This article presents the technology of the organization of project-based learning in programming microcontrollers at the faculty of information technology (L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University). Based on the analysis of scientific-methodical and normative documents, scientific articles was developed a structural model of the organization of the project-based learning in programming microcontrollers. All the processes of the project development life cycle and the role of each member of the project team were described in stages. In the process of developing the project, students faced various difficulties and found ways to solve them. After the project-based seminars, the participants received an unforgettable experience in working with the team, applied the theoretical knowledge in practice to solve real problems.

This article presents the results of a pedagogical experiment when teaching microcontroller programming. The pedagogical experiment was conducted at the Faculty of Information Technology of the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University in the form of project-based seminars on the Arduino platform (2017-2020). The experiment was attended by 88 first-year IT students. Our goal in this study is to verify the proposed hypothesis on the use of the project-based learning method in teaching microcontroller programming. In the process of conducting a pedagogical experiment, we divided our students into 2 groups: control and experimental. The training of both groups was carried out according to one curriculum, but using different methods. In the control group, traditional teaching methods and learning tools were used, and in the experimental group, we used the technology of project-based learning. As assessment criteria, we took the test tasks “pre-test” and “post-test” that we developed, and conducted a survey for the control and experimental groups. We used statistical methods to confirm or refute the proposed hypothesis of our research, that is, at the end of the pedagogical experiment to get an informed decision about the difference and coincidence of the obtained data.

This article presents the key competencies for an IT specialist, which are formed during project-oriented training during the programming of microrobots. A pedagogical experiment was carried out using this technique when studying the programming of microrobots at the Faculty of Information Technology (L.N. Gumilyov ENU). The project was selected taking into account the characteristics of the basic components of the microrobots. As the training platform, we chose the Arduino microcontroller. The study identified the basic requirements for aspiring candidates for positions in the IT industry on the HeadHunter website. Also, based on the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) documents and our own research, an IT specialist development map was developed. This map shows the main positions of the IT industry. The individual development map of each IT specialist is unique, while it was interesting to highlight certain patterns and bring them into our scheme.