Junior Practicum Experience

During my junior student teaching placement at Ewing High School, with my cooperating teacher Joanna Papadopoulos, I was able to observe the school's Engineering Design class. I had the opportunity to lead a two-week instructional unit on electrical engineering, designed to introduce students to both foundational coding concepts and introductory circuitry. Using Micro:bit microcontrollers as the central tool, I guided students through a series of hands-on projects that combined programming with real-world applications.

Throughout the unit, students developed interactive programs such as digital dice blocks, rock-paper-scissors games, and clicker counters. They also explored the Micro:bit’s radio communication capabilities by programming devices to send yes/no messages to one another and to function as wireless buzzers for a class trivia game.

To deepen their understanding of circuitry, students progressed from using the Micro:bit’s built-in LED display to wiring external LEDs directly to the Micro:bit. They learned how to use breakout boards to interface the Micro:bit with a breadboard, where they constructed circuits and controlled output components using the device’s built-in buttons.

This unit emphasized creativity, problem-solving, and collaborative learning, while building essential skills in both electronics and computational thinking.