Developing an Affordable Multi-Course Electronics Kit for Increased Software and Mechatronic Literacy in Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Several Mechanical Engineering (ME) faculty at Pennsylvania State University used course-specific microcontroller-based hardware kits to provide students with hands-on lab experience during the transition to virtual learning in 2020. After returning to on-campus activities, these kits continued to be used to enable open-ended group projects, hands-on homework assignments, and pre-laboratory exercises. We developed an affordable multi-course electronics kit by condensing three current hardware kits in the Circuit Analysis, Mechatronics, and Design Methodology courses. By removing redundant components and replacing expensive parts with cheaper alternatives, we reduced the cost of the condensed kit by approximately 30% compared to purchasing the three course-specific kits. To support the kit usage, we created an online repository with electronic safety, microcontroller tutorials, basic hardware and software instruction, and coding examples. We developed a pre-semester and post-semester survey to assess the impact of the use of an electronics kit on Mechanical Engineering students' basic electronics and programming skills and their engineering self-efficacy in two courses each with enrollments between 150 and 180 students per semester. Our preliminary results show that students' confidence in microcontroller usage, circuit prototyping, and coding increases both for students using the kits for the first time and with use in a subsequent course.