Other Electives

AST’s mission/ethos is to empower and galvanize students to be global citizens who channel their passions into appropriate actions for the benefit of their communities. To that end, the Leadership class will build students’ efficacy, confidence and competence to serve in their elected and selected roles as STUGO officers, MUN administrators, and campus/community leaders, knowing their skills and service will transcend their time at AST.

Senior seminar is a one semester course designed to help AST Senior Class members create a plan for their years immediately following graduation from AST. The course supports students through the process of applying to universities. This includes researching, selecting, and applying for admission to universities or other institutions of higher education. Students are given time to research online and compare and contrast learning environments. Assistance and advice is offered as students write their personal statements, entrance essays and résumés.

Design Thinking follows the 5 principles of Design Thinking which include Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. Design Thinking is a human centered approach to problem solving that combines technological and non-technological solutions to solve business, societal, and technological problems.

Design thinking is a course that allows students to follow the design thinking process to focus on finding solutions to authentic local or even global problems. Students must think "out of the box" to develop innovative solutions, while thinking "in the box" to conform to requirements set by the user. It is a fun and human-centered course which focuses on the needs, wants and limitations of the end user. Students need to empathize with individuals or groups to ascertain and identify needs or design opportunities. It increases students’ skills of empathy, perseverance, determination and collaboration. After some in-depth investigation, students will also develop skills in prototyping, experimentation and adaptation using new and existing technologies to create new products. Students will be introduced to using power tools safely and programming simple devices. The learning experience may differ for each student depending on the problem they are attempting to solve. The concept of sustainability will also be a consideration when students decide on a solution.