I think this is a fascinating discussion, so I'll lend some (hopefully) useful perspective from my experiences as both a diver and new DM.
I got my certification through a three-day course in Belize back in 2012, and thought it to be more than adequate at the time. In part, that was because I had an OWSI and a DMC all to myself, which really did make learning a hell of a lot easier. We went through the theory and confined water work on day 1, and did two dives each on days 2 and 3.
That said, I think the posts about your c-card being a license to learn nail it. I had the basics down, especially the all-important safety and basic problem management (OOA) skills. I ended up going more or less straight into AOW afterwards (Open Water 2 for all intents and purposes) and really felt that was the course where I began to really nail this whole diving thing. Because frankly, an easy way to force some buoyancy learning is to go diving in a Yucutan cenote...
I look back on these experiences having now completed my DM course and beginning my IDC and think that I probably could have used more detailed work on certain things, particularly when it comes to neutral buoyancy. I'm happy the updated PADI regs emphasize neutral buoyancy early in diver education rather than waiting until PPB/AOW. My skills could have used burnishing. But that said, I successfully went on multiple dive trips where I got complimented on my skills even with a relatively low number of dives, so perhaps I had good instruction, got lucky, was talking to complete morons, or had a smidge of talent. YMMV.
Now I watch this debate from my perch going through IDC and serving as a CA for instructors at my LDS. We do OW in two weekends: class-pool Sat, ocean Sun, pool Sat, ocean Sun. Students complete eLearning and all academic work prior to the first weekend. Instructors vary in their interpretation of mastery learning, but one constant I have noticed is that smaller classes get better instruction, period. Even two CAs can't do much to make up for the fact that there are 12 students in a class with one instructor at times. Class size translates into time in a significant way. With two, three, four students there is more than sufficient time to repeat skills in different settings, play games, etc. With 8 and up it's a struggle to get through the skills, particularly if one or more students have serious trouble. But we'll hold people back who haven't met standards, and almost all instructors will do extra work to help remediate. But remedial work outside of scheduled classes costs instructor time, which equals money. With true terrors, we have pulled folks aside and said, you will have to take private lessons to finish your course.
I got my certification through a three-day course in Belize back in 2012, and thought it to be more than adequate at the time. In part, that was because I had an OWSI and a DMC all to myself, which really did make learning a hell of a lot easier. We went through the theory and confined water work on day 1, and did two dives each on days 2 and 3.
That said, I think the posts about your c-card being a license to learn nail it. I had the basics down, especially the all-important safety and basic problem management (OOA) skills. I ended up going more or less straight into AOW afterwards (Open Water 2 for all intents and purposes) and really felt that was the course where I began to really nail this whole diving thing. Because frankly, an easy way to force some buoyancy learning is to go diving in a Yucutan cenote...
I look back on these experiences having now completed my DM course and beginning my IDC and think that I probably could have used more detailed work on certain things, particularly when it comes to neutral buoyancy. I'm happy the updated PADI regs emphasize neutral buoyancy early in diver education rather than waiting until PPB/AOW. My skills could have used burnishing. But that said, I successfully went on multiple dive trips where I got complimented on my skills even with a relatively low number of dives, so perhaps I had good instruction, got lucky, was talking to complete morons, or had a smidge of talent. YMMV.
Now I watch this debate from my perch going through IDC and serving as a CA for instructors at my LDS. We do OW in two weekends: class-pool Sat, ocean Sun, pool Sat, ocean Sun. Students complete eLearning and all academic work prior to the first weekend. Instructors vary in their interpretation of mastery learning, but one constant I have noticed is that smaller classes get better instruction, period. Even two CAs can't do much to make up for the fact that there are 12 students in a class with one instructor at times. Class size translates into time in a significant way. With two, three, four students there is more than sufficient time to repeat skills in different settings, play games, etc. With 8 and up it's a struggle to get through the skills, particularly if one or more students have serious trouble. But we'll hold people back who haven't met standards, and almost all instructors will do extra work to help remediate. But remedial work outside of scheduled classes costs instructor time, which equals money. With true terrors, we have pulled folks aside and said, you will have to take private lessons to finish your course.