Teaching my electronics students the properties of the breadboard seemed to be like pulling teeth. I am sympathetic to their case because the breadboard, although super handy, is not designed in an intuitive manner. With conductive strips running horizontally, vertically, not connected, connected and jumbled all over the place, it is easy to see why students just go for perf board.
Scott put in a valiant effort to describe the little ins and outs of the breadboard to our group. Things I know I need to focus on for my next lesson: For one, I will emphasize the separations on the breadboard, they are there to visually show what ‘panels’ are disconnected (and connected). If I focused more on getting students to visually analyse the breadboard then they wouldn’t have to worry about memorizing the anatomy of its internal schematic, but simply look at where the inputs are placed, aligned and separated.
You did a great job Scott! I apologize for choosing such a intricate and unique set of information that seems to be particularly difficult for students to retain. I learned a bit more about what to focus on when teaching this topic. I think I will keep it to the essential information and repeat it for a week or so, not just for a few days.
