Documenting CAS Experiences

CAS Proposal

Before students are allowed to begin with their CAS Experiences, they must write up a CAS Proposal and submit it through our IB platform on the Google CAS Platform (Class of 2021 Class of 2022). Student proposals have 3 requirements that must be met, and students are not allowed to begin until their experience has been accepted by either the CAS Coordinator or their CAS Supervisor.

Requirement 1: The CAS student must describe the full context of the experience they want to engage in. They must describe the who, what, where, when and why of the experience. Also, they need to identify as much as possible the links between themselves, the CAS experience, their goals and the CAS learning outcomes.

Requirement 2: They must identify 3 specific and quantifiable goals.

Requirement 3: Before students are allowed to begin, they must do some sort of research prior to starting their CAS experiences. Students should not begin a CAS experience without a preconceived notion of how it will go. By doing some initial research into their experience, they can have a good sense of how to prepare for it. The research can be as simple as finding a YouTube tutorial demonstrating how something is done, or seeking out a teacher's perspective or another professional's advice on how to begin their proposed CAS experience. This outside research can be submitted as a link or written up in the third portion of the proposal in Google CAS Platform.

Evidence

Once students are allowed to begin their CAS experience, they must document their actual participation in the experience. This can take many forms such as:

• Taking Photographs of themselves

• Taking videos of themselves

• Certificates of Completion / Appreciation

• Copies of Emails

• Letters of Appreciation

• Time tables / schedules / Calendars

• Newspapers, write ups, PR releases

• Promotional Materials or Flyers for the events

• Screenshots of any relevant correspondance

• Screen recordings of any interaction with online apps or platforms

All evidence needs to be submited to the Google CAS Platform and filed in the appropriate place with appropriate labels.

Reflections

CAS Students also need to reflect on their CAS experiences and focus their writing on the nature of how things went. It's through CAS reflections that mistakes and failures are identified, and where new ideas about how to move forward are generated. In other words, it's where the true learning takes place. Reflections are the heart and soul of CAS and can determine whether or not a student has successfully embraced the spirit of the program or not. All reflections need to be submitted with evidence to the Google CAS Platform.

There are 3 factors students need to take into consideration when writing up their reflections. 1. the focus of their reflections, 2. the goals they were trying to achieve and 3. The CAS Learning Outcomes.

Reflection Focus:

1. Reflection Style #1: Stream of Consciousness

This type of reflection is best used at the beginning of a CAS Experience. As students think through their initial steps in getting started, they can jot down every thought they have about who needs to be involved, what questions need to be asked, what arrangements or coordination needs to be made in order to begin and any other thoughts that are relevant to beginning the experience. This will show to the CAS supervisor the thought process and make it easy to identify any areas not being taking into consideration.

2. Reflection Style #2: The Sandwich

This type of reflection is for after students have already engaged in a CAS experience. In this reflection, students can break it down into 3 parts. Part 1: describe the experience in as much factual detail as possible. Part 2: Describe any issues, frustrations, problems or failures encountered or experienced. Part 3: Identify possible solutions to the problems for next time.

3. Reflection Style #3: Recognizing Success

This type of reflection contrasts the previous type of reflection where instead of focusing on the negative aspects that need to be fixed, it requires students to focus on the positive aspects of what happened. What went well? Why? Why do you feel it was successful or beneficial? How can you build on this success to make your experience better next time?

4. Reflection Style #4: Reflection on Social Dynamics

This type of reflection focuses on the complicated social dynamics that may arise between people. As students progress through their CAS experiences, inevitably they will encounter people they find challenging. For example, communication might be confusing, making arrangements with people might be complicated and frustrations might develop. This type of reflection has students focus on why working with certain individuals can be, at times, complicated. In this reflection, students should identify what the source of confusion is, how it made them feel and why, and what they can do differently next time.

5. Reflection Style #5: Hybrid

Students can mix and match any of the elements above into their own reflection. There are no rules to this type of reflection, just the expectation that students demonstrate their learning process.

Personal Goals:

Here, students can find a lot to say about how well their measurable goals were achieved. Did they meet their goals? Why or why not? Were the goals appropriate? Or do they need to be altered to fit the experience better? Were the goals too ambitious? Or too small? How do they know? Do they need to find a better way to measure their goals? What would that be?

CAS Learning Outcomes:

Here, students can connect their CAS Experiences to the learning outcomes provided by the International Baccalaureate.

Increased your awareness of your own strengths and areas of growth

Students are able to see themselves as individuals with various skills and abilities, some more developed than others, and understand that they can make choices about how to move forward.

Undertaken new challenges and skills

A new challenge may be an unfamiliar activity, or skill or an extension of an existing one.

Planned and initiated activities

Planning and initiation will often be in collaboration with others. It can be shown in activities that are part of larger projects, for example, ongoing activities in the local community, as well as in small student-led activities.

Worked collaboratively with others

Collaboration can be shown in many different activities, such as team sports, playing music in a band, or helping younger students learn a new skill. At least one project involving collaboration and the integration of at least two parts of the CAS experience – Creativity, Activity, and Service – is required by the IB.

Shown perseverance and commitment in your activities

Attending on a regular basis and accepting a share of the responsibility for dealing with problems that arise in the course of activities.

Engaged with issues of global importance

Students may be involved in international projects but there are many global issues that can be acted upon locally or nationally. Often the mantra “think globally, act locally” is helpful in achieving this outcome.

Considered the ethical choices and implications of your experience

Ethical decisions arise in almost any CAS activity. Evidence of thinking about ethical issues can be shown in various ways, including journal entries and/or conversations with your CAS Advisor.