During the COVID-19 pandemic, I took the opportunity to redesign our introductory circuitry labs to be based on the Arduino microprocessors. The versatility and portability of these devices afforded an opportunity to introduce students to concepts of voltage, current, and resistance within an exploratory context. The course is the second semester of a year-long introductory calculus-based sequence at a small liberal arts college. The 16 students were predominantly members of our Early College elite public high school, many of whom are already envisioning STEM career paths. The course schedule has three classroom sessions a week, as well as a weekly laboratory experiment. For these experiments, I developed a scaffolded sequence of six laboratory activities, choosing an Arduino board that was specifically designed for education. The students’ enthusiasm and engagement increased dramatically with their mastery of this technology.
Arduinos present an inexpensive opportunity to bring electronics design to the beginning student....