Some of you may know that I have long wanted to teach. I had thought about starting my own school and had written various letters to places for support including the local paper.
At the same time one of the community colleges about 30 miles from here and some state/regional "consortium" had decided to purchase and use a "mobile welding lab" . It is a pre 2000 trailer with 7 booths setup with XMT 350's with wire feeders and tig rigs.
I actually started back in September and though I had posted something here but didn't. I love being able to teach one on one with the people that are interested. Some of the other things about "education" I am still learning. I only teach part time 3 hours a night 4 days a week as the facility is mobile and will leave the county as soon as interest in taking the classes goes away. There was not even a slight suggestion as to how long it would be here.
The "curriculum" is not based on anything I have ever seen. All of the practice is on 3/16" x 2" flatbar . And while it is great for developing skills to run a bead, there is nothing similar to what is done in local industry. I havent seen anything such as a course objective, reference to any specific acceptance criteria for tests etc.
I imagine the "curriculum" is under development and will develop as the program develops. Regardless I enjoy the time spent with the people interested in the subject.
Just thought I would let yall know :)
Have a good day.
Gerald Austin
Good for you, and the students. They have a good Instructor!
By Lawrence 
Date 10-13-2008 17:47
Edited 10-13-2008 17:55
Gerald,
Your foot is in the door!
Way to go... I've been rooting for you... A guy with the background you have is a perfect fit, especially when it is combined with your obvious willingness to share the experience in industry that you have worked so hard to acquire.
Please think of me a resource for anything that crosses your mind.
I have access to a variety of curricula... and have written much myself.
Don't be discouraged with the 3/16ths... I use it for all my beginning short circuit mig and SMAW training, even some GTAW.. Since we have very small workstations right now we focus on process mastery... That plate of yours is the perfect material to learn all position open roots... Any student that can run open roots in all positions will be able to quickly pick up additional technique local industry may require when the opportunity presents itself.. Open roots will be acceptable only when technique and process control are aligned.. Just break out your D1.1 visual criteria...
You could even use prequalified fillet breaks with that material to show the students one way to "certify"
At your service
Lar
Hello Gerald, I would just like to second Lawrences offer to help out if you would like to bounce anything off of me. I am also thrilled for you to have the chance to pursue your aspirations in the educational world. I would tend to say that as you move forward with this opportunity those who are involved with it will likely come to realize your potential and come to rely more heavily on your suggestions and abilities. So once again congratulations and best of luck on this fine opportunity. Best regards, Allan
Gerald,
I am glad to hear this. I know this is something you have wanted for some time. So this would, IMHO, be a win win situation. You win for the obvious reason of doing something that you have wanted to do, and enjoy doing, and the students win from benifiting from your knowledge and expertize.
While I can not offer anything benificial , such as has been offered by others, I can offer my morale support. :-)
John
Congratulations Gerald. I have always held my instructors in high regard. The opportunities I have had to teach others (nothing official or structured)were as rewarding to me as it was for them.
All the best to you and the students.
Cool! I'm sure seeing the "light bulb" go on in your student's faces will make this worth it! :) Thank you for sharing your knowledge with others.
Congratulations! What a blessing!
Sincerely,
Jenn
Thanks for the replies folks. I really enjoy teaching and helping. I sometimes think I overload some of the students with "guidance" and need to just leave them alone for an hour burning rods.
Pad welds and Multipass fillet welds are the key to control in my opinion. We have no "classroom" to speak of other than a loaned out room at a nearby building but because the enrollment is open, its hard to have classroom and shop time go on at the same time.
I've got a few students who really seem to enjoy it and make it to every class. Other are here an there but the class is at night and with many the tuition has been completely paid for so attendance may not be an issue.
But again, thank you all for the encouraging comments!
I have spent a good portion of my career teaching/training apprentices and it is without a doubt the best part of all of it. I am currently an inspector but I'm finishing up my degree online in Adult Education and I plan to spend the last 10 years or so before I retire at a community college, teaching. One of my old instructors had the following poem on his shop wall. He had pictures of 2 different space shuttles he had worked as a welder on. I have no doubt he could've been making better money somewhere else but he ended his career doing what he loved to do, teaching. In the end we all are products of those who have taken the time to train us.
COME TO THE EDGE
"Come to the edge," he said.
They said, "We are afraid."
"Come to the edge," he said.
They came.
He pushed them.
And they flew.
Gerald,
As i started my education in welding, I was upset about the lack of "real World' application. I thought, How am I supposed to learn what the employers want when all i have to work wIth is 3/16 x 2'' flat bar? I have to say...My instructor had no real "vision" as to what he wanted, Nor did he have the drive to adequately teach. I think the difference here is...You have vision and drive. That will make up for the materials given for you to teach with.
The techniques i've learned as a direct result of reading my text and getting under the hood translated pretty smoothly into the industry. I pushed myself to excel with every weld, and even if the instructor passed my weld...I always got back under the hood until i was happy with it.
Your experience and your eagerness to teach will serve your students far more than you may think.
My best wishes to You and your Students!
Respectfully, Jeffrey
Hello again Gerald, I read through your post again regarding the limited materials that you have been provided to teach with. I might make a few other suggestions that could possibly benefit justification of your limited materials. If you can come up with examples of various "real world" applications of welds and welding you will likely be able to readily show these folks the applications of the basics to the more complex and varied applications of welds. An example might follow this sort of scenario: stringer beads, restarts and tie-ins of stringer beads, weld bead padding/overlay, weave beads, open-root root beads, root beads with backing, and any other basic bead combinations that are combined to form all of the various and varied applications of welding beads in industry will help to illustrate the importance of having a good basic understanding of welding theory and applications. If they have run a stringer bead, done restarts/tie-ins, and padding, you can show them how these basic beads are used to make multi-pass fillet welds. Throw in the ability to perform open-root root passes and you can show them how a full-penetration open-root groove weld can be done through the application of these basic skills. Just about any sort of welding challenge can be broken down to include basic welding beads, whether these examples might include performing moment connection welds for the structural field or a 6G 6" Schedule 80 carbon steel pipe joint, they can all be broken down into basic skills and a thorough understanding of these basics before they proceed will allow them to become proficient in achieving many other more complicated tasks. After covering basics with the materials that you have you can discuss with them the required rod angle changes, bead placement considerations, travel speed changes, and other significant requirements for making many of the welds that are required by industry. You have a lot of things on your side as you tailor your approach to teaching, you have had recent and continuing contact with industry, invaluable for supporting your descriptions and suggestions for welding success. You know what is expected of individuals who are pursuing their shot at a welding career. You likely also have some vivid memories of your first shots at breaking into the trades and have also witnessed many of the successes and follies of others as you watched their entrance into this arena. Most of the individuals that pursue a trade are big-time visual learners as well as hands-on types, so including any and all sorts of teaching aids to reinforce these modes of teaching and understanding will likely bring you and your students much success. I try to constantly ask myself the question: what can I do that will simplify or point out the specific item of understanding that I am trying to get across and how many different ways can I achieve the same end result? The more ways you can come up with, possibly the better success you will have to provide your students with a method that will suit their particular style of understanding or learning. As an instructor you will constantly be learning and evolving right along with your students, each new one will be an opportunity for a better way, a better understanding, and an opportunity for you to feel more at ease and thus provide that same sort of comfortable environment for your students. Really glad for your opportunity to pursue this, so once again, congratulations and best of luck, Allan
I appreciate your ideas and have actually been working towards just developing the welding skills with what we have.
Pad welding has been an extensive "practice" item. I start them out with 6010 with little attention to the look of the bead other than consistant width and being able to tie them together without deep valleys at the toes of the welds.
After the 6010 we switch to 7018 and then pay closer attention to bead shape, ripple spacing etc. This continues for Horiz and Vert. (OVHD not in the Curriculum)
After the pad welds I have had them start with fillet welds stressing arc length, rod angle, and starts/stops. I try to stress watching the puddle and not the slag. We discuss heat and how to distribute it with very slight electrode movement etc.
After some of the replies to my original post I thought a little more about what cvould be taught with what we had. The course is designed for 6 weeks but I teach nights which is going to take longer. Some of the students are under the impression that they will be ready to go to work after that time and I feel that more time is needed to get all the things out I want. I have been told I can adjust the curriculum as needed so I think it will go well.
We have had a few come in for a few days and then quit. The program is funded where many students do not have to pay and that may have something to do with it. JUst one or two that are sincerly interested make it all worthwhile.
I really want to to thank you and the others for the advice and comments.
Hello again Gerald, it sounds as though you have a very solid approach to making the best out of your available assets and resources. As to those students who are under the impression(their own or otherwise) that they will be ready to go out there and "get right to work". You could possibly humble them somewhat by setting them up with a very simple scenario: give them a pile of leads, a welding machine with all of the controls zeroed out, a hand-full of rod, and a drawing showing a vertical fillet weld with one side of it designated as a single-pass fillet of a specific size and possibly the other side of the tee as a multi-pass fillet of another specific size. Explain to them that they will need to determine, according to the drawing, which fillet belongs on which side, that their welding project, when completed, will need to provide the vertical member to remain perpendicular to the base plate and that you will be acting as the welding inspector and determining whether their welds have met the criteria laid out according to the drawing regarding size, location, and other pertinent requirements of welds being done to a code. If you could make one up, include a WPS to cover the welding you will be requiring. Then explain to them that it will be up to them to determine how to correctly set-up the machine, determine and adjust the amperage settings for running the particular rod they have been given, and also determine the weld progression that they will employ to achieve the correctly sized beads and the correct finished orientation of the vertical plate making up the tee. When you present them with the print and WPS and they ask you what's this, you could probably inform them that part of being prepared to enter the trade is to have an understanding of the meaning of documents such as those you have given them. When they are put into this situation they will likely figure out very quickly that they might have a lot to learn. I included the WPS and print suggestion based on the limited time that you have with them and the likelihood that you might not have a lot of time to explain these sort of things. Just a little bit more food for thought. Best regards, Allan
Congrats, it's always a joy to teach someone eager to learn.
