THE USE OF VISUAL ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS MODELLING AND DESIGNING SOFTWARE FRITZING IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS

Abstract

The article analyzes the current state of the issue of STEM-education in general secondary education of Ukraine, considers the prospects of introducing elements of circuitry within the school course of computer science (CS) as one of the elements of STEM-education, moreover, it reviews the possibility of implementation of the mentioned part as one of the components of professional training of computer science teachers. The analysis of the recent researches and publications on a problem of use of electronic devices in educational process is carried out; the choice of the open software platform Arduino as an auxiliary didactic tool for studying the elements of computer circuitry is substantiated. The most common Arduino model series are described and the examples of their applied use in real-life projects are given. The main technical specs and features of Arduino Uno electronic components are given and explained. The Atmega328P microcontroller, the main computing center of the platform, and its main structural elements are considered in detail; in order to substantiate the offered method, a program suite for creating visual electronic circuits – Fritzing is taken as an example with detailed description of its functions and capabilities. This software product provides the opportunity to visually present the project in different forms (layout, scheme and/or printed circuit board). Any of these views can be used as the main work environment of the project and can be selected at any time. Fritzing has a library of ready-made projects, which greatly facilitates the learning process. For greater clarity, all the processes of creating a prototype of the electronic game "Hunter" in the Fritzing environment are described and illustrated, as well as a description of the process of creating the game itself. Mentioned software product is used in the process of professional training of future teachers of computer science, mathematics and physics at Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University. The authors outline prospects of research in this area.