Building with Arduino

I have amassed a great skill set over the course of my academic career but I have never thought of myself as someone who was inherently inclined to being good at “hard” skills - science, mathematics, technology, etc. Due to a series of unfortunate events with regards to my secondary school experiences with each of these interrelated subjects, I very quickly found a niche in the arts and settled within it. I’ve been dedicated to developing my soft skills: the inter and intra personal, conflict resolution, critical thinking, communication of ideas and feelings, self-reflexivity, utilizing an intersectional lens, etc. I had, for a long time, thought that I might get away with never having to meaningfully engage with tech or science or math. That is, of course, until I decided to become a teacher.

The story of my journey throughout the last ten years leading up to my decision to attend a teacher education program is long and winding so to make it much shorter I think it is best if I touch on more recent events. Three weeks ago, at the behest of my professor Dr. Michelle Hagerman, I attended a workshop all about basic Arduino coding. I’ve used micro:bits in the past with students and, at one time in my life, had a close relationship with HTML coding for the purposes of cultivating MySpace and LiveJournal pages that represented my teenaged self but really I didn’t think I was capable of being the kind of person who could casually have an interest in coding. More recently, I had dabbled in thinking about maybe acquiring a Raspberry Pi but that had really been the extent of my leisurely interest in coding or “real” tech of any kind.

Let’s discuss this Arduino workshop a little bit more, which I signed up for on the uOttawa Richard L’Abbé Makerspace section of the University of Ottawa’s website. I arrived to the STEM building on the University of Ottawa campus eager and excited but, ultimately, a little nervous. Being in the STEM building is really wonderful. I feel inspired when I’m there by all of the functioning engineering projects that are built into the space. It makes me think that, if things had been a little different for me when I was in highschool, I could have maybe majored in engineering too. The STEM building is great because University of Ottawa students can use the makerspace for free any day of the week and non-students can use it for free on Sundays. The MakerSpace is amazing as it has at least 20 3D printers, two laser cutting machines, two sewing machines where you can program embroidery projects, and more. It is still definitely worthwhile to sign for their free and paid workshops. The Arduino workshop was free to take.

I knew that the “basic” coding piece meant that it was a workshop for beginners but what if they were expecting at least a little bit of coding knowledge? To my relief the engineering student leading the presentation, Jared, was ready, willing, and able to go over everything someone very new to Arduino may need to know in order to get started. Each person at the workshop temporarily received their own Arduino to play with including LED lights and a “breadboard” which is apparently your “best friend when prototyping”.

We first learned that to independently utilize Arduino effectively one should have some foundational knowledge in coding and circuit theory. To explain what an Arduino is I’ve chosen to refer directly to the manufacturers website:

Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. Arduino boards are able to read inputs - light on a sensor, a finger on a button, or a Twitter message - and turn it into an output - activating a motor, turning on an LED, publishing something online.

(Introduction, n.d.)

This means that anyone who can access Arduino also has access to the source code which they can then modify to suit their needs. The coding is how you tell the Arduino what to do. You can download the coding modification software directly from the manufacturer website to your computer to get started and that is exactly what we did during the workshop. I was able to download and use the software easily on my Macbook Air, you don’t need a fancy Alienware computer to use Arduino!

We began with a quick introduction to the Arduino and all of its parts, it is rather involved looking at first glance but Jared explained each component and its function which made it easier to understand. The coding for Arduino is done in a language called C++ and is most definitely complex at first, as any new language would be. Creating the code involves opening and closing loops that tell the Arduino what to do with specific components. We used LED lights and the breadboard to turn the lights on and off in different sequences. This may sound mundane but it was actually quite exciting to be able to figure out how to tell the Arduino to turn on each light in succession and then see it happen in real time!

The Breadboard I mentioned earlier is solderless and allows you to easily experiment with components without permanent connections, is required to create circuits that interact with Arduino and has a pattern of metal connections that you can see from the back to help with eyeballing connections. We also used resistors which slow the flow of electricity down and reduce the amount of energy going into a sensitive device - without the resistors the lights could burn out quickly.

Something that I noticed about myself and how I learn is that I really need to fully understand the “why” of something before I can move on to the next concept. I had asked another engineering student a number of questions during the portion of the workshop when we were given time to play around with the Arduino’s. This is critical for me to reflect upon as I’m sure I will encounter other students who also learn best in this way. It is important to explain all aspects of a concept including practical applications for many students to be able to buy into their learning as “students are more likely to engage in planning if writing is produced for authentic purposes and audiences” (Bogard & Mcmackin, 2012, p. 323). It is also important to make things that often feel out of reach for most of us, like coding, more accessible and fun. Setting students up for success is a great way to lay foundation for future complexities. If students feel like they already have some foundational knowledge they will be much more likely to continue to meaningfully engage in class. Setting students up for success can often feel like we, as educators, may be wasting their time with tasks that are below their skills level but when we introduce new technologies to them it is important to build that confidence.

I have seen a number of educators who are also uncomfortable with coding technologies and I think that this can contribute to student anxieties. The idea that coding or using newer pieces of technology is not accessible is, I think, quite common amongst those of us in professions that prioritize softer skills. I can attest to the fact that, as much as we encourage our students to shift towards a growth mindset, it is vital for us as educators to do the same. If we are constantly putting ourselves in metaphorical boxes and limiting what we think we can achieve, what sort of model does that provide for our students? We need to “be the change” as it were and show our students that the grown up versions of themselves are also capable of anything we put our minds to.

This workshop and the revelations that I was able to have about myself and my learning were very interesting, especially in light of an article I recently read for my Integrating Technology class. The article, Learning to code or coding to learn? by Popat and Starkey discussed ideas surrounding the skills that students both bring into and glean from coding activities. What is most interesting to me is that the authors make mention of the fact that there is evidence to show a symbiotic relationship between the integration of coding into the classroom and mathematical problem solving skills (Popat & Starkey, 2019). Beyond that, the authors discuss developing problem-solving as a cognitive skill (re: Bloom’s taxonomy of learning):

It was clear that students had to understand the problem and apply the concepts. However students analysed the problem, for example when determining how to use as few commands as possible therefore this demonstrated higher-order thinking skills.

(Popat & Starkey, p. 368, 2019)

This has been interesting for me to consider, both as a learner and an educator, as I have always been an analytical problem solver however I have found that if I feel that I am “set up for failure” I find it challenging to allow myself to even begin to try to start solving the problem. This self-imposed barrier was definitely put into practice during this coding workshop. I was having difficulty with my circuit loop and connecting the LEDs and resistors to the correct places on the breadboard and it felt overwhelming to have to take everything off and start again. I ended up asking for help from another engineering student who was helping workshop participants and eventually I had a working understanding of sequencing the connections.

Within the Popat and Starkey article the authors have also made connections between mathematical problem-solving, analytical skill building, and critical thinking. I had never before made these types of connections but in reflecting on the article it makes sense that students who are able to develop a more analytical skill set would apply that type of thinking to most, if not all, aspects of their lives. I have prioritized the 6 C’s of learning (also known as 21st Century skills) in my practice as an educational student and believe that these skills are of utmost importance when facilitating student development. I appreciate the fact that this article has challenged my previous idea of how critical thinking can be developed and has encouraged me to think about the matrix of student learning in new ways.

Overall, this workshop was a wonderful introduction to something that felt very out of reach to me. I would definitely do another coding workshop and have even been inspired to do some extracurricular learning on my own with Grasshopper and Scratch. it is a great feeling to feel more confident in an area where I never previously thought I would and I truly hope to be able to facilitate that for my students in the future.

Works Cited:

Bogard, J. M., & Mcmackin, M. C. (2012). Combining Traditional And New Literacies In A 21st-Century Writing Workshop. The Reading Teacher, 65(5), 313–323. doi: 10.1002/trtr.01048

Introduction. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.arduino.cc/en/guide/introduction

Popat, S., & Starkey, L. (2019). Learning to code or coding to learn? A systematic review. Computers & Education, 128, 365–376. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2018.10.005