Bridging the theory-practice gap in engineering education is a well-known, hard nut to crack. This is particularly true in the controls curriculum, where deep mathematical theory must coexist alongside practical experiments and considerations. In this talk, we will discuss how this bridge-building can be approached both in a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) setting, in flipped classrooms, and through the use of remote-access robotics testbeds. In particular, the recent MOOC, Control of Mobile Robots, has been used to flip classrooms in robotics and controls classes at the Georgia Institute of Technology and at other institutions. The students take the MOOC and come to class prepared to program robots. In this talk, we will discuss the outcomes of these educational experiments, show that control classes are potentially ideal candidates for flipped classes, yet present real challenges for meaningful learning experiences.
Magnus Egerstedt is the Schlumberger Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he serves as Associate Chair for Research. He received the M.S. degree in Engineering Physics and the Ph.D. degree in Applied Mathematics from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, the B.A. degree in Philosophy from Stockholm University, and was a Postdoctoral Scholar at Harvard University. Dr. Egerstedt is the director of the Georgia Robotics and Intelligent Systems Laboratory (GRITS Lab), a Fellow of the IEEE, and a recipient of a number of research and teaching awards, including the Ragazzini Award from AACC.
