A New Approach for Teaching Microcontroller Courses*

The microprocessor is playing an increasingly important role in a wide range of engineering applications. Engineers from all disciplines benefit from learning the power of the microprocessor in solving engineering problems. Within colleges or schools of engineering, microprocessor courses are currently taught by electrical engineering departments and in some cases by mechanical engineering departments. In this paper, we propose and discuss a new approach for teaching microprocessor courses. This approach allows all engineering students the opportunity to learn to use the microprocessor as a tool for solving engineering monitoring and control problems. The approach consists of shifting the focus of the course from the microprocessor itself to learning the design methodology by which the microprocessor could be used as a tool to solve practical engineering problems. We propose ideas to facilitate implementation of the approach and discuss its various benefits to engineering education.