Interdisciplinary design of a research experience on microelectronic systems for K-12 students

The approach to microelectronics education is typically geared towards the knowledge of the principles behind electronic circuits and systems, but there are social indicators that it overlooks some important educative aspects such as thinking competences and social attitudes. Such aspects play a fundamental role when bringing microelectronics education to the K-12 level. Therefore, the need to couple the acquisition of technical skills and concepts with a truly educative experience arises. In order to tackle this challenge, we propose to bring the research experience in electrical engineering within reach of K-12 students, because the active knowledge construction process that takes place during research requires children to be engaged with all of their knowledge, skills and attitudes. This poses the challenge of overcoming the knowledge gap of students, which we address by means of a synergistic cooperation of electronic experts and educators. More specifically, we propose the narrative approach as a key enabler for participatory research with K-12 students under the guidance of an expert.