AN INTEGRATIVE PROJECT IN MICROPROCESSOR INTERFACES

Abstract

In the third-year microprocessors course given to Mechatronics Engineering students at the University of Waterloo, the lab studies have been redesigned as a scaffolded project. The project aims to provide a more authentic learning opportunity that integrates concepts from the concurrent courses, as well as prior courses. The project was carefully designed to provide some student autonomy while ensuring competence can be achieved by students with a broad range of initial skill levels through the completion of authentic tasks. The impacts of the revised project on student learning were measured using pre- and postproject surveys, course grades and course critiques.  Despite significant challenges that were encountered during the first two offerings, the results show that students perceived an increased competence in several key skills, and an increase was seen in overall course satisfaction.