Blended Classroom is the name of the concept developed by researcher Moritz Sattler, Chair of Applied Mechanics at TUM, and the head of the chair, Prof. Daniel Rixen, for the lecture on robot dynamics. Unlike traditional lectures, students can choose whether to follow lectures online or learn on site.

Robot dynamics: Lectures are available on an online platform

A weekly lecture consists of a ‘learning flow,’ a sequence of about 15 short videos and assignments. Since this material is available online, students can choose whether to complete the assignments at home or during lecture hours in Prof. Rixen's department. The latter has the advantage that students can work on tasks together and get support from Moritz Sattler or Daniel Rixen, who are on site during lecture times.

The Mechanical Engineering Student Council has awarded Prof. Daniel Rixen, Moritz Sattler, and Philipp Radecker the ‘Goldene Lehre’ for their lecture on ‘Robot Dynamics’ in the Master's programme for the 2024 summer semester and the 2024/25 winter semester. To this end, mechanical engineering students evaluated their professors' lecture modules in the master's programme. According to the student council, teaching evaluations are conducted for each module every semester, which are completed by students and sent to the respective school. The student council evaluates them according to an internal ‘Golden Formula’ that considers the students' assessments and the number of evaluations.

Tutorial-style lecture, new material every week

“Students today want to be flexible,” explains Prof. Rixen, “sometimes they have lectures in the city centre on one day, but also in Garching, where my chair is located. So it's handy to be able to listen to lectures when it suits you.” Right now, my colleague Sattler uploads the tutorial-style lecture once a week. The advantage for students on site is that they can focus on the new learning material: “This is how we synchronise the discussions," says the scientist, who developed the online platform and calls the overall concept “Room for Improvement”. Another advantage of the concept: “Lecturers prepare better for a lecture when the material is recorded,” says Rixen, ”which is of course also more sustainable.’‘

My absolute favourite lecture’ (Abraham Gassama, Master's student in Robotics, Cognition, Intelligence)

‘At the beginning of the semester, I did a lot of work at home, but as the exams approached, I did more on campus,’ says Simon Krülle, a master's student in Robotics, Cognition, and Intelligence at TUM. ‘My absolute favourite event,’ admits Abraham Gassama, who studies with Simon: "It's great that the videos are available. It makes it easier to figure out what's important for the assignments.‘ Fellow student David Rothfuß is particularly fond of the on-site event, which he often attends with his friends from university: ’If you can't figure out an assignment on your own, you discuss it with the others at the table. If they don't know, Moritz and Daniel Rixen always help." 

Further information

Background information about the Room for Improvement: https://rfi.am.ed.tum.de/about/