Anyone else teaching BTEC Unit 6 - Microcontroller systems for engineers?

wayne_weedon

New Member
Hi. I am currently teaching the mandatory Unit 6 which has Picaxe as an approved platform and would be interested to converse with others who are also teaching this unit.

Although I have not used Picaxe for some years (2009 I think), I soon got back into it which proves how intuitive the platform generally is. I have almost a dozen students, only one of which would be considered a hobbyist used to some programming.

We have recently gone through the previous assessment for practice which has been an interesting exercise. I have personally coded it in both BASIC and Flowcharts, not sure which method my students will use yet!

Wayne.
 

lbenson

Senior Member
... not sure which method my students will use yet!

Wayne.
As a non-teacher, but a programmer who wrote 70-some lessons for some of McGraw-Hill's home computer instruction courses, I would vote for teaching them Basic, even if it is only "loop forever : push a button : toggle an LED" Basic.

Perhaps flowcharts are "easier", and more generalizable as a "how to analyze a problem" tool, but I think that even the barest introduction to what a programming language is like provides a useful skill to young people.

Sorry if this doesn't specifically address your request.
 

Dartmoor

Member
As another non-teacher & non-software engineer, I would suggest the flowcharts to start.
It is definitely easier to follow if they have little or no programming experience.
When they have got it working, they can then click the "convert to basic" and see what the basic looks like (albeit a bit cluttered with the cell references).
I have found that very useful for self learning! You get to see what the "wizards" etc actually do for you.
With PE6 you can even mix the two and put sections of basic in the flowchart if that helps?
 

wayne_weedon

New Member
We have been doing both. I am trying to teach them to use a more structured approach as that's my own style although its not mandatory.

I have demonstrated inline BASIC in the flowchart as a way to access and manipulate 16 bit variables from within a flowchart.

My own preference is hand coded BASIC however the students have a choice of both for their final externally marked assessment. We have no idea what they will be expected to create, but last years scenario was an egg timer for a commercial kitchen. Their assessment has to be completed in 12 hours including all documentation.

I just hope that in early May when we have the paper that they choose sensibly!

Wayne..
 

PB3

New Member
Hi I will be teaching unit 6 but starting in 2019. It would be useful if I had some feedback on the unit from someone who has experienced it, especially the programming task.
PB3
 

wayne_weedon

New Member
The recommended training/teaching equipment for this course is detailed here:

http://www.picaxe.com/Teaching/Edexcel-BTEC-Unit-6/
My college has purchased 15 of the T4 trainers and my students are getting on well with them. It has been a very steep learning curve for some of them however. We have just ordered a batch of the Picaxe OLED displays to go with them which I will be building when we receive them.

Assessment is in a few weeks time so everything crossed here!

Wayne.
 

wayne_weedon

New Member
Well, we are now awaiting results from the awarding body which are due middle of August. I believe the assessment went well for my ten students and I obviously hope they get good results. The actual assessment brief was quite an interesting one which stretched most of the candidates.
 

wayne_weedon

New Member
Have had the results for a little while now. All 10 students passed with a majority achieving Merits and 1 Distinction in the group. The task was fairly interesting and I start with a new batch of students in a couple of weeks.
 
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