Train-the-Trainers Arduino Workshop at Princess Noura University

Train the Trainer workshops are designed to provide instructors with the techniques to deliver engaging professional or technical training. The Saudi Arabian ArabWIC chapter recently partnered with the Software and Knowledge Engineering Research Group (SKERG) in delivering a series of Arduino Training workshops for female students in the field of physical computing, an area of applied research that is in great demand in our local research labs (particularly labs involved in ubiquitous computing research), but is not currently offered for female students in the existing academic programs in the central region within the Kingdom.

The workshop was led by Arwa Alabdulkarim, an ArabWIC Saudi Chapter member and researcher in King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology’s Electronics and Photonics Research Labs. The “Train-the-Trainers” workshop was held on the campus of Princess Noura University (PNU) on May 23, 2016.

A total 25 participants took part in the full-day 6-hour workshop. They were trained on the technical background and skills needed for delivering an Arduino training session, and briefed on the curricula requirements for such training programs at different skill levels.

In this session, workshop moderators prepared new trainers with critical training skills and introduced seasoned Arduino designers, sketchers and practitioners to the latest techniques for introducing physical computing concepts to students and hobbyists in the Arduino Makers communities. Participants started with an introductory session on the Arduino IDE, and then moved to activities that involved assembling and controlling their own circuits. In the session, they had the chance to assemble then reassemble their circuits, to gradually develop an understanding of how to explain the concept for participants with varying technical knowledge in their own Arduino workshops. The program was comprised of 4-6 different lab sessions designed to facilitate exploratory activities for participants to understand Arduino’s potential in different areas of applications.