Educators Corner “Marc Nelson”
I am going to begin the Educators Corner by talking with a high school teacher from Michigan. Every time I hear something from this guy it usually is about teaching. I met him on Twitter and I feel he shares the same passions for SolidWorks and for education that the SolidWorks bloggers and most active SolidWorks users do. So without further adieu:
Richard Hall (RH): Hi Marc. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Marc Nelson (MN): My name is Marc Nelson. I currently teach at Greenville High School, Greenville, Michigan. I received my BS in Technology Education, in 2000 from Andrews University and my MA in Industrial Education in 2009 from Central Michigan University. I am currently a member of the West Michigan SolidWorks User Group. My Twitter handle is @marcnelson and my school website is http://www.jackettech.com
RH: Do you have any industry experience? If so what and/or who with?
MN: I began teaching right out of college so I have very limited industry experience. I did do an internship for my Master’s degree at Apiaries and Orchard Forklift in Edmore Michigan. I worked mainly on what would become their parts manual for their main product, the Hummerbee Forklift. Unfortunately I had to use AutoCAD for most of it and then they went to SolidWorks after I was finished (per my recommend).
RH: What led you to become a teacher?
MN: My desire to become a teacher came from several different influences. I have always enjoyed working with young people and watching them create, design and learn new concepts. I chose the area of industrial education because I enjoyed working with my hands. I thought it would be exciting to work with young people teaching them to apply their creativity to woodworking and metals. After taking drafting in high school, I developed a love for design and drafting and later learned CAD.
RH: How long have you been teaching?
MN: I have been teaching for 9 years, 4 at the middle school level and 5 years at the high school level, all for Greenville Public Schools.
RH: Why do you teach CAD with SolidWorks?
MN: When I started teaching CAD five years ago, the lab was equipped with AutoCAD 2000 LT. Knowing the program was old and that it had issues running on our network, I began looking for something that was based around parametric design concepts as well as a leading contender in the field of CAD software to replace it. Man, I was such a rookie back then. A colleague recommended I try SolidWorks and a vendor supplied me with a trial disk. After a brief love/hate relationship, I began to catch on. SolidWorks seemed to fit in naturally for the students I had try it out. I was able to find a vendor who would support us with our current network configuration (Novell). After having taught with the program for three years now, I have found that students easily catch on to the program due to the fact that today have a basic understanding of 3D space from video games and online experiences.
RH: What SolidWorks certifications if any do you currently hold?
MN: None currently.
RH: What are your classes (age range and/or skill level)
MN: I teach grades 9-12 and all of my classes have a mix of the four grades. Right now my student enrollment is about 140 or so with 28 per class max.
RH: What is a typical classroom day like for you?
MN: My day starts at 6:30 with my Engineering Graphics and Architectural Graphics classes. These are my upper level students. I currently have two CAD 1 classes, which are my introductory CAD classes. There is one CAD 2 class and a CAD 3 class as well. CAD 2 focuses on detail drawings, assemblies, section views, fasteners and some basic CNC through G-code. CAD 3 focuses on surfacing and packaging problems. I also teach a consumer tech class that is focused on basic automotive and home maintenance. It makes for a very busy day that wraps up with students at about 2:30. I then spend the next few hours planning and grading, hoping to not take work home. I am also our building’s technology representative to the district so that is one more duty during the day when issues arise.
RH: What is your preferred teaching method? What method of teaching SolidWorks have you found to be successful?
MN: What ever is successful. I have tried many different approaches and continue to try different things out. Introductory classes always start out with sketching. From there, I have varied my approach. Since I am sort of a traditionalist in the area of drafting, I prefer to teach orthographic projection early in the curriculum. Because I incorporate this early, I often do not jump in and use the SolidWorks educational curriculum right off the bat. In the introductory levels I will often teach the traditional drafting concepts and tie SolidWorks in as the method for obtaining these concepts. In my advanced classes, we spend more time focusing on design and learning.
RH: What curriculum and industry standards do you teach?
MN: My current curriculum is derived from a traditional drafting curriculum. Currently, Michigan does not have a specified drafting or vocational curriculum. The industry in our area varies and so I teach general approach to industry standards. My philosophy has been that since not every student I teach will stay in Greenville, I should prepare them with a good foundation for their post high school education no matter what area of design or engineering they go into.
RH: How do you use the SolidWorks Educator resources and curriculum in teaching your class?
MN: I have used these in various different ways. My engineering graphics class usually does the mountain board project every year. I often assign the tutorial and introductory activities to students who excel and allow them to work at their own pace. I am continually reviewing these materials and seeing how I can incorporate them into my classes. The power points are often a huge benefit as they allow students to refresh or review concepts I have taught about SolidWorks. These are great resources and I don’t fee like I use them enough.
RH: What industry do you teach for or what is the prevalent industry in your area that would eventually hire a SolidWorks trained person?
MN: Locally we have a heavy tooling and tool and die industry influence. But I teach my classes with an open-ended approach when it comes to industry. Since I would love to think that every student that leaves my classroom will continue on into an engineering career with SolidWorks as their chosen application. But as we all know, many times the workplace decides the CAD application and young engineers must learn the new software. Therefore, I want my students to learn two main concepts: 1) How to visually communicate parts through drafting/CAD and 2) How to learn a CAD program. If they have a basic understanding of these to concepts, I feel they will be successful in their post high school educational endeavors.
RH: What universities or community colleges are nearby that your students would attend and pursue a course of study with SolidWorks application?
MN: Our local community college is in the midst of transitioning to SolidWorks. Ferris State University and Central Michigan University also offer SolidWorks training in their engineering programs.
RH: Have you attended SolidWorks World? If so, what was beneficial from a teaching standpoint?
MN: Unfortunately no. But how many days till SWW10? The bloggers and Twitter users did a great job at giving the highlights, but I look forward to being there in person next year and meeting everyone. I feel like I have so much to learn and I could benefit so much from seeing when is being done with SolidWorks.
RH: Will your school board or current school be willing to fund a trip for you to SolidWorks World?
MN: This I am not totally sure of. I put in for it this year, but it happened to be about the same time that we found our funding was going to be lower than projected. I am sure the school administration would be happy to send me if there were outside funding options such as grants or donations.
RH: Knowing that most school systems are in desperate financial situations, do you feel that there will be continued support for teaching SolidWorks and CAD drafting skills? If so, is it short term or long term support?
MN: Continued support at the district level is very high as long as we can financially support it. Support from the state is questionable. Not doubt, with Michigan’s revised high school curriculum and budget cuts, electives are being cut in many districts. My short-term projection is we will be here. Long term projection is, well, I am not sure enough on that one to say. I would love to say we would be here for a while but with some wacky decisions being made, I can’t say for sure.
RH: How important do you feel that teaching SolidWorks/CAD/drafting is for the future of engineering and industry in general?
MN: Teaching the skills incorporated in SolidWorks are very important for our future. We as teachers are training tomorrow’s engineers, the ones to face greater challenges in design and conquer the challenges we cannot overcome today. The SolidWorks CAD package allows me to teach students to think critically and make changes based on data presented to them through the COSMOS applications. It allows them to see how entire assemblies work together to formulate a working solution to a problem. And teamwork can be incorporated into the learning process much like in an engineering design center.
RH: What are the biggest challenges you face in teaching SolidWorks/drafting?
MN: Two big challenges: time, the network and internal tech support. I really wish I had more time to sit down and become better with SolidWorks, learn it from one side to the other so I feel more proficient with it when I teach it. Second, our district is cross platform (Mac and PC) and we are running the district network on a Novell network. I am not going to go into the details, it adds complications along with how work orders are problem solved and resolved.
RH: What are some goals for your future and do you always plan on teaching?
MN: My plans for the future have always been to continue teaching. I love kids and teaching them to think and learn on their own while designing being creative. That is not to say I wouldn’t change my plans if the right job came along. I have considered working towards a college level position and even considered going back to school for an engineering degree.
Marc, Thanks for taking some time to share with me and everyone else about your life and passion for teaching and for SolidWorks.
