Toy Adaptation Program Workshop: Enriching First-Year Engineers by Teaching the Electronic Toy Adaptation Process

Abstract

For many first-year engineering students, the efficacy and purpose of their degree is not always apparent when they take their initial engineering classes. The Toy Adaptation Program (TAP) teaches incoming students the procedure involved with reverse engineering an electronic toy so that it can be more easily activated by children with disabilities. By taking this approach to learning, the goal is to benefit the community by increasing the accessibility of these expensive toys while teaching first-year engineers soldering, basic circuitry, and problem-solving. In the end, we hope that students will be empowered to make a difference in the world with the skills and experiences they gain from their first year as engineering students.