The Internet of Things (IoT) often refers to interconnected digital networking of physical objects or “things” embedded with computers, software, actuators and physical sensors. These “things” are used to monitor environments and share data in such settings as in industry, homes, personal wearable technology and healthcare. Many users interact with these systems as mysterious black boxes; but as IoT becomes more prevalent in the workplace, it is important for even the most technologically novice students to have some basic understanding of how “things” function and even be able to troubleshoot problems. Therefore, a course was developed to provide students with an opportunity to explore this world even if they have little or no programming or circuit design knowledge base. The result is a class for pre-pharmacy and health science majors to attempt to solve real world sensing problems using Raspberry Pi computers and simple circuits. After becoming familiar with Python programming, circuit design, types of sensors and internet protocols, they are required to work on projects to solve a chemistry related problem. In the first iteration of the course students worked on building a gel imager, an internet accessible syringe pump and an automated melting point apparatus. While not all projects were in a state for implementation in a chemistry lab at the end of the semester, students’ perception of the course was positive. The course was taught in a maker-space environment and students were encouraged to seek out solutions from various sources with a general rule for the class that students must problem solve for at least 15 minutes before asking the instructor for help. All recognized they have learned new problem solving strategies, and many indicated that they now have changed their approach to studying for other courses based on the experience in this course.

Internet of things: Introducing students to problem solving through Raspberry Pi

254th National Meeting (2017)

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