NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University’s ADVANCE Program for Young Scholars (ADVANCE) had the unique opportunity to host an electronics themed maker space led by David Sproles last month.

 

Sproles (BSME, 1977) was an engineer in manufacturing for chemicals and consumer products for 37 years. Since his retirement, he has taught STEM workshops at Maker Faires in New Orleans, Houston and Shreveport. He has also provided this type of hands-on workshop to libraries in Louisiana, Virginia and New Jersey and to home school co-ops and public school groups. Each summer, he provides four-day Summer Electronics Camp, where students learn to use a digital multimeter, make circuits using clip leads and solderless breadboards, build burglar alarms and participate in other workshops.

 

ADVANCE student helpers Evan Shelton, Joey Chen and Kushal Upadhyay, who had previously participated in Sproles’ workshop and were knowledgeable on how to teach others, assisted with the workshop

 

Participants and student helpers began with a presentation that focused on the positiveness of a Growth Mindset versus a Fixed Mindset. Students then followed a set of instructions to construct circuit boards using lumber, nails, battery pack, switch and Christmas lights. Sproles then led the students in the safe practices of basic soldering skills to fix the wiring to the nails. Each student soldered their own circuit board under Sproles’ and the student helpers’ supervision. After completing their circuit boards students constructed a variety of series and parallel circuits so they could visually see how the different connectivity would impact the brightness of the light bulbs.

 

Evan Shelton, a student helpers, led a presentation on how to construct virtual circuits and run simulations by accessing the website: https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/circuit-construction-kit-dc-virtual-lab. After his presentation the students practiced making virtual circuits.

 

At the conclusion of the workshop, students kept their circuit boards and were given take-home exercises to further their exploration of series and parallel circuitry.

Pictured are Dr. Chris Hynes, Elijah Burks, Brianna Stephan, Evan Shelton, Paul Berend, Samantha Bui, Logan Byrd, Joey Chen, Samantha Bell, Sree Karnati, Ava Pham, David Sproles, Nicholas Head and Kushal Upadhyay.