Use of the Arduino Platform for a Junior-Level Undergraduate Microprocessors Course

Nathaniel Bird

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Vancouver, BC
Publication Date: June 26, 2011
Start Date: June 26, 2011
End Date: June 29, 2011
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Best of Computers in Education Division
Tagged Division: Computers in Education
Page Count: 11
Page Numbers: 22.1600.1 - 22.1600.11
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--18410
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/18410
Download Count: 664

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Nathaniel Bird Ohio Northern University

visit author page

Nathaniel Bird is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Computer Engineering at Ohio Northern University. He received his doctorate from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Research interests include computer vision, robotics, behavior analysis, and undergraduate pedagogy. Dr. Bird is a member of ACM, IEEE, and Tau Beta Pi.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

Use of the Arduino Platform for Junior-Level Undergraduate Microprocessor CoursesThis paper outlines the beneﬁts of incorporating the open-source Arduino platform into ajunior-level course on microprocessors for electrical engineering and computer engineeringmajors. A description of a course using these components is provided, as well as resultsdemonstrating students’ learning of microprocessors through their ability to developsolutions using them, and survey results characterizing student enthusiasm for learning thematerial in this manner.Using the Arduino platform was found to be beneﬁcial for several reasons. The ﬁrst isstudent enthusiasm. The device is an open-source hardware platform that is programmedusing an open-source IDE, which resonates with many students. Development for thisplatform is something they can do on their own laptops, which is more inviting thandeveloping on restricted software for a bolted-down piece of hardware in a locked lab.The second main beneﬁt is the platform’s accessibility to the students. This course isdesigned for students from two diﬀerent programs–electrical engineering majors with verylittle programming experience, and computer engineering majors with signiﬁcantprogramming experience. The Arduino boards are advertised to be straight forward to useand program; they are designed for use by artists and hobbyists. The C++ likeprogramming language used to program the board is far easier to grasp for students withlittle programming experience than the register-based assembly language used in previousiterations of this course. This frees the class from an endless struggle with syntax, andfocuses attention instead on the projects at hand.The third advantage is time. Arduino boards are inexpensive enough that it is reasonablefor the students to each purchase their own board for the class. This allows them to usethe boards at home as well as in the lab. The labs for this course are three hours per week,for a ten week quarter. This totals to 30 hours at most, which is not enough time to buildproﬁciency if the equipment can only be used in lab. Because the students have their ownboards though, they can now use them at home and get more time with them over theduration of the course.Finally, the fourth beneﬁt of using the Arduino platform is it opens up the possibility ofhaving the students do individual, quarter-long projects. This lets students investigatesomething that excites them personally, and invests them in the learning process. It alsorequires learning outside of the conﬁnes of the classroom and even the book, as moststudents decide to pursue projects dealing with complex behaviors and bizarre components.

Citation
Format

Bird, N. (2011, June), Use of the Arduino Platform for a Junior-Level Undergraduate Microprocessors Course Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2--18410

TY - CPAPER
AB - Use of the Arduino Platform for Junior-Level Undergraduate Microprocessor CoursesThis paper outlines the beneﬁts of incorporating the open-source Arduino platform into ajunior-level course on microprocessors for electrical engineering and computer engineeringmajors. A description of a course using these components is provided, as well as resultsdemonstrating students’ learning of microprocessors through their ability to developsolutions using them, and survey results characterizing student enthusiasm for learning thematerial in this manner.Using the Arduino platform was found to be beneﬁcial for several reasons. The ﬁrst isstudent enthusiasm. The device is an open-source hardware platform that is programmedusing an open-source IDE, which resonates with many students. Development for thisplatform is something they can do on their own laptops, which is more inviting thandeveloping on restricted software for a bolted-down piece of hardware in a locked lab.The second main beneﬁt is the platform’s accessibility to the students. This course isdesigned for students from two diﬀerent programs–electrical engineering majors with verylittle programming experience, and computer engineering majors with signiﬁcantprogramming experience. The Arduino boards are advertised to be straight forward to useand program; they are designed for use by artists and hobbyists. The C++ likeprogramming language used to program the board is far easier to grasp for students withlittle programming experience than the register-based assembly language used in previousiterations of this course. This frees the class from an endless struggle with syntax, andfocuses attention instead on the projects at hand.The third advantage is time. Arduino boards are inexpensive enough that it is reasonablefor the students to each purchase their own board for the class. This allows them to usethe boards at home as well as in the lab. The labs for this course are three hours per week,for a ten week quarter. This totals to 30 hours at most, which is not enough time to buildproﬁciency if the equipment can only be used in lab. Because the students have their ownboards though, they can now use them at home and get more time with them over theduration of the course.Finally, the fourth beneﬁt of using the Arduino platform is it opens up the possibility ofhaving the students do individual, quarter-long projects. This lets students investigatesomething that excites them personally, and invests them in the learning process. It alsorequires learning outside of the conﬁnes of the classroom and even the book, as moststudents decide to pursue projects dealing with complex behaviors and bizarre components.
AU - Nathaniel Bird
CY - Vancouver, BC
DA - 2011/06/26
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Use of the Arduino Platform for a Junior-Level Undergraduate Microprocessors Course
UR - https://peer.asee.org/18410
DO - 10.18260/1-2--18410
ER -