One method of utilizing the boards is to rotate around the room allowing each student to select a test instrument and take a diagnostic reading. (and if ready, submit a diagnosis) The choices that the students make when selecting test instruments and test points provides insight to the classes troubleshooting ability and their progress to date in grasping important concepts. It also allows the class as a whole to witness troubleshooting techniques and methods which lead to a correct diagnosis with the least amount of effort and delay. A rivalry develops instantly. Everyone wants to be capable of solving the problems and no one wants to look foolish when it becomes their turn. Just as important is the fact that it is a lot of fun. Troubleshooting can be fun and at the very least should be interesting. The faults on the boards are a mixture of easy to difficult to very difficult. You never know what is coming next just as in real life troubleshooting. The large number of boards allows students to actually start developing real world troubleshooting skills. Once the class as a whole becomes familiar with the layouts and procedures in the boards, another method that can be used is to ask a single student to troubleshoot a problem from beginning to end in front of the rest of the class. To be fair, each student must be asked to do this in turn. This is not like asking someone to do stand up public speaking. It is however an excellent opportunity to put a student under a little bit of pressure which simulates the real world. When an equipment owner has a mechanical failure and is staring over your shoulder you must be able to think under pressure and calmly progress in a logical troubleshooting manner which leads to a correct diagnosis. Selecting which test instrument to use next is the onus of the student. The student must also decide which test point to measure. They can jump from pillar to post and perhaps luck out or perhaps go in circles. They can try a logical sequence of measurements which lead very quickly to a correct diagnosis or perhaps once again start going in circles. Just as in real world troubleshooting, one must be able to exit from vicious circles and find whatever approach is required to get to the root of the problem. I have not seen a faster way of accomplishing this than to actually immerse the student in a virtual troubleshooting world and making them fend for themselves. The 100 troubleshooting boards cover various types of equipment and faults. Gas pressures and electrical readings will always lead to a definitive diagnosis. There is no more convincing way of demonstrating this than letting a student try to diagnose a faulty system themselves. When students see others finding problems quickly and easily over and over again they learn that the chosen sequence of test measurements is based on the results from the previous measurements. It is easier to gain the ability to use this iterative process effectively when one sees it being used by others, especially one's peers. Experience gained with the GFB troubleshooting boards will provide invaluable help to the gas fitter mechanic once he or she is in the field.

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