Telling tales: The development of a storybook to introduce electronics to engineering undergraduate

Storytelling can be an effective pedagogical tool to transmit technical information and increase engagement. Storybooks are a visual medium where the technical content can be explored through narrative and imagery. A storybook was written and illustrated to translate the functionality of a breadboard and the process of making a circuit into a fictional narrative. Through observation and a quantitative assessment, this study explores the question: is a storybook as effective as a traditional lecture to transmit technical content? One section of a first-year engineering design course (n = 29) had a traditional lecture to learn about breadboards, and the other section (n = 43) used the storybook. Participants in both sections were timed to see how long it took to replicate two circuits. They completed a short assessment to measure their understanding of the functionality of breadboards. Participants who used the storybook completed the activities significantly faster (p < 0.001) and demonstrated a better understanding of the material (non-significant) than participants who received a lecture. Though the storybook was developed for audiences of all ages, findings of this study are limited to undergraduate engineering students.