Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification • Hacker News Board

Re: Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

#41

Post by PrivateButts » Wed, Jul 12, 2023, 4:41 AM UTC

At my high school taking trade classes would take up half your day, as you would have to take a bus to the regional facility that had all the trade classes. It was scheduled almost perfectly to overlap with the classes you would need if you wanted to get into college for a STEM degree.

We had shop classrooms on site all kitted out to teach kids welding, carpentry, and fabrication skills, and even had the old shop teacher still on staff. Admin just didn't want to teach it anymore, and all that equipment sat gathering dust. It would have been sick to offer a beginner's welding class as a study hall alternative.

Re: Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

#42

Post by verve_rat » Wed, Jul 12, 2023, 11:02 AM UTC

bsder wrote: post #37

BluePen7 wrote: post #11

It's funny, in high school due to social perceptions I didn't align myself with the "shop kids", and took exclusively computer-based electives. It's led me to a lucrative career in programming, but now all my hobbiest time is actually spent learning the same hands-on skills I would have gotten in shop class, I love doing automotive repairs, I even learned how to fix my own AC system, and want to learn to weld. Electr…

> Electrical is the tricky one because it's the one with the most consequences for mistakes. I disagree. Woodworking is WAY more dangerous. I have had exactly one mishap working with eletricity over the years. Somebody wired a piece of industrial equipment backwards (neutral as hot) and I got the shit shocked out of me. I have had quite a few near misses in woodworking even while being amazingly aware. I know of no o…

Minor correction: power tool woodworking is indeed scary as all shit, very much treat it with respect.

But there is also hand tool woodworking as a hobby. Much less risk. I won't say none (a falling chisel has no handle), but you are much less likely to suffer a life changing injury.

Re: Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

#43

Post by fatnoah » Wed, Jul 12, 2023, 2:38 PM UTC

I think this is an amazing idea. My high school was also home to a regional vocational trade center, meaning we had amazing facilities for any kind of trade, including a small restaurant. Students in the program actually built a complete house one year, and many of my friends took full advantage to jump directly into trade careers upon graduation.

As a student on the honors track, all of this was completely inaccessible to me due to academic requirements. For example, to take Calculus as a senior, I had to have already complete 4 years of math classes (meaning doubling up one year). Calculus itself was a "lab" class, meaning it met 3 days a week for an hour, and 2 days a week for 2.5 hours. That left zero time for anything not "academic".

As an adult, I use algebra and geometry frequently, and have to resort to Youtube to learn the plumbing, carpentry, and light electrical work I use almost every weekend to maintain my home. It would have been nice to have learned this at a younger age, so that I could do things efficiently and at a higher quality instead of fumbling around for hours.

Re: Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

#44

Post by BluePen7 » Mon, Jul 17, 2023, 6:58 PM UTC

bsder wrote: post #37

BluePen7 wrote: post #11

It's funny, in high school due to social perceptions I didn't align myself with the "shop kids", and took exclusively computer-based electives. It's led me to a lucrative career in programming, but now all my hobbiest time is actually spent learning the same hands-on skills I would have gotten in shop class, I love doing automotive repairs, I even learned how to fix my own AC system, and want to learn to weld. Electr…

> Electrical is the tricky one because it's the one with the most consequences for mistakes. I disagree. Woodworking is WAY more dangerous. I have had exactly one mishap working with eletricity over the years. Somebody wired a piece of industrial equipment backwards (neutral as hot) and I got the shit shocked out of me. I have had quite a few near misses in woodworking even while being amazingly aware. I know of no o…

I guess not necessarily the "most" consequences, but the best hidden (at least to me as a novice).

When woodworking, I'm aware of the spinny bit and can watch a quick video on how to use the tool safely. And it's only a danger to myself (or anyone in the very immediate vicinity), while in active use.

My fear about electricity is the hidden dangers, or how things can seem to work fine up for hours/days/years until they don't and melt/start a fire, and then my home can go up in flames while myself and my family are asleep over something as trivial as a loose connection.

Re: Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

#45

Post by BluePen7 » Mon, Jul 17, 2023, 7:05 PM UTC

mason55 wrote: post #21

BluePen7 wrote: post #11

It's funny, in high school due to social perceptions I didn't align myself with the "shop kids", and took exclusively computer-based electives. It's led me to a lucrative career in programming, but now all my hobbiest time is actually spent learning the same hands-on skills I would have gotten in shop class, I love doing automotive repairs, I even learned how to fix my own AC system, and want to learn to weld. Electr…

Grab some Arduinos, LEDs and buttons/switches and you'll learn about electricity pretty quickly with no real risk. It'll get you to a point where you should be comfortable enough working on mains electricity because you'll understand what's dangerous and what isn't. And if you're in the US and a healthy adult, you're probably not going to kill yourself if you take a zap at 120V/15A.

Oh I'm comfortable with DC, and am unafraid of low voltage tinkering.

For mains it's not the 120V zap I'm particularly worried about, it's the possible fire that occurs months later while I'm asleep because of some rookie mistake I made (connection that gets loose and starts to spark or something), that endangers anyone in the structure.

If I could have all the danger upfront and while I'm actively working on it (like woodworking), and limited to just myself, I'd be much more comfortable.