HVACR Teaching Tips and Strategies

Students work hard to complete assignments on time. What students expect in return is your timely honest expert feedback and an appropriate grade. Students expect a rapid turnaround on their submissions. Returning projects quickly also helps the learning process. By getting feedback early, your students can utilize your constructive criticism more effectively. Notice the term “constructive criticism”. It is your responsibility as a teacher to build up, not break down. There are teachers who never return projects to their students. They might be very knowledgeable, but the impression is that they don’t care. This could be very far from the truth, but perception is reality. If you give your students reason to think you don’t care, that will become their reality. Only you know how busy you really are, so you should only assign projects that you can reasonable expect to return within one week. I always strived to return work within 2 class meetings. Always let your students know when t...

If you are looking for some ideas on how to recruit more people to the HVACR industry, we suggest you read this article. https://www.hvacrbusiness.com/overcome-workforce-shortage.html It contains some great ideas on recruitment, and areas many of us fail to mention when promoting our industry. 

 

Many new instructors come directly from the field and, without guidance, are tasked with teaching one or more HVACR classes. Without direction, how can instructors be sure that their instruction is delivering what the industry needs?   To address this issue, many instructors will pose the following question during their program advisory meeting, “Does our curriculum cover the competencies needed by industry?”   They do so with the hopes and expectations of obtaining rapid affirmation that the program does indeed adequately cover the skills that those entering the HVACR workforce need. However, industry professionals attending these meetings are often presented with only a rudimentary list of the courses offered in the program and a very short period, often in the range of five to ten minutes, to accomplish this task. As a result, this all-important question often goes unanswered.   What the program instructors and administrators are seeking by posing this question is ...

 

Those who lead HVACR programs are required to conduct at least two program advisory meetings per year to satisfy accreditation requirements. In most cases, however, they don’t fully grasp the importance of these meetings, let alone how to recruit the right people to participate in them and how to conduct a successful meeting. A well-run program advisory committee meeting provides the opportunity to convey your vision for the program, and how it will help your employer partners grow their businesses. The meeting allows you to clearly articulate the content of the program, competencies covered, the resources the program needs to accomplish its goals, and the skills that students will possess upon graduating from the program. One of the most important elements of a program advisory meeting is the opportunity to hear from potential employers about the skills that they desire potential employees to have. Valuable input from those who will ultimately be the consumers of your product, your g...

 

Becoming an Effective HVACR Instructor Series Have a Plan! Written by: Andy Erbach When developing a training session, having a written plan is the key to running a successful class. If you’re thinking, “I’ve done this many times, I can just wing it,” let me be the first to tell you, that this is a sure plan for disaster. Even training for simple tasks requires, at a minimum, that the trainer know what the learner should be able to do at the end of the training session. We have all been in the position of trainer when dealing with our customers.   For example, when teaching a homeowner how to change an air filter in a forced air system you: explained the procedure and its importance.   showed the customer the air filter. demonstrated how to access the filter frame. demonstrated how to place the filter in the frame and in the correct direction. secured the access cover for the filter. removed the filter you just installed and had the customer install it.   reviewed the ...