Exploration of Teaching Design in Microcontroller Technology Course

With the increasing demand for application-oriented technical talents in society, higher vocational colleges have begun to place greater emphasis on practical teaching components in their training models, strengthening students’ practical abilities and innovative spirit. The microcontroller technology course is one of the core courses in electronic majors, and its teaching quality directly relates to the cultivation of students’ professional abilities. The traditional teaching model can no longer meet the requirements for talent cultivation in the new situation. Therefore, this study proposes a new teaching design plan that combines theory and practice, classroom and laboratory, as well as school and enterprise collaboration, taking the “Design of a Simple Traffic Light” as an example.

Taking the microcontroller technology course at Hefei Vocational and Technical College’s Automotive Engineering College as an example, it is one of the core courses in the intelligent connected vehicle professional group, aimed at cultivating professional talents with the knowledge, skills, and professional qualities required for positions such as microcontroller design in the automotive industry.

In the teaching of the microcontroller technology course, there are issues such as low student motivation and weak hands-on operational abilities. There are multiple reasons for this situation. Firstly, the difficulty of learning the microcontroller technology course is high, and the cultural foundation of higher vocational students is generally weak, lacking in logical thinking ability, comprehension ability, and abstract conceptualization ability, which increases the teaching difficulty of the microcontroller technology course. Secondly, microcontroller programming requires a solid foundation in C language programming, and some students have weak programming abilities, making it challenging for them to complete microcontroller program coding. Finally, classroom time is limited, and it is impossible to provide sufficient hands-on practice opportunities for every student.

The automotive microcontroller technology course is a comprehensive course that is both theoretical and practical. This course aims to equip students with the basic knowledge, principles, and application skills of microcontrollers. The course content includes basic knowledge of microcontrollers, basic structure and working principles of microcontrollers, programming languages and programming environments for microcontrollers, interrupts, timers/counters, and other theoretical knowledge. Its knowledge points are relatively abstract and require students to have high logical thinking abilities. Existing course teaching can no longer meet the social demands for students’ practical skills and innovative abilities, thus teaching methods, strategies, and models should be improved to strengthen students’ hands-on practical abilities and innovative capabilities.

Taking “Design of a Simple Traffic Light” as an example, integrate task-driven methods and problem-oriented learning methods into classroom teaching to cultivate students’ practical skills and innovative capabilities.

3.1 Task-Driven Method

(1) Design Task. Teachers can design a series of challenging and practically significant tasks based on course content and objectives. For example, in a traffic light control system design task, students need to utilize the microcontroller knowledge and skills they have learned to complete a series of tasks such as system design, programming, and debugging. Such tasks not only require students to understand and master the basic principles and operating methods of microcontrollers but also demand that they employ creative thinking to solve practical problems.

(2) Student Self-Learning. The task-driven method emphasizes students’ active participation and self-learning. During the task completion process, students need to independently search for information, design solutions, and write programs, which helps cultivate their self-learning abilities and independent thinking skills. Additionally, completing tasks through group collaboration can also foster students’ teamwork spirit and communication skills.

(3) Teacher Assistance. The role of the teacher in teaching is primarily as a guide and facilitator. Teachers not only need to provide necessary guidance and support to students but also need to give timely feedback and evaluation, helping students identify problems and improve. Furthermore, teachers should adjust the difficulty and requirements of tasks according to students’ learning situations and progress, ensuring that tasks are both challenging and provide a sense of achievement for students.

In summary, integrating the task-driven method into the microcontroller technology course teaching in higher vocational colleges helps improve students’ practical operational abilities and innovative thinking. By setting challenging and practically significant tasks, guiding students to actively explore and solve problems can stimulate their interest and motivation in learning, enhancing their overall qualities and professional skills.

3.2 Problem-Oriented Method

(1) Design Problems. Teachers need to design or select problem situations closely related to course objectives, such as traffic light control systems. These problems should have practical significance, be able to stimulate students’ interest, and be complex enough for students to engage in in-depth discussion.

(2) Student Self-Learning. Students are guided to analyze problems, identify the knowledge points and skills required to solve the problems. Then, they independently search for information, discuss solutions, and attempt to apply the microcontroller theoretical knowledge they have learned to solve practical problems. In this process, students are the main agents of learning, while teachers play a guiding and supportive role.

(3) Group Discussion and Collaboration. Students typically engage in discussions and collaborations within groups, sharing resources, learning from each other, and jointly proposing solutions. This collaborative learning helps improve students’ communication skills and teamwork spirit.

(4) Practical Operations. After theoretical discussions, students need to implement their solutions, such as writing programs, building circuits, and testing systems. Through practical operations, students can better understand abstract concepts and apply knowledge to real situations.

Integrating the problem-oriented method into the microcontroller technology course teaching in higher vocational colleges helps enhance students’ ability to solve complex problems, improve their self-learning and lifelong learning capabilities, and enhance their communication skills and teamwork abilities.

By introducing task-driven and problem-oriented methods into the teaching of microcontroller technology courses in higher vocational colleges, not only can students’ interest in learning be stimulated, but their practical operational abilities and innovative capabilities can also be enhanced, improving their ability to solve practical problems. Teaching design should always keep pace with technological development, continuously optimize the curriculum system, and cultivate more high-skilled talents that meet the needs of the times for society. Future teaching design should focus more on practicality and foresight to adapt to the ever-changing professional demands and challenges.