MIT Learning Engineering and Practice Group (LEAP Group)

The MIT Learning Engineering and Practice Group (LEAP Group), led by Dr. John Liu, applies design and systems principles to solving challenges in learning and develops learning experiences to better meet the increasing demand for STEM skills in tomorrow’s workforce. Our award-winning research-to-practice approach includes the focus areas of human-machine/computer interaction, XR, simulations and haptics, MOOC and blended learning, and curriculum development to enhance and scale engineering education and training. We are a group in MIT’s Mechanical Engineering Department.

The economic health and security of nations depend on their ability to innovate and produce. Schools, companies, and regions need innovative solutions to improve and scale education and training.

The Learning Engineering and Practice (LEAP) Group supports the development of the STEM workforce by creating new approaches that connect learning and careers across all levels of the workforce, by performing research to design and understand novel learning experiences, and by pioneering technologies that scale experiences to meet a broad range of learners. We create and deploys new approaches to learning for education and workforce development, with a focus on manufacturing, spanning from the individual to regional workforce systems. Our work is situated at the intersection of human-machine/computer interaction (HMI/HCI), human factors, learning sciences, engineering pedagogy, extended reality (XR), digital learning, and industry competency assessment.