What do students learn from their CAS experience...
...and how can we evaluate their understanding?
The Interactive Intergenerational Learning Project enquired into what students learn during CAS activities in the Diploma Programme. The pilot research was carried out in UK-based IB World Schools during 2003-5 and focused specifically on learning developed between school students and older adults.
Jim Cambridge, head of research projects, and Anna Simandiraki, research fellow at the IB Research Unit, developed a typology in three dimensions to describe and analyze intergenerational learning in terms of
- the direction of the intergenerational relationship (older adults serving the young, the young serving older adults, older adults and young working in partnership)
- the domain in which learning takes placed (knowledge, skills, attitudes) and
- how learning is achieved (stages in experiential learning).
The project team contacted IB World Schools in a telephone survey to determine the extent of intergenerational activities in CAS. They also visited a selection of schools to conduct face-to-face interviews with students and CAS coordinators. Their latest report, published in partnership with the Beth Johnson Foundation, a UK intergenerational charity, is free to download [1.6kb, PDF].
Should you wish to contact the project team please email ibru@ibo.org.
