Instructor Spotlight Archives
January - October 2011: Ben Nusz
Benjamin Nusz has worked as an installer, site assessor, designer and consultant for solar thermal systems. He is a NABCEP™ Certified Solar Thermal Installer, a MREA Certified Solar Water Site Assessor, an IGSPA accredited Geothermal Installer and the co-author of the book, Solar Water Heating: A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Water and Space Heating Systems. Ben is currently the full-time Renewable Thermal Instructor at Mid-State Technical College in Wisconsin Rapids. He is also a solar thermal instructor and a Solar Water Site Assessor Technology Mentor at the Midwest Renewable Energy Association.
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He currently teaches the following courses: Introduction to Renewable Thermal Systems, Introduction to Renewable Electricity, Solar Thermal Site Assessment, PV Site Assessment, Solar Thermal Installation (1, 2 and 3), Renewable Energy – Planning, Design and Project Management (1 and 2), Advanced Renewable Thermal Systems, Heating and Plumbing Systems, Ventilation and Cooling Systems, Piping Fundamentals, Solar Codes and Policy, Geothermal Systems, Biomass Systems and Construction Fundamentals. |
Download MSTC Renewable Energy Programs powerpoint here.
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Assignments and Grading ProceduresWhen I was a student the only thing that frustrated me more than receiving a bad grade, was not knowing how I could have done better. I remember getting back a 10 page paper that I had toiled over (mostly all night before) with a grade that I considered unacceptable and the only comment was “could have been better” scrawled in the margin of page 4. Therefore, I find it incredibly important to clearly define assignments both in their content and in their grading procedures. I share both the assignment and grading criteria when the assignment is distributed. |
I tend to favor grading rubrics for almost all assessments whether it is a site assessment, a system design or a practical skills test. I have provided examples of each of these below.
Download a Site Assessment Assignment here.
Download Site Assessment Grading Criteria here.
Download Install 1 Design Assignment here.
Download Install 1 Design Grading Criteria here.
Download Copper Sweating Skills Test here.
Group Selection
Inevitably at some point of the installation training process, students will need to be separated into groups to complete a project or installation. Students are paired into groups by me not by themselves. Self-selection may be more comfortable because students will generally select to be in a group with their friends, but it does not necessarily lead to the best learning environment. In addition, in a real world work environment we don’t get to select our co-workers. Before I select the groups, I have the students write down their previously completed courses and their work history. I also have them answer a series of experiential questions such as, “Have you ever sweat copper pipe?” or “Have you ever framed a wall?” Having this information allows me to make groups with a variety of experience levels. This is not just to pair up more experienced student with those with less experience, but to encourage groups with a diverse skill set. See below for an example of my group selection survey.
Download SWH Install I Group Selection Survey here.
Peer Review
In any group you will find leaders and laggards. As an instructor, it is oftentimes difficult to differentiate student performance since the majority of group assessment techniques assign a grade to the end result, not the process. This creates an opportunity for free riders and frustrated students. Any project that I assign that includes more than one student will have a portion of the grade determined entirely by peer review. Student rate the other group members based on a series of performance parameters. In addition, students self evaluate their own performance along the same parameters. I make it clear to the students that I will have no influence on this portion of their grade since those best suited to determine performance are those that are actually participating in the group. Peer evaluation typically accounts for 10% of their total grade.
Surprisingly, the results are always very similar to the grades I would have assigned to each individual student. Students tend to hold each other to a high standard when they know that their own grade is affected. Only when a group works really well together do they give each other complete straight A’s and I find that a perfectly acceptable grade. In addition, whenever there are multiple groups working on different projects and the semester culminates in some sort of a presentation, I have students grade the other groups. This ensures that all groups are working at a high level.
I have attached some example peer review forms. I have a simple spreadsheet that makes tabulation and calculation easy (in case you are working at an institution that doesn’t provide you with a TA). I have also attached the forms I use to grade full group performance.
Download Peer Evalution Form here.
Download Peer Presentation Evaluation here.
Download Final Report Instructor Evaluation here.
Download Instructor Presentation Evaluation here.
The Degree Capstone
For each of our renewable energy degrees we have some sort of a capstone course. This course is intended to pull together everything they have learned in their studies and apply it. We typically accomplish this through a group project or installation. In addition, I use the lecture portion of this class to tie up any loose ends in the content that may have gotten overlooked with a particular cohort. For this class I start the first day with an empty syllabus. The students and I set the syllabus based on both their own self-assessment of their abilities and their desires for what they want to learn further. To gather this information I use a simple survey. Once the students have completed the survey and I have calculated the results, we set the schedule for the rest of the semester. This gives the students a sense of ownership over the class and tends to keep them more involved. Below is a sample survey from one of my capstone courses.
Download Capstone Day 1 Survey here.
Professional Development and Growth
Since renewable energy is such a “new” field, there are not a lot of pre-set career pathways to enter into the industry. In order to foster development between students and potential employers we have implemented a Professional Development Competency Contract. For every one of our renewable energy related courses student are required to participate in a certain number of activities that increase the likelihood of employment or encourage them to become more familiar with the industry outside of school. Some items are deal with personal growth (Resume writing, interview skills, study skills, etc…) while others foster industry ties (Attending conferences, events, joining industry associations, etc…) Each student can choose which activities to participate in order to cater to their own preferences or schedule. Professional development normally accounts for 5% of their grade in the form of participation points. Below is an example of the form I use for my programs.
Download Professional Development Competency Contract here.
Other Tips:
- If you see a trainer that you like, build it, don’t buy it.
- Try to get students off campus as much as possible. Each semester I take a field trip or have the class perform some real-world installation.
- Even when you are teaching a non-solar course, ground all of the examples in solar situations. This tends to keep their interest and make them realize how it relates. I have found this especially useful when talking about codes.
Tim Wilhelm
Catch Tim Wilhelm in a room with an audience, and you've got yourself a sight to see. Tim fills up the room with his palpable enthusiasm, plying his audience with stories and nuanced observations on the state of our energy consumption. It's clear to anyone who has the privilege of hearing Tim rhapsodize renewable energy that this solar instructor has got the vision for a renewable energy program, and the experience and insight to back it up.
About Tim
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After excitedly watching the Bell Labs’ movie Our Mr. Sun (starring Eddie Albert and Dr. Frank Baxter), Tim Wilhelm built his first solar-PV project in 1963 – a scratch-built, solar-powered, transistor radio receiver – for his 8th grade science fair project. He’s been bit by the solar bug ever since. A few of Tim’s later projects earned grant support from both the U.S. Dept. of Energy (Designing a Pilot-Tested, Farm Co-op Sized, Fuel Alcohol Plant), and from the former IL Dept. of Energy and Natural Resources (Design, Construction, and Demonstration of a Commercial-Size Solar Greenhouse). Tim is an IL Registered Professional Engineer, and Wilhelm Engineering is the very first solar-PV dealer of the long-established and well respected SunWize Technologies. |
Tim’s first professional solar project was the PV array installed on the roof of the Bloomington, IL AMTRAK station – done in conjunction with ISU’s own Dr. Ed Francis, circa 1980. Tim is also professionally certified as a NABCEP Solar-PV Installer, one of only 11 in Illinois.
Currently Tim is working as a Program Coordinator and Professor of Electrical Technology at Kankakee Community College. With grant support from the National Science Foundation’s ATE program, Tim is developing a Renewable Energy Technician curriculum and training program – the subject of his conference presentation.
Tips and Tricks from Tim
- I start each session with a review of the session objectives (adapted from the NABCEP PV Entry Level Learning Objectives; and, I end each class having the students fill out an anonymous self-assessment regarding each of the session objectives. For each objective they select and check one of these choices:
1. "Piece of cake! Easy as pie! The chela is now the guru! The apprentice in now the master!"
2. "I have a good grasp on the general idea; but, I need to give it a bit more thought and practice."
3. "I understand this, somewhat. I need to review this and ask questions to fill in the blanks I'm missing."
4. "I don't understand this very well. I need lot's more review and focused assistance."
5. "Duh, huh?" - I have the students build a course portfolio that includes:
A site assessment report.
Manufacturer cut sheets of all the hardware we used in lab.
Photos of their hands-on lab work, annotated with relevant code citations. - I emphasize hands-on system construction using real-world components, and require them to mount and connect system components simulating what they would need to do on a real job site.
Philosophy of Education
- Information is…
something someone tells you, or something you read. - Knowledge is…
something you can only garner from personal experience. - Education …
gives the student subject-appropriate information, and…
the personal experience necessary to transform that information into knowledge. - Teaching is…
a purposeful performing art;
a gratifying way to express your enthusiasm for your primary field of interest;
the fulfillment of a social obligation to pass on all you’ve learned to the next generation(s), and...
one heckuva lotta fun!
Photos and PowerPoints
Tim has shared a PowerPoint on some of his teaching methods, as well as some photos of him instructing wind, solar thermal, and PV courses. You can download them in .ZIP archives at the following links: