Abstract
The Effect of Project Constraints and Choice on First-Year Microcontroller ProjectsLiterature on self-determination theory suggests that giving students a choice can lead to manypositive effects, however too much choice can actually be detrimental. This paper discusses theeffect that the project constraint level has on student performance and perception during projectswhich require the use of microcontrollers. The projects were implemented in an introduction toengineering course that consists of both electrical and mechanical engineering students at anurban, private institution in the Midwest. This one credit course consists of a single 100 minutelecture and lab each week during a 14 week semester and details of the in-class and lab timededicated to the project are described.In this course, students were given a choice between hands-on Arduino (a microcontroller)projects which differed in the amount of freedom students had over the components used andproject objective. Three projects were offered which had a clearly defined objective andspecified exactly which sensors and actuators to use in meeting those objectives. A more open-ended project was also offered in which students could choose their sensors and actuators fromtwelve different components and develop their own project objective. Pre-project surveys were used to gage student interest level in the various projects, sensors andactuators as well as their experience with microcontrollers and programming. Students wereassigned to the project for which they rated the highest interest. Of the 133 students whoparticipated, 93% had not worked with microcontrollers before entering college. A post projectsurvey was used to assess the amount of time spent, perceived difficulty of the various projects,perceived learning and biggest challenges presented by each project. To examine how theamount of choice relates to student outcomes on a project the survey results and project grades ofstudents who chose a clearly defined project are compared to those who developed their ownproject. This paper further discusses open-ended feedback relating to the microcontrollerproject implementation, challenges and opportunities for improvement.