Creativity, Action, Service
NEW GUIDELINES FOR STUDENTS
GRADUATING IN 2010
AND THEREAFTER
Learning Ouutcomes
Highlight of Changes
 Aims of CAS undertakings must connect to the IB
Learner Profile
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Inquirers
Knowledgeable
Thinkers
Communicators
Principled
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Open-minded
Caring
Risk-takers
Balanced
Reflective
 Learning outcomes are KEY...experience &
reflections must evidence a minimum of 2-3
learning outcomes per CAS undertaking
Highlight of Changes
 Emphasis on CAS as experiential learning
APPLY
LEARNING IN
NEW
SITUATIONS
PLAN
Identify Goals
Decide how (using previous
experience & knowledge)
Reflect
Identify achievements &
outstanding issues; personal
strengths & challenges
ACT
Real Tasks
Concrete experience
Evaluate actions
Synthesize new
understandings
OBSERVE
Think about feelings &
interactions
Analyse perceptions
Highlight of Changes
 Reduce paper form-filling & mechanical
administration

Yep...paper is BACK-UP...we are moving to paperless...
 Emphasis on nature of evidence (more on this
later...)
 Emphasis on nature of reflection (more on this later)
 Even distribution of:
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Learning outcomes across all undertakings
Duration of undertakings/nature of the commitment made:
Short term (<30 days)
 Medium term (31-120 days)
 Long term (120+ days)

Highlight of Changes
 As evaluators we are instructed to discount undertakings
that are
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repetitive,
“routine” or
do not personally challenge (extend the student)
 Political activity:
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Essential to take into consideration if a CAS undertaking will put the
student at risk or will cause, or make worse social/cultural/political
divisions.
 Religious:
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An undertaking must be very CLEARLY secular and the supporting
the experience must demonstrate a greater understanding of
different social, cultural backgrounds.
The Rule of 3’s
DEMONSTRATE 3 DURATIONS OF
COMMITMENT
EVIDENCE 2-3 LEARNING OUTCOMES PER
UNDERTAKING
FOR EACH UNDERTAKING THERE ARE 3
REQUIREMENTS:
GOALS,
EVIDENCE
REFLECTION
The Nature of the Commitment
EXAMPLES
But I don’t understand...what about the hours?”
 Example of a short term:
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2 weeks of working with Habitat for Humanity in a foreign country
“hours”: 10-12hrs per day for 14 days...140+hrs
 Action & Service
 BUT
 Under the new CAS rules: does not have equal distribution of a
medium or long term commitment (lacking in “C” too but I am sure
you may have found a way...)

 CONCLUSION:
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You still need a short term commitment & protracted commitment
You still need to demonstrate an equal distribution of all learning
outcomes
Put down your calculators...Hours don’t count!
But I don’t understand...what about the hours?”
 Example of a medium term:
 Running Room: instead of being paid, you volunteer to help
with the “Learn to Run” clinic
10 weeks; one night (1hr classes) per week + the occasional email
to clients
 about 10-12 hours
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But...
think of the learning outcomes
 For me it was new challenge, planning & initiating, worked
collaboratively, shown perseverance & commitment, new skill
 It is a medium-term commitment...despite the low hours...

But I don’t understand...what about the hours?”
 Example of a long term:
 A camp for kids
Annual camp for kids: booking for subsequent years, 1 or 2
weekends of planning with other organizers, preparing and
posting application forms on the web, administrative organization,
etc...
 For 7 days in July: 24/7 (168 hours)
 You plan the menu
 Help with the prep & cooking
 Act as an LD – group sessions on community & reading, etc...
 Teach – maybe you help kids learn to paint or take them on a hike
 You take scuba diving lessons
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 Have you successfully met the requirements of CAS if
you do only this undertaking?
NO
 You have only committed to ONE project
 It was only one of a long-term commitment whereby
you could defer, juggle, etc...until the major
deadlines
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(a good skill...prioritizing)
 But you have not demonstrated stepping into
“immediate action” or “we need you for a few weeks”
Learning Outcomes
PROJECTS
ACTIVITIES
TASKS
Projects, Activities, Tasks
Project #1
Activity
Activity
Project #2
Activity
Project #3
Task
Task
Task
Task
Task
Task
This is another way of looking at short, medium & long-term undertakings:
“Typically”: a “project” is of a protracted duration and can include “activities”
of medium duration and/or “tasks” of short duration
The CAS definition of “project”:
 “Think globally; act locally.”
 Students should be involved in at least ONE project
involving:
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teamwork that integrates two or more creativity, action and
service activities and tasks.
is of significant duration
issues of global importance
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As a school we will be examining possible “projects” and inviting
IB students to step up for the purpose of CAS
Learning outcomes
 Increased their awareness of their own
strengths and areas for growth

They 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 they wish
to move forward.
Ask yourself: what are my strengths & abilities?
 How can I improve?

 Undertaken new challenges
 A new challenge may be an unfamiliar activity, or an
extension to an existing one.
Ask yourself: What will I try that is new?
 How will I improve on an existing talent?

Learning outcomes
 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 school activities in the local community, as well
as in small student-led activities.

Ask yourself: How can I plan, direct & collaborate on a project,
activity or task?
 Worked collaboratively with others
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Collaboration can be shown in many different activities, such as team
sports, playing music in a band, or helping in a kindergarten. At least
one project, involving collaboration and the integration of at least
two of creativity, action and service, is required.
Ask yourself: how can I build better collaborative relationships/skills?
 At a minimum ONE project must involve collaboration & must involve
2 of: C, A, S
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Learning outcomes
 Shown perseverance and commitment in
their activities
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At a minimum, this implies attending regularly and accepting
a share of the responsibility for dealing with problems that
arise in the course of activities.
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Ask yourself: Do I attend all meetings regularly? Do I help work
through difficulties & challenges when they arise?
 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 (for example, environmental concerns, caring for
the elderly).
Ask yourself: “What global issues can I impact from
 A minimum of ONE project of global concern

Learning outcomes
 Considered the ethical implications of their
actions
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Ethical decisions arise in almost any CAS activity (for example, on
the sports field, in musical composition, in relationships with others
involved in service activities). Evidence of thinking about ethical
issues can be shown in various ways, including journal entries and
conversations with CAS advisers.

What ethical concerns arise in the activities? How do I resolve them?
 Developed new skills
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As with new challenges, new skills may be shown in activities that
the student has not previously undertaken, or in increased expertise
in an established area.

What new skills will I need to carry out my intended activities? How
will I demonstrate (evidence) the new skill in a meaningful way?
Short
Duration
Learning Outcome 1
Medium
Duration
 (S)
(A)
 (S)
Learning Outcome 2
Learning Outcome 3
Extended
Duration
 (A)
Learning Outcome 4
(C)
Learning Outcome 5
 (C)
 (S)
Learning Outcome 6
(A)
Learning Outcome 7
(A)
Learning Outcome 8
(A)
 (C)
Don’t worry, I’ve created a really cool excel spreadsheet to help you track the
balance between:
C, A, S
Durations
Distribution of learning outcomes
RELAX
 Until you get comfortable with excel and/or
embedding hyperlinks, you will be able to print one
off and manually fill it in...
Goal, Evidence, Reflection
THE KEY COMPONENTS FOR EVERY CAS
PROJECT, ACTIVITY &TASK
Goal
 For each CAS undertaking the student must identify
goals...
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Connect these to the learning outcomes
Decide how the goals will be met...plan
 These must be written up and stored in an electronic CAS
folder:
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NB: do not store your folder under your student number on the
Peel Server…get a USB!
For organizational purposes
consider a sub-folder for each unrelated project/activity/task
 Consider a consistent file name:
 Example:
GOALS – coaching little league

EVIDENCE – coaching little league
EVIDENCE 2 – coaching little league
EVIDENCE Supervisor’s report – coaching little league
REFLECTION – coaching little league
Evidence
 Think beyond the signature...with the focus on
experiential learning a “signature” is not hard evidence
of learning outcomes experienced/met...
 Evidence is:
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An email trail
A letter of thanks you received
Photographs; an electronic scrap-book...
A time-chart with your volunteer schedule
A picture of your hospital volunteer ID
A plane ticket (if you end up in Peru with Habitat for Humanity)
A web-log journal
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...you get the idea
 MUST connect directly to the learning outcomes
identified in your goals...
 Electronic...scan it in if you must...(“gif” or “pdf” format)
Documenting CAS:
 Templates for the following will be uploaded to the
website:
http://www.turnerfenton.com/Programs/ib/index.html
 Tracking excel spreadsheet
 Setting goals
 Supervisor’s report
 Interim report
 THE WEBSITE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE
NEW PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS OVER THE
NEXT WEEK OR SO…
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Check each of the following sites:
Look for these to say:
UPDATED
Look for these to say:
UPDATED
Reflection
 What did you plan to do? Why?
 Briefly summarize the activity. Who else was involved in
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your project?
Did the activity proceed as anticipated? If not, what was
different? Better? Worse?
How do you feel about the project, activity or task?
Do you agree with the supervisor's feedback?
What did you learn? How did this project, activity or task
make you feel?
If you could start over, what would you do differently?
How could you improve?
Who benefited? In what way?
Reflection
 Currently you type out your reflections, while still
acceptable it is “old school”
 You can:
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have someone interview you (recorded or type out the interview)
Electronic photo essay
DVD montage w/voiceover
Weblogs
On-going journal
 For the final overall reflection consider:
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Making your own documentary
Writing your own eulogy
Writing your autobiography
 All in electronic format of course...
Final thoughts about your Final Reflection
 Cumulative CAS Reflection must document and evidence
successful adherence to the aims of the CAS component and
captures the student as:
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A reflective thinker – who understands their own strengths and
limitations, identify goals, and devise strategies for personal growth
& gain better awareness of self.
One who is willing to accept new challenges & take on new roles
One who is aware of themselves as members of communities with
responsibilities towards each other and the environment
An active participants in sustained, collaborative projects; a greater
sense of commitment and responsibility; develop stronger interpersonal skills.
One who gained time-management experience & better problemsolving skills
One who saw their TOK in action; gained meta-cognition
One who established a habit of mind for life-long learning.
ANGEL
COMING TO CAS
SEPTEMBER 2009
Why ANGEL?
 It is the Blended e-Learning vehicle for Peel
 It can support the uploading of CAS folders to on-
line repositories
 It will be the main point of communication for both
students & CAS supervisors
 BUT
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It is being upgraded this summer and as such we will not be
going live on ANGEL until the fall
So yes...we will have a brief meeting to launch ANGEL in the
fall
In the meantime...just keep your electronic CAS folder up to
date – AND BACKED UP!
Until then, if you have any questions...
kimberley.jones@peelsb.com