Enhancing undergraduate control education

Education must be both conceptual and experiential. Abstract concepts are elegant and powerful, but learning is always enhanced by direct experience, concrete examples, and real-world relevance. Control theory and much of control education is highly conceptual. In fact, control engineering tends to be the least tangible of all subjects in the engineering curriculum. In the hope of tipping the balance from the conceptual to the experiential, I offer the following modest suggestions. These suggestions encompass modeling, control, technology, and cultural issues. By discussing these issues in an undergraduate control course, the instructor can emphasize some of the more practical aspects of the subject. My hope is that these suggestions will enhance the teaching and appreciation of a rich and intellectually exciting subject