Abstract:

The aim of this research is to determine the attitudes of 1st year undergraduate students of Informatics about participating in Arduino projects. Arduino is flexible and low-cost open-source platform, and it has a big potential in education, especially in STEM area. The Arduino allows everyone to become a “maker” and create electronic projects of different levels of difficulty, which can interact with the real world. The basis of the Arduino is a board with a programmable microcontroller, supplemented with digital and analog inputs/outputs for connecting various sensors and devices, allowing it to be applied in different areas. Educational institutions worldwide use the Arduino as a resource and tool to support teaching and learning in various fields, especially in programming and robotics. Arduino is suitable for project-based learning, with a focus on student interaction and group collaboration. In this research, 42 undergraduate students of Informatics used Arduino RFID kit on two courses, System and Information, and Programming. Working in teams and under the guidance of teachers, students made 5 Arduino projects during the semester, through which they learned by doing, correcting mistakes and helping each other, applying the acquired knowledge and connecting it with real life. Only 24% students had previous experience with the Arduino platform. Most students expressed positive attitudes about using Arduino in teaching and learning. According to the students, Arduino projects were well selected (67%), organized and conducted (62%). The majority of students find learning with Arduino interesting (55%), they gladly participated in teaching with the Arduino (64%), shared their knowledge with colleagues (60%), and agree that they have gained useful knowledge and experience (48%). Still, 21% of students find working on Arduino projects frustrating. However, 72% of respondents believe that IT students should become familiar with the Arduino platform during their studies. The most interesting project for students was RFID (45%), scoreboard (29%) and automatic day-night light control (19%). There is no statistically significant difference in students' attitudes toward Arduino projects considering gender (z=1,152; p>0,05). However, it was confirmed statistically significant difference in students’ attitudes toward Arduino projects considering their digital competences (t=10,678; p<0,01), as well as previous experience with Arduino (t=31.682; p < .01).

Keywords:

Arduino, programming, STEM, RFID, peer-learning, project-based learning.