For the years Husnen Rupani spent teaching electrotechnology, the hardest part of the job was explaining something none of his apprentices could actually see.
Electricity is invisible and a learner can recite Ohm’s law word for word while still failing to connect any of it to the reading on the meter in front of them.
Mr Rupani, now CEO of Australian training equipment manufacturer Infinispark, set out to close that gap by building the gear he had wanted during his own years standing in front of a class.
Infinispark’s portable electrical training equipment was born out of necessity, providing a teaching aid electrotechnology trainers could lean on to help students contextualise the theory.
The Pracbox range houses more than 30 components and operates at extra-low voltage, allowing trainers to deliver practical activities safely in suitable training environments with access to power.
Among the registered training organisations now using Infinispark equipment is Major Training, which has brought the Pracbox range into its electrotechnology workshops.
Electrical training has leaned heavily on theory for decades and Mr Rupani is quick to say that the willingness of trainers has never been the thing holding practical delivery back.
“I don’t think it’s for lack of will, most trainers desperately want to teach practically,” Mr Rupani said.
“It’s the practicalities that get in the way.
“Practical training is expensive to set up, it carries real safety risk at full voltage and it takes enormous trainer time to build and maintain the equipment,” he said.
Infinispark designs its equipment with the unit of competency at the forefront, working out what a learner must demonstrate before any hardware is drawn.
The layout places cause and effect directly in front of the learner, turning the abstract concepts like the relationship between voltage, current and resistance into something an apprentice can watch happen in real time.
“Our equipment makes the invisible tangible,” Mr Rupani said.
“When a student sees a lamp behave differently under single phasing or watches a motor respond to a different starting method, the theory stops being abstract.
“They’ve seen it.”
Operating at extra-low voltage allows learners to test their understanding in a controlled safe training environment under trainer supervision
Of all the teaching methods the equipment opens, one stands out for him above the rest.
“The most powerful one is predict-then-test,” he said.
“Ask a student what they think will happen, let them commit to an answer, then run it. When reality doesn’t match their prediction, that’s the moment learning happens and it sticks.”
Trainers build on that by introducing faults for learners to diagnose, comparing measured values against calculated ones and repeating the exercise as many times as an apprentice needs.
Major Training’s electrotechnology trainer Richard Diehm said the Infinispark training boards’ programmability gives apprentices opportunities to practise fault-finding and testing skills relevant to their broader preparation for the Capstone Assessment.
“The machine itself has pre-programmed faults in the board, and this allows the students to test their knowledge in a practical setting.
“I used to drive around with them in the back of the van and pull them out and teach students on site.
“They’re very user friendly,” Mr Diehm said.
Major Training offers UEE30820 Certificate III in Electrotechnology across Morayfield, Yatala, Cairns and Beresfield, where students learn using Infinispark products.
That means an apprentice in Beresfield works on the same equipment, running the same exercises, as an apprentice in Yatala.
This helps Major Training provide apprentices across its Queensland and New South Wales locations with consistent opportunities to apply electrical theory using practical training equipment.
