Use of a hand-held gaming platform to teach object-oriented programming to embedded systems students

Embedded systems development is a core skill required of electronic engineering graduates. Historically, these systems have been programmed using low-level procedural languages such as C.

However, modern platforms are better able to exploit the power and flexibility of object-oriented languages such as C++. Object-oriented programming (OOP) is known to be a difficult concept for students to grasp and as such, an effective pedagogy for engaging students is required.

Using games design to teach OOP is not a new idea. This approach is typically done on a desktop computer, but here we adapt it and apply it to embedded systems development. In our approach, students design and assemble a hand-held gaming platform. They then learn the core concepts of object-oriented software development by creating an arcade-style game.

We have found that the tangible nature of the platform engages students and makes it easier to understand and apply OOP concepts.