The traditional method of teaching welding has remained unchanged for decades. In this model, an instructor gives demonstrations to a class of students and then helps them individually as they practice the techniques of welding. This traditional instructional method has been effective but is time consuming. Due to a significant increase in the demand for skilled welders within the United States, efforts have been made to develop more efficient methods of providing welding instruction. Various electronic welding guidance systems and virtual welding systems have recently been developed. In this study, the researcher addressed two questions 1) Does the use of an electronic welding guidance system improve the pass rate that entry-level high school students receive on basic gas metal arc weld tests? 2) Will entry-level high school students who learn gas metal arc welding with a guided welding training system learn how to weld faster and/or more proficiently than those taught using the traditional training method? A study was performed in an entry-level high school welding class to determine the effectiveness of a guided welding instruction system in comparison to the traditional method of teaching welding. The results of the study indicated that the traditional method of teaching welding and the use of a guided welding system yielded similar results, both in quality and efficiency, in student ability to produce basic GMAW welds.