Ryerson initiatives in integrating the Internet, multimedia components, and hands-on experimentation into problem-based control education

Problem-based learning and innovative approaches to student work assessment introduced to foster critical thinking skills. New media technologies can aid in facilitating such a shift. In this paper, the power of integrating these technologies into the education process is demonstrated. The use of web-enhancement techniques for undergraduate engineering courses in control theory is described and illustrated, as are new approaches for student evaluation. Preliminary studies show that the students are better motivated and their achievement may be superior compared to when more traditional methods of instruction were used in delivering the course content. Formal assessment of the students' work supports findings reported in similar studies which show that the effects of web-enhanced learning lead to lower failure rates as well as a tendency for an upward shift in grade distribution.