HVACR Teaching Tips and Strategies

Becoming an Effective HVACR Instructor Series Transitioning from Technician to Teacher Written by: Andy Erbach Teaching has always been a part of our profession—whether it is teaching customers to use new technology, sharing a new technique or process with other technicians, or simply helping a coworker who needs some basic customer service skills; you have already served in the role of an instructor often in the normal course of your work. As you transition from a technician to a teacher, you will need to understand that as a technician your success was based on your performance, based on the skill and knowledge you developed over time. As a teacher your success will depend on the performance of others, those you instruct. It can be a little frightening when you first realize that your success is based on something you have little control of, but with the right methods and skills, you can become an effective instructor. Because your success as an instructor will be determined ...

Educational studies indicate that student learning is directly related to the quality of instruction provided. After publishing “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies” better known at the Theory of Special Relativity, Albert Einstein accepted a teaching job. However, according to Walter Isaacson in his Einstein biography Einstein: His Life and Universe, “ Einstein was never an inspired teacher, and his lectures tended to be regarded as disorganized ”. If true, t his is a perfect example of how knowing something does not make one a great instructor. So, how can institutions be certain that those who are teaching their students have both the knowledge and ability to deliver useful and meaningful training accurately and effectively? The answer is simple; encourage their educators to obtain certifications and credentials geared toward both content and content delivery. The concept of teacher certification is not new. Beginning in 1789 there became a movement to verify, through a creden...

 

The role of every HVACR instructor should be to help their students graduate and connect them with employers that offer a living wage, benefits, and opportunities for career advancement and continued learning. Although technical skills play a major role in this process, there are other factors that must be addressed. To help aspiring students reach the top of our industry, we need to arm them with the technical elements that form the foundation for future employment and advancement, validate these skills through third-party national exams, and prepare them to meet the non-technical requirements for employment. Soft Skills A national study of HVACR employers showed dissatisfaction in the soft skills of many technicians. These employers stated that while technical skills are a requirement of the job, the ability to professional interact with their clientele was equally important. Technicians who have received proper customer service and soft skills training , make more money, boos...

Improving HVACR Student Outcomes When a person transitions from the field into the classroom, they are often handed a set of keys and told go teach HVACR. HVACR is not a single discipline, nor is it the same everywhere. In addition, teaching something requires a deeper understanding of the physics and theories than it does to perform the work in the field. To be an effective instructor; one must be knowledgeable in the content area, be able to effectively convey this knowledge, and the students must be receptive to this knowledge. A deficiency in any one of these three areas negatively affects the learning process. The key to addressing challenges in the educational process is first identifying where the problem lies. This session offered during for the HVAC Excellence HVACR Education Conference is being made available to everyone to help them understand the tools available to improve student outcomes. It shows how using the exams many of you already offer, help identify if a problem l...

 

Looking for an easier way to demonstrate the function of a PTC relay to your students? This is an easy method that uses 100W light fixtures and a PTC relay.   A PTC has a resistance of approximately 5 to 15 Ω cold. As current passes through it, the PTC heats up and its resistance increases to 10,0000 Ω or higher. This high resistance virtually stops the current flow through the contacts. A PTC can be checked by wiring it in series with a 100-watt, 120 VAC incandescent light bulb. When power is applied, the light should be bright, and then fade out in about 60 seconds.   An instructor can have the students wire up the bulb and relay in a lab setting. The students can monitor the current with a multimeter and record the time that passes until the light goes out. This lab can be repeated using multiple bulbs in parallel to draw more current and heat the PTC quicker.   The students should measure the resistance of the PTC before the lab begins and record it. Upon comple...

You have likely heard “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.” This 119-year-old phrase has survived the test of time to become a consistent irritation to teachers far and wide. However, it is an outdated saying, that could not be further from the truth in 2022.   It is often difficult to make the transition from the field to the classroom. As a matter of fact, nearly two-thirds of newly hired career and technical education instructors leave teaching within three-years of being hired. For many, the main reason for leaving their teaching positions was they felt a lack of support from the program and its administration. Other key reasons include the realization that instructors need to have a deeper understanding of the physics and theories behind the concepts being taught.   To alleviate these issues, it is essential that instructors develop a strong relationship with their school administration, and seek the support needed to help ensure success.   Here are some d...

 

 

The following video provides some suggestions in running a program advisory meeting. It covers the purpose of the meeting, ideas for the meeting, who should attend, how to contact potential members, and a basic guide instructors can follow.

One of the goals of any HVACR instructor is to properly prepare students to obtain challenging and rewarding positions within our ever-changing industry. To meet this goal, instructors must provide their students with the technical knowledge and skills that the industry requires of its workers.   All instructors aspire to effectively prepare their students for success in the HVACR industry. However, data indicates that there is significant room for improvement. Data from multiple equipment manufacturers, for example, indicates that bench tested items returned to them had no fault found in   82.1% of residential components,  67.9% of light commercial components,  28.6% of industrial components  and 10.7% of chiller components. Looking at this data, we can see that false warranty claims go down as the level of training required increases. A similar comparison can show that, as training is increased, warranty claims and callbacks are reduced, while system effic...

As if finding qualified, entry-level technicians has not been hard enough over the years, the COVID-19 pandemic has made this challenge even more daunting. It is highly probable that recruiting talent for our industry will remain as one of the major concerns for company owners for the foreseeable future. However, there are things these employers can do to alleviate the shortage. It is often assumed that the recruitment problem is more prevalent in smaller companies, but the fact of the matter is that even largest HVACR contractors struggle as well. Typically, larger companies can offer more enticing salary and benefit packages to their employees but, even with tempting perks, all indications are clear…. This is an industry-wide problem. The purpose of this article is to highlight some missed recruitment opportunities, while providing possible solutions. COVID-19: A Missed Opportunity to Promote Industry Awareness When the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pande...