Abstract:

A central part in the subjects of microcontrollers and microcontroller-based control systems, in the Escuela de Formación de Tecnólogos, the technological department of Escuela Politécnica Nacional (Quito - Ecuador), is the abilities that the students are required to achieve at the end of the course related with innovation, creativity and capabilities of coding and debugging firmware. Problem solving and critical problem solving are frequently used as part of the learning methodologies, also problem-based learning is widely used. Nevertheless, once entrepreneurship is applicated it is possible to generate real world solutions for the society, industry and education. Making the learning of coding and debugging more interesting for the students.

Thus, in order to improve the learning processes of students, problem-based learning has been applied to get them to acquire knowledge in a better way.

The application of this methodology was applied by sorting the contents of the subjects into objective learning blocks and in each one of them guide the student to carry out a phase of a macro project. It began by encouraging the student to determine a problem to be solved using a microcontroller, later the students are able to design their own solution. In the following phases, the students are encouraged to build a solution based on the progress of the subject, proposing hardware and software solutions for its later implementation.

To finalize the application of the methodology, the students presents their solutions in an exhibition open for possible consumers of their projects, usually industry related engineers, also other teachers and students. The projects are evaluated rating the level of creativity, the efficiency of the software, the prospective application and utility for the local environment.

Keywords:

Problem-based learning, Technology students, microcontrollers, microcontroller-based control systems.