Pedagogy for the Practising Engineer: A Closed Loop Feedback Control Analogy to Teaching and Learning

Authors

Craig G. McLauchlan, University of WollongongFollow
Thomas Goldfinch, University of SydneyFollow
Phil Ciufo, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

133729

Publication Details

McLauchlan, C., Goldfinch, T. & Ciufo, P. (2018). Pedagogy for the Practising Engineer: A Closed Loop Feedback Control Analogy to Teaching and Learning. Proceedings of 2018 IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering, TALE 2018 (pp. 478-485). United States: IEEE.

Abstract

A rich analogy between the process of Teaching and Learning and the classical closed loop feedback controller was drawn. This analogy has provided a useful way for specialist engineers who are required to teach to gain access to pedagogical theory from specialist educators to address some of the complexities of teaching and learning. The analogy is sufficiently rich that insights from the field of control engineering can also illuminate important issues in teaching and learning. The analogy is illustrated by raising issues with the closed loop process from the control systems perspective, establishing the educational analogue, and identifying suitable pedagogical theory to address the issue.