Teach Your Children Well

Virtual reality welding technology not only helps future Ag-Ed teachers at Iowa State University train and prepare for upcoming careers, it serves as a recruiting tool to advance the proud ISU tradition of producing the nation’s next generation of skilled Ag-Ed teachers.

When first introduced in 1911, the Agricultural Education program at Iowa State University had one primary focus – to develop a comprehensive curriculum that would help prepare future agricultural teachers for a successful career. One hundred years later, that same dedicated focus has propelled this nationally ranked program into becoming one of the nation’s most recognized academic settings for aspiring Ag-Ed teachers.

Through its constant efforts to monitor and evaluate what students need in order to be best prepared for their future teaching careers, this historic program has made a name for itself in its continuous push to provide students with one of the most up-to-date curriculums in the country.

Therefore, when recent evaluations uncovered a growing number of graduating Ag-Ed students feeling unready to effectively teach the essential Ag-mechanic trades such as construction, engine repair, and welding, there was no surprise that administrators of the program reacted quickly to find a solution.

“We were seeing that many of our agriculture teachers who were going out to start their teaching were feeling unprepared to teach an Ag-mechanics class,” explained Dr. Ryan Anderson, the assistant professor and director of undergraduate studies for the program. “And by that, we felt we were setting ourselves up for trouble by sending out untrained teachers.”

Within months, Dr. Anderson and other faculty members had developed a new, in-depth Ag-mechanics course that would help provide current students with training and development they needed to be prepared for various skilled trades seen within the agricultural field.

To keep this new 16-week course running smoothly, Dr. Anderson utilized the VRTEX® 360 virtual reality arc welding trainer from Lincoln Electric (Cleveland, OH) to introduce these future teachers to the fundamentals of the welding trade.

“My biggest concern was that almost all of my students had very little experience with welding, and it was one of the subjects they seemed most nervous about,” claimed Dr. Anderson. “So I was looking for a solution that would help me reduce the fear and anxiety of welding and help speed up their learning curve.”

Once purchased, Dr. Anderson quickly recognized the impact that the advanced capabilities of the VRTEX® 360 would have in his classroom.

With its innovative optics and motion tracking technology, the VRTEX® 360 easily allowed Dr. Anderson’s students to fully immerse themselves into a realistic welding environment. From there, students could practice and perform unlimited GMAW and SMAW welding processes without the fear of making mistakes.

To Dr. Anderson though, the most significant benefit provided by the virtual arc welder was to help new students realize the strict attention to detail necessary to produce clean and effective welds.