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An interactive newsletter for volunteer instructors teaching Amateur Radio licensing classes.
Stephen E. Auyer, N2TKX n2tkx@arrl.net
"Sometimes you have less than a minute to engage someone in a discussion of amateur radio. What do you do?"
Having an operating radio station at Syracuse's Museum of Science & Technology (MOST) has provided amateurs in the Syracuse, NY area a great opportunity to demonstrate their skills to the public. But at the same time it's shown that some accommodation has to be done to meet the public's expectations of a science museum exhibit.
The majority of visitors to this particular science museum appear to be in the 5-15 year old age range. Of course they are accompanied by their parents, and occasionally an older group will stop by the exhibit. But by and large it's a pretty young group that comes to the station.
What we've found is that we have to find a way to deal with visitors that have a fairly short attention span. Now those of you with young children (either at present or in the past) know that a 10 year old doesn't want to sit still for a long time. And many of the other exhibits in the museum tend to be of the kind where a young visitor can walk up to the exhibit, interact with it for 15 seconds, and then move on. So the visitors to the station aren't disposed to a long dissertation on radio wave propagation, emission modes, licensing requirements, or whatever. They want to come in to the station, talk for a minute or two, and then head off to another exhibit. This poses a certain challenge in how we ensure that they will take something away with them that might allow them to continue to follow-up an interest in Amateur Radio. Yes, we pass out copies of the pamphlets published by the ARRL, by the Boy Scouts and by radio manufacturers - but more is needed.
We don't have a long time to interact with the visitors. Because of this, we've come up with is a series of amateur radio related experiments, or projects, that can be begun in the station, and then continued at home, at school, or while riding in a car (as a passenger, not a driver!).
Each experiment or project is written up as a 4-6 page document that deals with a particular aspect of the technology of amateur radio. The visitors will enter the station, we'll talk to them for a minute or so to sound out their interests, and then if it seems appropriate select one or more of the project write-ups. We'll get them started on the project while at the exhibit and then let them go on their way with the information necessary to complete the project at their leisure.
Examples of some projects that we've written up that have been popular with our visitors include:
AM Radio Listening Project - Allows visitors to see how radio waves from local radio stations propagate and how radio wave propagation changes from day to night.
Phonetics & Morse Code Project - Allows visitors to learn the phonetic alphabet and experiment with Morse code.
Satellite Tracking Project - Provides visitors with information on how they can use easily available software on their home computer to track satellites, MIR and the Space Shuttle.
Reduced-size copies of these handouts are attached to this article. Also e-mail request to the author will get you electronic copies in PDF format.
These projects differ from write-ups on similar subject appearing elsewhere in that the science museum projects are "personalized" to the Syracuse area. As an example, the AM Radio Listening Project contains an exercise that lets them map put the boundaries of their local listening area.
Visitors to the station seem to like this approach. They can find out more about several of the technologies involved in amateur radio but at their own leisure. And we've even seen several of our younger visitors take the experiment farther along and use it as a project at a local science fair!
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The Weatherford Program
The Amateur Radio Club of Parker County, Texas, and Weatherford College have graduated the latest class of Technician Class radio operators. Eleven new hams passed their examinations. The classes are six weeks in duration. Five weeks are devoted to lectures, and the sixth is the VE-administered exam.
The next program features two Technician classes, a General class, an Extra class and a just-for-fun class titled "Now That You Have Your License - What Next?" to teach operation and simple construction projects.
Students also receive Continuing Education Credits for class attendance. Tuition is kept low through volunteer instructors who are not paid.
The Weatherford licensing program is successful for a number of reasons. The program is short, lasting only six weeks including the final test period. The instruction is intensive and focused. The materials used are limited to the VEC question pool. The coordinators want the students to get their ham licenses. They have plenty of time to learn more after they are licensed.
The pitfall of most amateur instruction classes is the lack of focus. The class tries to teach the student too much. An old Irish recipe for rabbit stew starts out with " First catch one medium sized rabbit .. ". We try to catch our rabbit, the license, first, and then make the stew, that is teach them to be on the air operators after they have their licenses.
In reviewing the typical study manual, which is meant for classroom work or for studying on one's own, one notices that the book is trying to not only teach the beginning ham the essential information but also the nonessential aspects which are better taught as on the air training. The student is simply overwhelmed with the volume of data he presumably has to learn in order to get his license.
The Weatherford program, on the other hand, sticks to basics. The instruction is a mixture of explanation and rote learning. The lectures cover every question in the pool with a brief but adequate explanation. Then the student is asked to read the questions and the correct answers only until he can answer all the questions.
The trick to learning the answers on the question pool is to read only the correct answer. The student is asked to highlight the correct answer using the letter in parenthesis as the guide. Then he is told to never read the incorrect answer. After reading the correct answer three or more times the correct answer will become familiar material, and when the exam is taken the incorrect answers will be foreign. The method works. A person of average intelligence can pass the Technician exam in only six weeks.
The program is not without its price. The preparation required by the instructor is extensive, and the intense presentation style is exhausting. The instructor must be knowledgeable of ham radio plus classroom presentation techniques. The instructor must maintain control, and avoid the pitfall of excessive student participation. The class is lecture, not discussion, although pertinent questions are taken at any time. The lack of qualified instructors means a heavier burden on the ones who can teach. ARCPC has only two qualified instructors. The college must also approve the instructors. The same instructor should teach all five lectures. The Weatherford technician program has one brief (15 minute) session with a guest to cover repeater basic operation and etiquette and ARES/ RACES net operations.
The student also has a toll to pay. He must listen intently for two fifty minute lectures with only a ten minute break between. The most common complaint is that the material is boring. The lectures were upgraded to a limited amount of show and tell for this last session in an attempt to make the classes more interesting. The experiment was not an unqualified success. The time taken by the demonstrations eats into instruction time excessively.
Another technique is the daily quiz. At the end of each session, the students are given a daily exam consisting of ten questions from the two question pool supplements covered in that lecture. The ten questions are directly taken from the question pool. The student then becomes familiar with the exam process and does not choke up when the final session arrives and the VE team moves in.
The VE team, headed by Allen Griffith, N5AG, is entirely separate from the instruction team. Four volunteer examiners are used. Allen insures that the student has every chance to pass his exam by providing a quiet, professional atmosphere. No talking is permitted in the exam room except the brief exchanges with the VE. The VEC rules are strictly observed. All paperwork is triple checked to insure that the student who passes his exam will get his license in a timely manner.
The methods work. The first class session in May and June had nineteen initial attendees. One elderly lady dropped out because she could not do the large amount or reading required without developing a headache. Of the remaining eighteen, sixteen passed their exam. One of the failures confessed to not doing the assigned homework. The other is a child who has a problem with learning in the public school also. The second session had twenty people registered for the class. Six people dropped after one class. The explanation for the large drop out rate appears to be related to the method of recruitment. The first class was made up of club members and others who wanted to get their license very much. The second class had the same sort of dedicated individuals, but also had a large element of the general public who saw the class in the Continuing Education catalog, with a very low fee, and came out of curiosity. They dropped out when they discovered that a large amount of effort was required. Of the fourteen who took the class, eleven passed the Technician test and got their licenses. One already had his Technician, and passed the General written exam, and two failed the Technician class exam.
Twenty seven new hams have their licenses as a result of the Weatherford College/ ARCPC program. Several of the new hams and a group of others are now taking the upgrade session. The upgrade class is a challenge to teach because it is a mixture of Technicians and Generals, so that both the General and Extra Class question pools must be addressed.
Five classes are planned for the spring semester. The Technician class will be offered twice, plus one General class and one Extra class. The additional class is a just for fun session titled "Now That You Have Your License - What Next? This class covers building a station, operation of a station, contests, Field Day operation, and other aspects of amateur radio. Hands-on construction skills for build it yourself projects and actual on the air contacts from a station are included.
73 Lilburn W5KQJ ----------------
