2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Project experience is crucial to electrical and computer engineering (ECE) education. Despite this, many students are limited to extracurricular involvement or secondary opportunities to gain project experience. This lack of a project-based curriculum creates a clear divide between those with and without access outside the classroom. This study focuses on the self-reflective experience of an electrical engineering undergraduate designing, building, and programming a robotics project. Through autoethnography and reflective journaling, the data from this study aims to prove and document the impact that project-based learning has on the professional development of electrical engineering undergraduates.

The project that was developed is a self-playing, robotics-powered guitar that uses Arduino microcontrollers and servo motors to perform music autonomously. Development of this project was organized into three main checkpoints: creating a picking system, developing a fretting system (which presses the strings to change the notes), and programming the guitar to pluck/play autonomously.

This study's primary methods were autoethnography and reflective journaling. Autoethnography allowed for personal reflection on the learning process, documenting insights, challenges, and conceptual changes. Reflective journaling complemented this by providing a structured way to analyze specific conceptual skills and provide evidence for shaped frameworks. This dual approach aimed to capture both the technical proficiency gained and the broader educational impact of hands-on project experiences on student learning. This was achieved by using photos of the project's progress, taken by the undergraduate, and further reflection on the emotional experiences associated with that moment and the technical challenges faced at that time. This provides a broader, more staggered reflection, while weekly reflective journals consistently reflect on progress. These weekly reflections ask the undergraduate to reflect on technical challenges, connections to coursework, and any difficulties encountered as they prepare for the upcoming week. At the end of the study, the undergraduate consolidated the conceptual data in a discussion/conclusion

The results of this study include several key outcomes based on the weekly reflections and autoethnographic photo selection. Most prominently, the undergraduate demonstrated a wide range of newly developed technical skills in connection with skills learned in coursework. This revealed new connections formed between theoretical concepts and practical applications, contributing to a deeper conceptual understanding. Furthermore, the study captured conceptual frameworks alongside project applications. Finally, the findings highlighted an opportunity for curriculum reform and further research by integrating project-based learning in the ECE curriculum. Through an isolated and emotional experience, this study was able to determine the effect of PBL on conceptual connections and early professional development.