AT Science: Design Thinking

Students learn to produce strong designs, become more effective problem solvers, and communicate effectively with high emotional and intellectual impact. This project-based course requires that students apply engineering, science, math, and technology to solve complex, open- ended problems in a real-world context. 

What are the major projects you will complete in this course?

Semester 2 Student Driven Study: students will conduct their own quantitative study and present their research question, methods, findings, and implications in front of a panel of experts. The panel will ask students to defend their thesis question, methods, processes, conclusions, and recommendations, including their Quantitative methods analysis, such as Analysis of Variance, Chi-Square testing, etc. 

This course is offered by the Quest program in SAS.

Students are able to receive credit through the Quest program. For more information on Quest, please click here.

Course Details

Simon Bright


"You should take this course if entrepreneurship or a career requiring you to solve interdisciplinary human centred problems is in your future..."

AT Science: Design Thinking

ID: 48530 Grade: 11-12 Length: Year
Credit: Science
Prerequisite: Completion of a chemistry course with grade of B or higher; or completion of a physics course with grade of B or higher; or current science teacher recommendation.
Note: For potential college athletes, this course does not meet the NCAA Division I core course requirement for Science. See counselor for details. The Advanced Topic (AT) designation indicates a course is at university level, putting it at or above the level of a traditional Advanced Placement (AP) course. This course has a grade point weighting of 0.5.

Students will learn to produce strong designs, become more effective problem solvers, and communicate effectively with high emotional and intellectual impact. This project-based course requires that students apply engineering, science, math, and technology to solve complex, open- ended problems in a real-world context. Students will focus on the process of defining and solving a problem, not on getting the “right” answer. In practice, rigor in process and tools must be balanced with flexibility and adaptability towards the problems they solve, so instruction focuses on teaching multiple tested, iterative design processes as well as techniques and mindsets to sharpen creative analysis. Guest lectures from all disciplines illustrate different approaches to design thinking. This course develops students’ skills to conceive, organize, lead, implement, and evaluate successful projects in any discipline.

AT-level students will be required to go above and beyond the college preparatory design thinking course requirements and demonstrate a higher level of rigor throughout the processes, vetting, production, application and reflection that occur over the course of the year.

What Our Students Say

 


The AT Data Analytics course is the perfect introduction to a critical field of work. Data can be analyzed to help make decisions and to predict future trends, which is more important than ever in our fast-paced world.”Jennifer Han,
Class of 2019

Results that Matter

20+

Advanced Placement (AP) courses and exams

97%

of 3's, 4's, and 5's received in AP exams in 2018

21

Advanced Topics (AT) courses

34%

of the Class of 2018 graduates were awarded cum laude commendations

What Our Alumni Say

Testimonial

Taking AT Data Analytics was one of the best decisions I made in high school. Currently, I am starting research with a professor partly due to the experiences I had in AT Data Analytics. This course forces you to take responsibility for your learning which is a skill that many do not learn until later in college.

Jacqueline Routhier, Class of 2017