The enduring impact of Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) in the IB Diploma Programme: the alumni study: Report of the study conducted for the Jeff Thompson Research Award

This study examined the lasting influence on International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) students who had participated in the experience-
based core element Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS). Alumni of the IBDP from all three IB World Regions shared their perceptions of CAS through online survey (n = 903), focus groups (n = 19) and interviews (n = 12). CAS activities were found to have the potential to change how individuals perceived themselves in the world. Engagement, value and support from others were significantly related to lasting outcomes. Activities in which IBDP students are given the opportunity to engage in important work with others can bring deep and lasting changes to individuals. A CAS programme which can effect deep and lasting transformation is characterised by supporting development of students’ sense of social responsibility and a sense of their own potential. It was concluded that such CAS programmes have the potential to effect changes which can be lasting and beneficial to the individual as well as the world in which they live.