The Experimental Study Group (ESG) describes itself as an "alternative academic program" at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was created in 1969 by Professor George Valley to explore alternative teaching and learning methods in a small group setting at MIT. Students in ESG take their courses through a combination of independent study, small classes, one-on-one tutorials, and discussion-oriented seminars.
ESG emphasizes educational experimentation, including project work in subjects such as robotics, computer modeling in biology, and digital electronics. Course credit can be gained by teaching a seminar on a topic to other ESGers. Classes, which are often taught by undergraduates, usually consist of 4–6 students. Coursework is not tied to the academic calendar. A student adept in a subject (such as mathematics or physics) can progress through a three or four course sequence in that subject in a single year.
Most ESG students are first-year students who concentrate on general institute requirements in biology, chemistry, humanities, mathematics, and physics as an alternative to the large lecture classes taken by other classmates. ESG has been free to design its own humanities courses, in conjunction with student interest, earning students credit for general Institute humanity requirements.
Currently, the program consists of about 50 first-year students, 30 upperclass students, 10 hired staff instructors and administrators, and many other friends of the community. The students are often eccentric and together form a very diverse (and perhaps unusual) group.
ESG was awarded the Irwin Sizer Award for the Most Significant Improvement to MIT Education in 1985. [1]
"Danny" Hillis, designer of the Connection Machine, a parallel supercomputer, and co-founder of Thinking Machines Corporation, the company that produced the machine, was a member of ESG during his freshman year.