Certifying with GTAW on Stainless Sheet

Date 08-22-2013 14:01

As a welding instructor why do you "need" to certify your students to weld a specific material or a specific test?

By chance, are you taking on the responsibility of a prospective employer?

My philosophy is that the welding instructor's responsibility is to prepare students to work in the welding field. It is the employer's responsibility to qualify and certify the individuals they employ.

My experience has been that when the instructor concentrates his efforts in training the student to pass a test, that is all the student learns. If the test the student takes is the 1-inch carbon steel plate test, that is all they learn at the expense of other skills.

I recently administered a T-fillet break test on carbon steel to several young welders that were co-op students hired by one of my clients. They did not have a clue of how to deposit a reasonably good fillet weld. I asked them if they had received any training on making fillet welds. Their response was no. All they practiced was welding a 1-inch groove plate. Each had passed the 1-inch plate test, but they had no idea of how to make a fillet weld. Do I expect too much from a school that teaches welding?

The instructor said his performance is assessed by how many students can pass the "test" at the end of the program. I have a serious concern with an program that is assessed by how many students pass a specific test. A well rounded education is sacrificed for the sake of passing a test. This is true in welding as well as general education. The "No Child Left Behind" has been the root of a decline in our education system. Schools now teach the test rather than teaching the subject. The goal of passing a standardized test should not be the primary goal of going to school. In this case, the goal of passing a specific welding test is short circuiting the student's education by focusing on the questionable goal of passing "the test."

Al

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 08-22-2013 14:43 Edited 08-22-2013 14:46

Don't blame it on No Child Left Behind.

In this case its the fault of the people counting beans, shared with the faculty.

The faculty should be working with those above them to *link* the work students complete with established standards. The whole reason behind the work of both AWS S.E.N.S.E and NCCR welding curriculum guides.

All NCLB needs is the linkages.. They do NOT set the bar as to how high that bar is for welding. Curriculum can favor local industry needs or be more or even less borad, depending on the equipment the school has available.

The standards are all out there with chapter and verse to link to and satisfy any external auditor or grant writing authority... Faculty should be intimately involved in writing and revising their own curriculum,,, Even if it is generated at the state level, they can be part of it.

I would encourage the instructor to be involved in SENSE, It's inexpensive, provides a National Standard for learning objectives to be linked to, provides WPS's to test students and has excellent well rounded exams, both written and practical.

D9.1 Sheet metal code is thin, easy to make your own PQR's on site without RT or tensiles and is flexable enough to accomodate a variety of alloys, unlike other specifications.

As an instructor I DID USE CODE, to train and to test... Every single weld, from day 1 of hotwork. Only on rare occations did I process Welder Qualification Test Reports (certs) to hand to students... If I judged that a particular student would retain what they learned and would be able to test months later and still pass and that individual needed that paper to get in the door to get an interview for a good job... I would do it.

All my certs generated from the school had a watermark that read "For Educational Purposes Only. Not for Production."
If my stamp is going to make people money... I'm first in line!
Tech colleges that flood the market with "certs" tend to be a regional problem, causing confusion about the quality of entry welders. They also are subsidized and therefore take money out of the pockets of 3rd party inspectors who have to pay their own way.

Edit, If I diddn't make myself clear
I have an ethical objection with Government Schools certifying welders for production in private industry.

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 08-23-2013 19:27

I couldn't have wrote it better Lawrence!!!

Al's advice is just as golden so I'll just second what they both have posted.

Respectfully,
Henry

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 08-22-2013 18:37 Edited 08-22-2013 18:39

BTW.. Welcome to the forum Chris!

Thats a horse of a different color :)

One avenue would be to have that *new school* get local hiring authorities, manufacturers and employers on their advisory committee and make arrangements with them to use their welding procedures as part of the curriculum and their testing procedures for the work you do.

There is nothing that pleases fabricators and manufacturers more than having a school teach exactly what they do! When this happens they also get generous with scrap and cut-off donations to the school....

It would save you generating WPS's for a bunch of different job interests and more importantly make a pipeline to jobs for the students and employers.

If you propose this and stay involved, it will probably also harvest more 3rd party work for you at some of the places that hire welders from the school once they get to know you and trust your work.

Go for it!

By hvymax

Date 10-22-2013 16:15

This is the trend in welder education. Sucess is based on certs coming out of your class. I always start with the basics and when ready my students pursue their chosen cert disciplines. D9 is nice because it is all visual inspection criteria. You need the book you are certifying to though. I work with another CWI/instructor so he got bent when I entered his students to D1.5 instead of D1.1 (He teaches them without power tools) because we don't have the current book. As a teacher I find the CWI invaluable in my evaluation of each student and guiding them towards achieving their goals.