Understanding electronics and CT in school - a simplified method for drawing and building electronic circuits for the micro:bit and breadboards

Worldwide we see an increasing focus on implementing STEM, CT and Educational Robotics, within K-12 curricula and the British BBC and the Danish DR, have provided more than one-million pupils with the micro:bit technology. However, research show that breadboards and circuit diagrams, can be difficult to understand. In this paper, we have evaluated a set of tools and materials - designed to support the teaching of electronics and CT, for use with micro:bits, breadboards and circuit diagrams - by integrating them in a case study of a robotics course for 7
^th
grade primary school pupils (n=21). The tools and materials consist of 3D-printable covers designed to visualize the internal connections of a breadboard, and a new type of circuit diagrams, incorporating visual cues from the these, into their designs. Results show that the tools and materials ease the learning of the breadboard and of how to use and interpret circuit diagrams. Furthermore, the tools and materials, have been made available free of charge.