This guide will get you through learning the Arduino platform, regardless if you've had previous exposure to microcontrollers or not.

If you've had previous exposure to microcontrollers you'll definitely feel at home. In fact, you might find it way easier that what you've had to do before.

Otherwise, if you haven't, don't worry. You can get a great start with the Arduino platform and use it to start building your foundational knowledge about microcontrollers.

Make sure you've read through the following pages:

Embedded Systems and Microcontrollers
Arduino Introduction

The Arduino does tend to abstract many things - it's important to understand that the inner workings of the Arduino are not that magical. There is a deep pool of EE-related knowledge underneath that abstraction that you can understand if you take the time to carefully consider what is happening.

Refer back to the embedded systems concepts you covered earlier when you get confused conceptually.