Although CAS is not formally assessed and you do not receive points towards your final IB marks, you cannot pass the Diploma without it. The purpose of CAS is to encourage the following:
Enjoyment and understanding the significance through different experience
Self – confidence
Attitudes and values that respect human dignity and that transcend barriers of race, class, religion, gender and politics
An awareness of humanitarian and environmental issues, and development of an ethical position on them from a local, national and international perspective
A willingness to interact meaningfully with others
A sense of responsibility towards all members of the local, national and global communities, and a commitment to be of value to those communities
Personal qualities of curiosity, honesty and self-criticism
An ability to reflect on and to learn from experience
A spirit of discovery, commitment, initiative determination and perseverance
The ability to meet challenges and an awareness of personal limitations
Practical skills that can be used in community engagement and in a future career
Never forget that CAS is a personal journey and each of your CAS portfolios should carry a unique sense of self and purpose.
Successful completion of CAS is not determined by reaching a certain number of hours, but by an engagement over a period of 18 months and by achieving the seven learner outcomes.
Some learning outcomes may be achieved many times, while others may be achieved less frequently. Not all CAS experiences lead to a CAS learning outcome. You must provide evidence in your CAS portfolio of having achieved each learner outcome at least once. The evidence can be provided in the form of reflective journals, photos, videos, voice notes or other suitable mediums.
In CAS, there are seven learner outcomes:
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LO1 |
Identify own strengths and weaknesses |
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Students are able to see themselves as individuals with various abilities and skills, of which some are more developed than others. |
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LO2 |
Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process |
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A new challenge may be an unfamiliar experience or an extension of an existing one. The newly acquired or developed skills may be shown through experiences that the student has not previously undertaken or through increased expertise in an established area. |
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LO3 |
Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience |
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Students can articulate the stages from conceiving an idea to executing a plan for a CAS experience or series of CAS experiences. This may be accomplished in collaboration with other participants. |
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LO4 |
Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences |
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Students demonstrate regular involvement and active engagement in CAS. |
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LO5 |
Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively |
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Students are able to identify, demonstrate and critically discuss the benefits and challenges of collaboration gained through CAS experiences. |
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LO6 |
Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance |
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Students are able to identify and demonstrate their understanding of global issues, make responsible decisions, and take appropriate action in response to the issues either locally, nationally, or internationally. |
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LO7 |
Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions |
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Students show awareness of the consequences of choices and actions in planning and carrying out CAS experiences. |
CAS students are expected to:
Reflection develops and strengthens lifelong skills for learning and is an essential part of the overall CAS programme. Understanding the purpose and practice of reflection and modelling diverse ways to reflect prepares the self-directed learner to adopt reflection as a choice.
Through reflection, students examine relevance of experience, apply thoughts and ideas garnered to different situations, consider actions of others, remind themselves of what was learned and how it occurred, and consider deliberate ways to improve individual and collective actions.
Because CAS is intended to be an enjoyable experience for students, so too is reflection meant to be enjoyable. Consider that reflection is not measured by length or quantity and that the aim is for reflection to be inspired rather than required. Throughout CAS, there are many occasions when students can discover those meaningful moments of inspiration deserving reflection.
The ultimate purpose of reflecting in CAS is not to complete “a reflection”, it is to become reflective by choice and as a lifelong process.
Reflection builds skills and abilities as students:
Kinesthetic reflection can be accomplished through:
Visual reflection can be accomplished through:
Auditory reflection can be accomplished through:
