Work in Progress - Just-in-Time Teaching and Hands-on Experimenting Embedded Systems for Undergraduates

A new approach is proposing for introducing embedded systems at undergraduate level: reading experimenting - thinking - more reading. In our approach we respond to the "what" and "why" questions in a Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) manner, and show "how" things have to be done in practice by hands-on experimentation. This way, the students are involved in solving simple assignments shortly before lecture class. Responses to thought-provoking questions are used to organize the presentations regarding embedded systems and applications theory around student understanding. The ARM microcontroller based hands-on experiments enhance this understanding by making use of the LabVIEW Embedded Module for ARM Microcontrollers, a new tool from the evolving National Instruments' Graphical System Design Platform. Involving a closer instructor-student relationship, with feedbacks in both directions, we are expecting that the approach will create a more stimulating environment for solving real-world problems - the main skill needed to be mastered by future engineers lasting their entire career.