Jokes, Music and Memory Tricks Help Keep Students Engaged in NABCEP Course

Sean White brings original guitar music, his own jokes, quick responses to questions and tried-and-true memorization tricks to HeatSpring’s 40-hour NABCEP Advanced PV Certification Training and CEUs course.  

Funny Professors Role Models for White

He learned some of his teaching strategies from his favorite college professors, he says.

“In college, I made friends with great professors. They were really funny, and I try to follow in their footsteps,” says White.

And that may be why he’s the world’s number one instructor for preparing students for NABCEP exams: He keeps students engaged.

“For this course, I’ve got new material and lots of interesting facts; it will be more fun than ever,” says White, who was the 2014 Interstate Renewable Energy Council Trainer of the Year. He is an ISPQ Certified Solar PV Master Trainer and has written four books about solar.

Providing a Personal Touch with Guitar Music

When he’s preparing his course videos, he works hard to avoid simply staring into the camera and lecturing his students. Instead, he includes charts and screenshots. He also provides a personal touch by adding his original guitar music to the video introductions.

In addition, White is known for responding to students’ questions quickly–and in depth.

“Dr. White’s timely and encompassing responsiveness to student queries…serves as a desirable characteristic that would be welcome in any classroom whether on the web or in person,” said one student in a review.

Solar-Themed Jokes

White likes to add jokes to his courses–often his own. They inject a solar theme into common jokes such as Chuck Norris jokes.          

White’s latest: “When Chuck Norris’ PV system disconnects from the grid, the grid goes into island mode,” quips White, whose awards include the 2019 Asian Photovoltaic Industry Association’s Academic Contribution to Solar Energy Industry Award 2019 and the Global Green Energy Industry Council’s chief global trainer of the Global Training Program in Renewable Energy.

Memorization techniques are also integral to his course. They’re especially important for students who must learn the National Electric Code’s (NEC) new names for the wire sizing tables.

For example, Table 310.15(B)(2)(a) is now 310.15(B)(1); table 310.15(B)(16) is now 310.16.

“Anyone studying the NEC will need to know the table names. This can be confusing because they change the names all the time,” White says. 

Memorization Techniques Borrowed from World Champion

White learned memorization techniques by listening to an audiobook by Dominic O’Brien, a British mnemonist who is the eight-time world memory champion and author of many books. 

One trick for remembering numbers, he says, is assigning a person’s name to each digit and focusing on names that are “totally nuts” and therefore easy to remember.

White’s teaching style clearly works for his students, as evidenced by the comments they provide in reviews of his courses.

Upbeat, Complete and Insightful, Student Says

“The instructor, Sean White, is a treasure trove of knowledge, experience and insight and his method is as upbeat as it is complete,” said one student about the NABCEP Advanced PV Certification Training and CEUs course.