Commenting on my Dayton presentation, “How to teach a one-day Tech class,” David, KK6JKC wrote me:
This week I polled our club on the W6PW Monday night VHF repeater net. Of 23 respondents, 1 had taken an 8-week class, 13 had taken a ham cram or a class of 1-3 days, and 9 had studied independently with no class at all. I found this pattern to be consistent across all levels: Technician, General, and Amateur Extra.
So, now I’m wondering if the one- or two-day Tech class has now become the most popular? Anyone have any thoughts about this?
We are, after all, in the age of “now, now, now” and instant gratification. With so many activities and tasks vying for our attention, it’s hard for a lot of people to find time to sit down over a number of weeks and study. The one-day tech class is a great way to just do it and “get it over with.” That’s just my take, anyway.
I staff training classes for Boy Scouts, and scheduling is always a challenge. It took me forever to finish my required training, because I always had conflicts.
We have one class with two evening sessions and a weekend camping. There is another with three evening sessions and a weekend backpacking. Anything more complicated than that is almost impossible to schedule.
Our radio club does a two-day class including VE exam, on two consecutive Saturdays. I personally don’t have any interest in teaching a class that stretches our over many weeks. I doubt that our students do either.
The format works pretty well as long as the students read the book in advance (www.hamradioschool.com). We pound the need to read into them. We also charge $30 for the class so they have some tangible “skin in the game.”
Covering the material in two days is a real push…can’t imagine doing it in one day.
73, Bob
One day? If it takes more than 45 minutes, I’m out. :-)
I think many people willing to instruct have a hard time scheduling the 8 week style class. Students are frequently wanting instant gratification. The biggest issue with the 1 or 2 day class is getting buy in from the students to actually read & study before the class.
As K0NR and KA9KQH point out, one of the keys to being successful with this kind of class is getting the students to read the book first. And, you can usually tell who haven’t done the reading. They look lost right from the get go.