Learning through experience: including zumba

How do non-academic activities relate to students' learning? The learning approach advocated by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) values learning holistically and through experience. Our research for the IBO evaluated the impact, as perceived by students, of the non-academic component of the Diploma Programme called CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service).
Almost 10,000 IBDP students, staff and alumni from 90 countries, identified activities students undertake to fulfil CAS requirements (shown in the Word-cloud). We found these activities helped develop attributes of effective learning, with students becoming better communicators, more open-minded and more caring. They also became more knowledgeable about themselves and the wider world, particularly through Service activities when they encountered globally-significant social justice issues. In addition to the planned outcomes, emergent benefits to students from participating in CAS included improved confidence and physical and mental well-being. We concluded that holistic learning brings holistic benefits to students: so even Zumba supports learning.
Mary Hayden, Anthony Hemmens, Shona McIntosh, Andrés Sandoval-Hernández, and Jeff Thompson