A CAS project is a collaborative experience or series of experiences between a group of students and/or members of the wider community that targets issues of significance and needs within the local community. It:
– extends over at least one month from planning to completion
– addresses any single CAS strand or combine two or all three of them
– encourages students to step outside their comfort zone by taking initiatives and embarking on new challenges while working collaboratively
– follows the five stages of learning that sharpen students’ skills while helping them demonstrate perseverance and make learning purposeful with application
– gives students the opportunity to gather evidence of achievement in the CAS learning outcomes
Students are encouraged to engage, if possible, in more than one CAS project over the period of eighteen months.
CAS Projects Stages
To properly define their role and responsibilities in a CAS project, students choose a cause of local and global concern. They follow the CAS stages as a framework for implementation:
1. Investigation – Inquirers and Reflective
According to their interests, skills and talents and while referring to their areas of personal growth identified in their personal inventory, students conduct social analysis through:
– gathering information about a community need
– using media, interviews, surveys
– observations
2. Preparation – knowledgeable, thinkers and open-minded
Having identified a local need that may be connected to global issues, students collaborate to prepare an action plan that tackle the identified needs after having:
– contacted people to gather relevant and reliable sources of information
– formed a supportive group of individuals who share a common interest
3. Action – Caring, principled and risk takers
Students will get the opportunity to address their cause while using different mediums, document the various steps of their experiences and monitor the progress of their plan execution.
Direct: students’ action will involve direct interaction with the recipients (people, animals or the environment) “After reading an article describing struggles of refugee families, I set up a meeting to interview a refugee worker from a local organization. He invited me to visit and spend an hour at the after school program. I found that children needed books and art experiences and the teachers confirmed this was a real need.”
Indirect: students’ action will contribute positively to the environment and/or the society without coming into direct action with the recipients.
“I remembered from a school-wide food drive that the receiving organization had a fairly undeveloped website. I had been studying about issues of local and world hunger in an IB subject, and thought to address this topic, and remembered that website. After reviewing the site again, and talking with the director of the organization, they agreed I could make a written proposal of what I could offer. Since I want to study graphic design and technology, this is a great fit.”
Advocacy: Students’ action will target a cause to promote a positive action on an issue of public interest. “After talking with a relative recently diagnosed with diabetes, I became curious about how diet and nutrition impact our health. I read a current nonfiction book about eating and nutrition, interviewed several people I know who seem very structured about their eating habits and learned about different approaches to health, and surveyed students in four of my classes to find out what they know or believe to be true about the relationship between food choices and health. As an athlete, this topic is important, and my investigation revealed a need: there is a lack of knowledge among youth about the importance of food choices. “
4. Research: students’ action revolve around critically gathering information, selecting proper relevant sources, analyzing data and devising conclusions that may be beneficial regarding an issue of public interest.
“Our school aims to be caring about the environment, however could we do more? I decided to research how much electricity the school uses and see if reduction was possible. To do this I interviewed the school custodian, collected copies of the school electricity bills to create a graph on monthly use to see highs and lows based on time of year or events, and do an energy audit (I found existing resources for this) which involved observation, notations and documentation with photography. The findings showed the school community could be more proactive in reducing usage of electricity.”
5. Reflect: Balanced and reflective
Reflection is an integral part of CAS. It starts right from the beginning of an experience and is ongoing.
Students will use it as an individual or group tool to build self-awareness, drive learning forward, update
and/or modify the planned course of action, consider and discuss their thoughts, feelings and ideas.
6. Demonstration: Reflective, open-minded and Communication
Students will portray their thoughts, ideas and agreed-upon solutions while using proper and engaging presentations and discussions.
IBDP-CAS 