Solar
Workforce & Learning

What Data Tells Us About Teaching & Learning Clean Energy Skills

Brick Maier • Last updated 12/2023

Course description

This course is in-progress and will be fully completed by January 2024.

Almost two million lessons have been completed on the HeatSpring platform. So what have we observed about how people learn? We could tell you a lot of stories about people, companies, and outcomes - but what does the data say about how people learn clean energy skills?

We hired Brick Maier - formerly with Amazon & Microsoft - to spend a few months on campus as a "Researcher-in-Residence". We gave him access to all of our student performance data, including detailed video metrics. This course presents a series of recommendations for students, instructors, and teams using HeatSpring for employee learning.

Ready To Sign Up Today? Click Here to Enroll

Full course outline

Module 1 - Introduction to HeatSpring's "Researcher-in-Residence" Project

We hired Brick Maier to spend a few months ‘on campus’ as a visiting researcher. We gave him access to all of our (anonymized) student performance data, including detailed video metrics. This module provides an introduction to Brick, why we hired him, and what he's going to do.

  • Why did we hire a "Researcher-in-Residence"? (03:10 minutes)
  • Meet Brick Maier, HeatSpring's "Researcher-in-Residence" (01:16 minutes)
  • What lessons can we learn from Amazon's data-driven approach to training? (02:50 minutes)
  • Why does this matter? What are we hoping to accomplish by using our data in this way? (02:40 minutes)
Module 2 - LEARNING [Best Practices for Students]

In this module we examine three years of Heatspring data from 2021 to 2023, and over 26k students and 50k enrollments, to see trends in course content, emergent learning patterns and what habits lead to building understanding.

  • Video Summary: What the data says about taking clean energy courses on HeatSpring (03:00 minutes)
  • White Paper: What the data says about taking clean energy courses on HeatSpring (.pdf)
Module 3 - TEACHING Clean Energy Skills [Best Practices for Instructors]

This module is comprised of an 8 page white paper that dives into the data of effective courses. We analyzed data and patterns related to course structure and engagement on Heatspring to provide recommendations on the optimal number of course assignments, ideal video length and to maximize assessments.

  • White Paper: Using data to build more engaging courses (.pdf)
  • AI demo 1: Use RAG for Quiz creation (02:31 minutes)
  • AI demo 2: Use an AI voice for narration (04:14 minutes)
Module 4 - Coming in December: EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT [For Learning & Development Leaders]

This course is in-progress and will be fully completed by January 2024.

Instructor

Brick Maier

Researcher-in-Residence, HeatSpring

I currently work on delivering tailored learning experiences that help partner teams solve problems faster. In a fast paced high change environment, training needs to be accurate, modular, and adaptable. I am developing programs that leverage the collective expertise of the crowd to vet and scale content to help teams apply what they learned in their role. I believe... Learn more

Free

Rolling Admissions

Enroll Today

Frequently asked questions

How does this course work?

This is a free course. Enroll today and get access to all of the materials instantly. The lecture video and other materials are available any time.

How long do I have access to the materials?

For free courses there is no guarantee for how long the course materials will be available.

Is there a certificate of completion?

Certificates of completion are only provided to HeatSpring Membership subscribers. This course has not been approved by any credentialing organizations (NABCEP, AIA, USGBC etc) for Continuing Education Credits (CEUs). This course is for self education purposes only and completion does not indicate a level of professional expertise or credential.

Can I register multiple people?

Yes, this is a free course so you can share this page with other people from your team.

Show all FAQs

The use of technology such as cookies allows HeatSpring to operate and improve the functionality of our website and derive insights about our audience.

You can read more about our privacy policy here.