Using Tinkercad in introductory electrical and computer engineering courses

Branimir Pejcinovic; Jamie Lyn Kennedy; Melinda Holtzman

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Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: ECE-Instructional Tools and Online Resources
Tagged Division: Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 15
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--57318
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/57318
Download Count: 7

Paper Authors

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Branimir Pejcinovic Portland State University orcid.org/0000-0001-8574-5455

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Branimir Pejcinovic received his Ph.D. degree from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is a Professor and former Associate Chair for Undergraduate Education at Portland State University, Electrical and Computer Engineering department. He has led department-wide changes in curriculum with emphasis on the project- and lab-based instruction and learning. He was awarded the best paper award by the ECE division of ASEE in 2017 for his work on freshman engineering course development. His research interests are in the areas of engineering education, microwave absorber design, ferroelectrics, photovoltaics, THz sensors, signal integrity, and semiconductor device characterization, design and simulation. He is a member of IEEE and ASEE.

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Jamie Lyn Kennedy The College of New Jersey

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Jamie Kennedy is currently a Director of Innovation and Research at Chadwick School in Palos Verdes Peninsula, California. She has been teaching for over a decade at both the higher education and K-12 levels. Currently, she teaches 6th - 12th grade in are

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Melinda Holtzman Portland State University

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Melinda Holtzman is an Assistant Teaching Professor and undergraduate advisor for the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Portland State University, where she has been on the faculty for 19 years. Before coming to PSU, she taught at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and University of Nevada Reno, where she also did research in high-speed, frequency-hopping phase-locked loops for telemetry applications. Previously she worked in research and development of infrared sensors at Hughes Aircraft Company and Rockwell International. She is a member of ASEE and SWE.

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Abstract

Over the last several decades, engineering programs have started adding introductory engineering courses that do not necessarily rely on a long list of prerequisites, such as physics and calculus. This was done for many reasons, such as making engineering more attractive, improving student motivation, and increasing retention. These courses are sometimes called cornerstone courses to contrast them with capstone courses that are taught in the final year.

In our electrical and computer engineering programs, we added a full year of introductory courses, covering areas such as exploration of the field of electrical and computer engineering, circuit analysis, problem solving, programming, and combining software and hardware to accomplish a larger goal, usually as a part of a team project.

The first course in this three-quarter-long sequence is meant to accomplish the goals mentioned above. However, the fact that there are no prerequisites presents significant challenges due to a wide variety of student backgrounds. Therefore, it is important to provide very substantial scaffolding for students with limited experience in technical areas while trying to provide enough challenges for the students with more relevant background. This problem is particularly important in programming which is known to be challenging and potentially frustrating for students.

To address some of these problems, we have introduced Tinkercad as a tool to simulate both the Arduino programming environment and electric circuits, where it provides a realistic visual representation of the experimental environment. This approach is implemented in two programs: one in the US and another in China. At both institutions the instruction is done face-to-face and labs are used extensively. We are in the process of collecting data and evaluating: a) Student technical preparedness, both hardware and software (Are they ready?) b) Student attitudes toward using Tinkercad (Was it helpful?) c) Instructor observations and experiences (Is implementation hard? Do students benefit?) d) Any differences between the two institutions in terms of student preparedness and attitudes In our previous report, we found that students liked the software but the sample was small. In this paper, we will present a more comprehensive set of data which should enable us to make firmer conclusions. Overall, we hope to present the case that Tinkercad can be a very useful tool in transitioning students from a variety of backgrounds into more technical coursework, and to provide increased motivation to persist in their studies. We will also provide details of the assignments where Tinkercad is used.

Citation
Format

Pejcinovic, B., & Kennedy, J. L., & Holtzman, M. (2025, June), Using Tinkercad in introductory electrical and computer engineering courses Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . 10.18260/1-2--57318

TY - CPAPER
AB - Over the last several decades, engineering programs have started adding introductory engineering courses that do not necessarily rely on a long list of prerequisites, such as physics and calculus. This was done for many reasons, such as making engineering more attractive, improving student motivation, and increasing retention. These courses are sometimes called cornerstone courses to contrast them with capstone courses that are taught in the final year.

In our electrical and computer engineering programs, we added a full year of introductory courses, covering areas such as exploration of the field of electrical and computer engineering, circuit analysis, problem solving, programming, and combining software and hardware to accomplish a larger goal, usually as a part of a team project.

The first course in this three-quarter-long sequence is meant to accomplish the goals mentioned above. However, the fact that there are no prerequisites presents significant challenges due to a wide variety of student backgrounds. Therefore, it is important to provide very substantial scaffolding for students with limited experience in technical areas while trying to provide enough challenges for the students with more relevant background. This problem is particularly important in programming which is known to be challenging and potentially frustrating for students.

To address some of these problems, we have introduced Tinkercad as a tool to simulate both the Arduino programming environment and electric circuits, where it provides a realistic visual representation of the experimental environment. This approach is implemented in two programs: one in the US and another in China. At both institutions the instruction is done face-to-face and labs are used extensively. We are in the process of collecting data and evaluating:
a) Student technical preparedness, both hardware and software (Are they ready?)
b) Student attitudes toward using Tinkercad (Was it helpful?)
c) Instructor observations and experiences (Is implementation hard? Do students benefit?)
d) Any differences between the two institutions in terms of student preparedness and attitudes
In our previous report, we found that students liked the software but the sample was small. In this paper, we will present a more comprehensive set of data which should enable us to make firmer conclusions. Overall, we hope to present the case that Tinkercad can be a very useful tool in transitioning students from a variety of backgrounds into more technical coursework, and to provide increased motivation to persist in their studies. We will also provide details of the assignments where Tinkercad is used.

AU - Branimir Pejcinovic
AU - Jamie Lyn Kennedy
AU - Melinda Holtzman
CY - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DA - 2025/06/22
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Using Tinkercad in introductory electrical and computer engineering courses
UR - https://peer.asee.org/57318
DO - 10.18260/1-2--57318
ER -