This stage involves clarifying roles and responsibilities within the student group, developing a plan of action to be taken, identifying specified resources and timelines, and acquiring any skills as needed to engage in the CAS experience.
In this section you need to provide evidence and reflection on:
Example Preparation Documentation
Activity Focus: Science / Environmental Education
Description:
For our science lesson at Mingde School, our group is planning an interactive activity where students will learn about plant growth by planting flowers together. The goal is to teach basic science concepts in a fun, hands-on way, while encouraging care for the environment and a sense of shared responsibility.
Roles and Responsibilities:
We clarified our team roles to make sure the lesson runs smoothly:
Plan of Action:
Resources:
Weekly Timeline:
Skills to Acquire:
To prepare, we practiced explaining scientific concepts clearly, using gestures and visuals to support understanding. We also worked on classroom management techniques and coordinating smoothly as a team to make the lesson engaging and well-organized.
To bring the idea to life, I met regularly with Ms. Smith to clarify my goals and map out a plan for the project. Together, we discussed how I could combine creativity, research, and collaboration to make the game both educational and engaging. We defined the main objectives:
Raise awareness about student mental health through game-based learning.
Encourage discussion among players about coping strategies and emotional balance.
Promote empathy and understanding around mental health challenges faced by students in our community.
I began by developing a timeline that broke the project into clear stages: researching mental health concepts, writing a rulebook, designing the game board and cards, and organizing a playtesting session. This helped me manage my time effectively and set realistic deadlines for each phase.
To support the creative process, I built a moodboard that reflected the emotional tone I wanted the game to convey—calm, hopeful, and positive. I experimented with soft colors and rounded shapes to make the design inviting rather than stressful. I also reviewed other educational games to learn how visual elements can influence player emotions and engagement.
During the planning stage, my partner, Polly Chen, another student who shared an interest in psychology and design and I brainstormed creative elements for the life and event cards, ensuring that each scenario reflected realistic experiences students might face such as test stress, friendship conflicts, or self-care moments. She also supported the visual design of the board, experimenting with color palettes and symbols that aligned with our mental health theme.
As part of the planning, we clarified roles and responsibilities:
I took charge of the rulebook writing, game mechanics, and scenario development.
Evelyn focused on graphic design, layout, and creating prototype visuals.
Ms. Smith provided feedback on the clarity of the rules, the accuracy of mental health concepts, and helped us balance our time.
A few peers volunteered to be test players and give feedback during the play testing phase.
We also identified the resources we would need, including digital design tools, board templates, printing materials, and research references. I scheduled check-in meetings with Ms. Smith and weekly working sessions with Polly to share progress and refine ideas together.
During this stage, I practiced new skills such as collaborative planning, visual communication, and integrating feedback into design revisions. Working with Polly taught me how to share leadership, divide tasks efficiently, and respect different creative perspectives.
The biggest challenge was translating abstract psychological concepts into simple, relatable gameplay mechanics. For example, we wanted to represent “stress” and “resilience” as part of the game’s scoring system without making the tone too negative or clinical. Through discussion and testing, we decided to use balance points players could gain or lose points based on realistic life events, encouraging reflection rather than competition.
By the end of the preparation phase, Polly and I had a clear plan, a unified design direction, and the confidence to move forward with creating our first prototype of the game.