Educational Uses of Control Technology

Abstract

The text discusses project based teaching. We are working mainly on the use of micro-robots to train people with relevant basic knowledge around robotics and computer integrated manufacturing (CIM). First the text clarifies what is a project in our approach. In short, a project has a pedagogical goal in terms of contents, abilities and attitudes to be learned. The approach is based on a contract between a teacher and a group a learners to produce an effective machine. We describe then the main characteristics of “good projects”. The focus is on the role and the attitude of the teacher seen as a manager of a learning environment. Different phases in the work and the learning process are identified: negotiation of a contract, management of a contract, reception/validation of the production. The problem of evaluation is faced and linked to the collective evaluation of different technical solutions to a given problem. We underline there the change in the role of the teacher who no longer manages tools, sheets, or bits of kit, but manages a very fruitful discussion. An example of such a project is given in which the described approach is used in order to retrain lowly skilled adults.