Teaching Digital Electronics and FPGAs through Project-Based Learning and Robotics: A Case Study

This study describes the experience and learning outcomes of 22 engineering students in a course in digital electronics, which combined the usage of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). Project-based learning (PBL) and the construction of low-cost 3D printing robots programmed with the FPGAs were employed to foster the students' learning process. To analyze the educational implications of the methodology, a perception survey, students' academic grades, and the analysis of blogs and videos that students used as a means to disseminate their projects were used. The results show that the students had a good acceptance of the methodology and that it positively influenced their motivation, self-efficacy, collaboration, and learning skills, which were evident in the improvement of the academic performance of this group in relation to the students of the previous semester.