Source: https://mokxi.com/teachers/plans/portfolio-and-interviews Updated: 2026-11-11 Lesson plan # Portfolio and interviews lesson plan Turn finished projects into a job search: choose and document portfolio pieces, share links that run, read job posts and answer technical questions out loud. 3 chapters, 6 lessons, about 3 hours, no board. Every lesson runs in the browser, with nothing to install. Start a class from this course The unit ## Objectives and materials ### By the end, students can - Pick projects that prove skills, and write them up with numbers. - Read a job post for what it really asks, and answer technical questions out loud. - One circuit, finished as a portfolio piece from first test to shared link. ### Materials for the whole unit - Capacitor - Diode - Full-size breadboard - LED - Light sensor - Multimeter x 2 - Resistor x 2 - Signal generator - Slide switch - Transistor (NPN or PNP) Every part is already on the simulator’s bench, so there is nothing to buy or hand out. The counts are the most any one lesson uses, if you build it on real breadboards too. Chapter 1. About 1 h 30 min ## Your portfolio Pick projects that prove skills, and write them up with numbers. Lesson | Time | What students do Choosing portfolio projects What a good portfolio piece proves, why a small finished project beats a big unfinished one, and how to pick three projects that each show a different skill, starting from one resistor you can measure. | 30 min - What a portfolio is for - Prove the first number - Show you can change it on purpose - Find the limit, and say so - Pick three, each a different skill Documenting a build: schematic, code and a demo The four parts of a write-up anyone can follow: what it does, the schematic, the code and a demo with numbers. Practice on a voltage divider, recording each design change as a row in a test table. | 30 min - The four parts of a write-up - The first row of the test table - A change, with a reason - Test the other direction - Write the page Sharing a Mokxi project link Why a link that runs beats a photo, how to check a project works for a stranger before you send it, and how to put the link where people will click it. Practiced on a light sensor divider with readings for light and dark. | 30 min - A link that runs beats a photo - Check it runs from a fresh open - Demo the dark case - Demo the bright case - Share it and put the link to work ### Materials - Full-size breadboard - Light sensor - Multimeter - Resistor x 2 ### Check for understanding Each student finishes "Sharing a Mokxi project link" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 5 of its 5 steps as they go. Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Share it and put the link to work". Chapter 2. About 1 h ## The job search Read a job post for what it really asks, and answer technical questions out loud. Lesson | Time | What students do Reading a job post Split a job post into must-haves and nice-to-haves, turn each requirement into something you can show, and make a gap list. Practiced on the classic line: measure voltage and current, and apply Ohm's law. | 30 min - Must-haves and nice-to-haves - Skill one: measure voltage - Skill two: measure current - Skill three: apply Ohm's law - Make a gap list The technical interview How technical interviews usually run and how to answer out loud: predict, reason, then check. Three classic questions about a power supply, each answered on the bench, plus what to say when you do not know. | 30 min - Think out loud - Question 1: what is the output? - Question 2: what if the capacitor is too small? - Question 3: what if the load draws more? - When you do not know ### Materials - Capacitor - Diode - Full-size breadboard - LED - Multimeter x 2 - Resistor - Signal generator ### Check for understanding Each student finishes "The technical interview" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 5 of its 5 steps as they go. Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "When you do not know". Chapter 3. About 35 min ## The boss One circuit, finished as a portfolio piece from first test to shared link. Lesson | Time | What students do Boss: your portfolio piece Turn one circuit into a finished portfolio piece: prove it works, measure it, redesign it on purpose, show its failure mode, then write it up and share the link. A transistor switching an LED, checked at every stage. | 35 min - The brief - Result 1: it switches - Result 2: measure the load - Result 3: a redesign on purpose - Result 4: show the failure mode - Write it up and share it ### Materials - Full-size breadboard - LED - Resistor x 2 - Slide switch - Transistor (NPN or PNP) ### Check for understanding Each student finishes "Boss: your portfolio piece" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 6 of its 6 steps as they go. Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Write it up and share it". Your class ## Teach this unit as a class Start a class from this course and its 6 lessons are assigned in one go, in order. Students join with a six-character code or printed login cards, and each one’s work comes back to you. The class tools are free for 30 days for one class of up to 20 students, with no card. The lessons themselves are free either way. Start a class from this course See the demo class More units ## Other lesson plans Electronics basics 20 lessons, about 10 h. Embedded on the Arduino Uno 16 lessons, about 12 h. Embedded on the ESP32-C3 13 lessons, about 11 h. Embedded on the Raspberry Pi Pico 7 lessons, about 6 h. Build your own fight stick 5 lessons, about 4 h. Embedded on the STM32F411 6 lessons, about 6 h. C++ on a board 13 lessons, about 10 h. Digital logic and memory 4 lessons, about 4 h. Interactive devices on the Uno 9 lessons, about 8 h. 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