecting argument. What is the main weakness?

On the exam

Performance Task 1 is scored on both the IRR and the TMP. The team presentation’s rubric rewards a synthesized, well-reasoned solution and effective teamwork — build in rehearsal time to weave the IRRs into one argument, because integration is exactly what graders look for.

Answer the 2 checkpoints as you read.

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