“We love to make stuff and see it work………” is a comment I have heard over many years
both in a classroom setting and in University.
The number of opportunities presented in the world of Electronics
at this time are arguably at their most abundant, for example, the electrification
of household items and the widespread use of services such as ‘Alexa’ which
have increased the number of electronic ‘smart’ or Internet Of Things (IOT)
type items available for the home. So how do we grasp these opportunities
and get our students engaged in activities which not only encourage learning
but also give students the enjoyment factor?
My many years spent as a teacher of electronics in secondary
schools in England showed me that youngsters in particular are easily
distracted and turned away from electronics because of simple circuit failures
which limit their confidence. Experience has shown that in general, students
perceive electronics to be a hard subject and easily give up when faced with
problems which are mostly simple to fix.
Getting over the confidence issue can be a tough prospect
but I see my role as an educator to help students over this and give them the
confidence they need to further their curiosity to become both independent and
questioning learners.
Part of my work at The University of Sheffield has been to
help to bridge the gap between the skills learned in schools and the skills
required to be successful practical learners at University level.
I regularly run sessions for small groups of students where
we simply build and test circuits. We do not spend a great deal of time on the
‘how’ and ‘why’ but concentrate on the ‘what’. This gives students the chance
to be hands on with tools, equipment and components (with relevant health and
safety) that they might not have regularly used without the fear factors which
some students have with complex mathematics and circuit theory. I have found
that once students have built successful and working circuits they then start
to develop a level of curiosity which leads them into circuit theory and lets
them understand the reason for the complex mathematics in a steady and
controlled way.
An example of this is shown here, where I have provided the
students with diagrams and components and asked them to use tools and equipment
to build the circuit giving them a step-by-step guide:
I have normally run sessions like this over a period of eight weeks using a two hour slot per week, gradually reducing the amount of help given until students are able to build prototype circuits by just using circuit diagrams.
During the pandemic I have obviously not been able to
complete face-to-face sessions. In order to continue with this initiative I
have moved all of the sessions online by developing a google site which can be
found at:
https://sites.google.com/sheffield.ac.uk/diamond-electronics/home
On this site I have not only developed circuits which
students can build but I have also tried to cover some of the basic theory
questions which many students have and also give examples of Electronic
projects and methods for developing projects which students may enjoy to read
and use.
Students are also encouraged to use circuit simulation
software to build and test circuits as well as using traditional making
methods.
Publishing regular (weekly) sessions via twitter utilising
the University of Sheffield’s many twitter accounts has proven to be very
successful:
The use of twitter has allowed a level of interaction with students where they can ask questions and be given advice such as where to source components or which simulation software to use.
Here are a few examples of some fun ideas which have been
built using circuits contained in the google site:
I am hoping to continue to develop this initiative which will hopefully develop the confidence of many students in the field of electronics as well as having fun with building….
Jon Fullwood
BEd(Hons), PGC, MA, FHEA
Multidisciplinary Engineering Education
The University of Sheffield