Some questions I have about an educational electronics kit - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: int6h
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 02, 2018, 11:17:27 pm
content: I've started learning electronics quite a while ago, but I haven't done any big serious projects yet. One day I was browsing through educational electronics kits, which are mainly marketed towards schools and young enthusiasts. Some of them (at least those readily available on the market in my country) had a lot in common:they featured only basic components (resistors, caps, inductors, LEDs, a few transistors and 555 timer)they offered very little actual education unless you have a teacher nearbythey offered very little problem solving, they were more of a toy rather than a puzzlethey rarelyreallyexplained how all the circuits workedthey were a little bit (and some a lot) overpriced, but that's just my opinionthey focused on analog circuitsTake a look. I know it's not English, but this is everything they tell you about the circuit, and you can guess it's not a whole lot.Other kits were basically just Arduino kits.So, as an exercise in making some real, finished project (more for myself than for other people) that is also feasible (in $ and brain petaflops), I decided to design a similar electronics starter kit, and I want some advice from experienced people or just someone with common sense. But with some changes to the philosophy:it should be focused on a slightly older audienceit should actually teach physicsit should require problem solving and serve as a kind of puzzleit shouldn't include many useless (IMO) circuits, i.e. it won't feature a dozen of NE555 buzzers and alarms; instead it should focus on more abstract devicesconsequently, it should teach the basics of digital logicI feel that the gap between low-level analog (RCL) kits and high-level digital kits is too large, and children/teenagers who want to learn electronics skip the low-level digital (i.e. a TTL computer level kit), and this is something I personally would love as a child.I think points 2, 4, 5 are straight-forward (I think it's an illusion), but 1 and 3 are a little difficult.As of #1, I think that teenagers are harder to lure into physics, electronics and other STEM things, since they all have their own hobbies and are scared by our educational system.As of #3, I'm not sure how exactly it should be implemented. Analytical thinking-ish problems would make the thing more engaging, but I haven't seen this accomplished. The classic approach to this issue in school is usually just textbook problems. I don't want the players to do lots of maths or other conventional stuff, but on the other hand I don't want the puzzles to be trivial. I want something similar to the complexity level of "logic gate puzzles" for iOS/Android (google Circuit Scramble).If you aren't bored yet, my questions are exactly:How can I create engaging puzzles?How can I interest teenagers/children before they open the box? I.e. how to make them want to buy it? (I'm not necessarily going to sell it or get profit)What exactly should I include in the box? I'm thinking about things like cheap VI/VIR meter, USB adapter for 5V. Some beginners will have both.Is it better to make the thing modular or just one big box? Modular kits might be considered incomplete/ripoffs/non-serious/toys, but they allow for more flexibility and lower budgets and will allow potential customers to "get hooked" and get involved in electronics.And please don't judge my simplistic approach. That's just a suggestion, though.