Hands-on soldering with PLTW students

Project Lead The Way Digital Electronics students demonstrated hands-on skills in technology on Oct. 8-9 by soldering a random number generator circuit. 

After creating the circuit using software, students soldered resistors and other components to the circuit board using equipment provided by VEX Robotics. Upon pressing the button, seven LEDs light up and eventually stop on a number, similar to a dice roll simulation. 

Over the past eight weeks, the students have been learning to test circuits and use simulation software “Multisim” to prepare for the project. According to their teacher, Nick Blackford, the event was successful and went well.

“It was something that was exciting. There’s a little bit of danger involved. These solders are really hot, so when you have that kind of tool on campus, you feel like you’re not supposed to be able to do it,” Blackford said. “It’s exciting because you feel some ownership in that, that you are able to create this product that is now working, and you can show it to other people. That is another element of it that interest[s] the students, and they get to keep those circuits, so that’s another part that makes it fun and interesting.”

Blackford focused on helping his students with any challenges that may have occurred during the event, such as troubleshooting or explaining how to use the equipment. Since he had never done it before, he looked forward to soldering and helping his students assemble and create the circuits. 

“I’m focusing on ensuring that students understand the concepts and develop the skills that they need in order to succeed. During the project, I’m directing students, helping them if they need help and troubleshooting the circuits but mostly just giving advice about how to create a secure connection on the circuit board, how to test them once they’re completed with the circuits so they know that they’re running properly,” Blackford said. 

Many students, like seniors Joseph Chua and Nathaniel Saputra, enjoyed this new hands-on experience, as most work is completed behind a computer screen. Students who participated in this program and event plan to use what they learned in the PLTW program in their future majors and careers. 

“It was a very fun experience,” Chua said. “In the future, I plan to pursue engineering, so there’s obviously going to be hands-on soldering later on down the line in the future career I have. Another thing I enjoyed was we collaborated a lot because we each had a partner, so we had to take turns, so we were able to help each other. Besides the fact that it was a hands-on experience, I enjoyed how it’s not too serious. It wasn’t graded harshly and was mainly a learning objective for us.”

According to the students, they were grateful to be allowed to do something so interactive and exciting. 

“I thought it was a very interactive experience, and we learned how to properly solder components to the circuit board,” Saptura said. “It was quite satisfying to help the solder and conjoin the components, and It was a very good experience. Checking to see if it actually works and seeing the moment of the grand reveal was memorable.”