CAS - Hour system not used anymore?

[LeonieIB]

So, apparently the hours system is not used in CAS anymore.

Does anyone know how it is measured then, how many activities you need to do minimum?

[carpediem]

I think it depends on your school.

For my school, the requirement is that we do 8 activities (2 in each area and 2 for whatever we want), and that all of those activities are done over 18 months. The criteria we also need to complete is at least one activity that has Team Skills, and one that incites Global Awareness. Apart from the reflections, that's about it.

You should check on how your school does it, and how they tick off each of your CAS activities.

[aangel]

It's now based on the amount of activities you do, and if you're consistently participating in a variety of CAS activities.

My school's criteria for passing (which to this point I haven't and I'm finishing up... so I know them pretty well):

• ​9 activities (still reaching approx. 50hours for C, A, and S each)
  
• Over 60 journals so... 1 journal for about 2-3 hours of an activity.
  
• A CAS PROJECT (collaborative project, covering two of C, A or S)
  
• Reflects on all the CAS goals.
  

[Babydolleyes]

This is how I understand CAS:

There used to be a rule where you had to complete 150 hours worth of CAS, at least 50 hours in creativity, 50 in action and 50 in service. You also had to have one long term project and at least one project where you combine either C and S or A and S or something like that. Then the IBO decided that there shouldn't be a 150 hour ''goal'', because then people would finish their CAS within their first year easily (correct me if I'm wrong).

So now people need a minimum of 150 hours of CAS and you still document your CAS in hours, however when you have surpassed the 150 hour requirement you still need to continue doing CAS, and in general you should be spending one evening every week doing something for CAS throughout the entire two years. I usually aim to have everything pretty even, but usually I have more action than I have anything else. So at the end of each activity you estimate the amount of hours spent on the project and then at the end of each semester and ultimately at the end of IB you have an estimated number of CAS hours that you have completed. After IB1 I had completed 233 hours. That number has grown quite a bit since my first semester of IB2 started, but I plan to slow down on CAS during my last semester.

[unicornication]

I think it depends on your school, but the 'hour' model seems to have been eradicated here in Hong Kong.

Our school does:

• 4 Majors
  
• 6 Minors
  
• 1 Project
  
• 1 CAS Week
  

Major

An activity that lasts a minimum of 12 hours over the course of at least 1 term, it requires you to be committed to the activity. Examples include: weekly football, weekly volunteer work, etc.

Minor

A one-off activity that is a minimum of two hours, that incorporates few learning outcomes and meets either C, A, or S. Example: running for a "stride for a cure" type thing.

Project

Similar to that of a major, except it is self-initiated, incorporates several learning outcomes, and meets at least two of the C, A, S areas. Example: Starting a knitting club.

CAS week

A week off school to do..stuff! It incorporates all 3 C,A,S elements, meets most learning outcomes. Example: Trip to Bangkok to go surfing, helping build a school, and doing random art.

You need a supervisor, a goal, then you need to reflect on every one of those (yay).

Oh and you need to meet 8 "learning outcomes" <-- kinda just objectives. <-- that's over the course of the two years.

Edited December 3, 2012 by unicornication

[Lena Q.]

I personally found this very frustrating at our school, because we've gone through 4 different formats for recording our activities, along with 3 sets of requirements, and we switched CAS coordinators halfway through. Currently we have no set amount, we just need to hit all of the objectives. One of our activities has to be "over time" and we can record and reflect on it in any way we wish.