FURI | Spring 2018

Adaptive Expertise in Embedded Systems Design

The Polytechnic School’s embedded systems design course, where students design and fabricate their own Printed Circuit Boards, uses a project-based curriculum to engage students, and better prepare them for long term STEM careers by fostering adaptive expertise. By fabricating and iterating prototypes, students learn strategies for troubleshooting and technical design, and the demand for functionality at the end of the semester require reflection on previous design thinking. Interviews with students of different project groups suggest that these experiences are providing a strong technical foundation leading to a sense of strong self-efficacy and an adaptive design mindset.