Now perhaps today's students aren't up to the level of effort that I think of in terms of first-year projects, but this one lacks much of the challenge to which you refer, Per.

There's so much information available today, if the first-year student simply searches for it, that matters such as the sending and receiving of data via the serial port, and debouncing keys wouldn't have much impact. This exercise, as I see it, is simply a counter and a table-lookup, leading to a straightforward output routine. The only circuits challenge lies in directing the appropriate current through each of the LED's. Do you think that's particularly difficult? While there is a bit of arithmetic, there's no math.

I'd guess that the real challenge for a first-year student, in this context, is in demonstrating the diligence and discipline to get the job done.

I'd point out that I see students almost every day, even on weekends, as I frequently have 'em in my employ. They're not all as lazy as most of 'em.

RE