Innovation & Discovery Learning at Sacred Heart
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Innovation Labs of Sacred Heart
We are proud to have two Innovation Labs on both of our Sacred Heart campuses, serving students as early as Preschool through Upper School. Each year, several faculty members represent Academy of the Sacred Heart at workshops, conferences and education think-tanks focused on the implementation of Design Thinking in education. While its principles have been employed in design firms for decades, its potential impact in education with regard to 21st century learning has risen to the forefront of educational research and development.
Rosary Campus: Boh Innovation Lab (Grades 5-12)
Mater Campus: Innovation Lab (Preschool-Grade 4)
Questions About ASH Innovation Labs?
Rosary Campus Innovation Lab:
Leigh Damaré & Sewall Vallette
Design Thinking & Innovation Lab Coordinator
Leigh Email > | Sewall Email >
Mater Campus Innovation Lab:
Shelby Schiler
Innovation Lab Coordinator
Email >
“It shows weakness of mind to hold too much to the beaten track through fear of innovation.”
–St. Madeleine Sophie Barat
Discovery Learning & Design Thinking
Discovery Learning is a student-centered pedagogical approach for acquiring knowledge through exploration and inquiry, while Design Thinking is a problem-solving framework that uses empathy and iterative prototyping to develop innovative solutions. Discovery Learning emphasizes independent student inquiry and minimal guidance, whereas Design Thinking is a structured, collaborative process for understanding user needs and creating user-centered products or experiences
Discovery Learning
Focus: How students learn and construct knowledge through direct experience and exploration.
Role of Teacher: Acts as a facilitator, posing questions and providing resources for students to explore independently.
Student Role: Actively engaged, independent learners who use reasoning and deduction to find solutions and answer questions.
Key Characteristics: Student autonomy, hands-on materials, open-ended tasks, and a focus on the process of discovery.
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Design Thinking
Focus: A structured, iterative process for solving problems and designing innovative solutions.
Phases: Typically includes stages such as Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test.
Key Characteristics: Deep user understanding through empathy, collaboration, iterative prototyping, and a focus on user needs to create effective solutions.
Relationship to Discovery Learning: Discovery is a component of design thinking, specifically within the empathize and define stages, where teams investigate and explore the problem space to gain deep insights into user needs.
![Little Hearts Creation Stations]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1762198916/ashrosary/nr6d4wg1f4dbtpqxgxgn/1200x_IMG_8319.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1762198916/ashrosary/nr6d4wg1f4dbtpqxgxgn/1200x_IMG_8319.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1762198916/ashrosary/nr6d4wg1f4dbtpqxgxgn/1200x_IMG_8319.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1762198916/ashrosary/nr6d4wg1f4dbtpqxgxgn/1200x_IMG_8319.jpg","width":1200}])
![Lower School Innovation Lab]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1762199057/ashrosary/fasweixjsvzlmbo1b3d2/1200x800_0S5A3276.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1762199057/ashrosary/fasweixjsvzlmbo1b3d2/1200x800_0S5A3276.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1762199057/ashrosary/fasweixjsvzlmbo1b3d2/1200x800_0S5A3276.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1762199057/ashrosary/fasweixjsvzlmbo1b3d2/1200x800_0S5A3276.jpg","width":1200}])
![Middle and Upper School Innovation Lab & Makerspace]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1762199374/ashrosary/so6yjcgrc3gvmetjycev/1200x800_0S5A5464.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1762199374/ashrosary/so6yjcgrc3gvmetjycev/1200x800_0S5A5464.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1762199374/ashrosary/so6yjcgrc3gvmetjycev/1200x800_0S5A5464.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1762199374/ashrosary/so6yjcgrc3gvmetjycev/1200x800_0S5A5464.jpg","width":1200}])