Embedded Systems: How practice-oriented teaching can be designed cross-institutionally

How can you design teaching in a practice-oriented fashion? This question was addressed in a pilot project by both the TU Bergakademie Freiberg and the NORDAKADEMIE as part of the CrossLab project.

Technical computer science students from the course “Embedded Systems”, which is taught by Prof. Dr. habil. Jan Haase, built three devices which are now being used by the Institute of Technological Chemistry of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg: A titration device, a dilution device, and a liquid fractioning device.

Within the 9 weeks of the project, each group created one of these devices from scratch. Each group then presented their device at the final event, where Robert Mende from the TU Bergakademie Freiberg was on site. He commented: “The most interesting part for me was the collaboration with students from the computer science field and the exchange and different viewing angle on the implementations. The technical complexity of the devices designed was impressive to me.”

The course was a success for both sides: The students were able to get hands-on experiences in interdisciplinary product development as well as in communication with stakeholders. The TU Bergakademie Freiberg can use these devices in their laboratories. The course also shows how overcoming organizational obstacles can benefit the institutes involved.

The research project CrossLab (“Flexibly combinable Cross-reality labs in academic teaching: future-proof competence development for teaching and working 4.0”) is funded by “Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre”.