Advanced Open Water Disappointment

[Gone for diving]

teachers in general, in all areas whether is classroom, universities, scuba, etc
Seem to have dumbed down everything, to the point you barely can't fail, It seems to me the majority, are terrible teachers in general,
Plus feel the need to give out answers, to make themself look like a good teacher.

I know a few GOOD teachers but the rest that I know are terrible,

As the saying goes.. (those that can, do those that can't, teach.)

 

[Landau]

then had us take turns reading and sharing our answers for the knowlege review. That would have been fine but he didn't have the answers anywhere. He just let us give the answers and would try and correct them if a student said the wrong ones.

This is usually how I do Knowledge Reviews, I feel the students learn from the discussion.

Although I do have all the correct answers When a student suggests an incorrect answer I ask the class for other options, and in rare cases where no one has it correct supply it myself. And I always explain why it is the best answer.

For many of the questions I'll supply additional details and examples as well. For instance one question on which way to start a dive in current the "correct" answer is: swim into the current (then return with the current) - I always talk about drift diving from a boat as a counter example.

 

[Doc]

As the saying goes.. (those that can, do those that can't, teach.)

…. Those who can not teach, administrate.

 

[Outbound]

Part of the reason I wasn't going to say anything is I think I am going to have to use this shop more in the future (for tank rental/fills). I'm a little concerned that if I complain I'll get even worse service. The more I think about it though, the more I realize that it doesn't matter. Even if they refuse to stop selling to me all together (which I doubt), I'll feel better about it. Not because I complained, but because I wouldn't have made the effort to make it better for future divers. If something happened to a student becuase of this instructor, I would feel like it was my fault.

Ultimately it's up to you whether or not you speak to the shop owner/manager about your substandard course. But the fact that you are hesitant to do so out of fear that you'll get even worse customer service speaks volumes about that shop. I know you said your options were limited, but I'd avoid that dive shop if possible. A good shop owner/manager will listen to your complaints and take them to heart, perhaps offering an explanation if there is an honest difference of opinion. But at no time should you feel like your concerns don't matter, nor should you feel like you'd get worse service for discussing your issues with the course.

I'd speak to the owner/manager. Either he or she will take your concerns seriously and make corrections, or you will know to avoid that shop in the future. Or, buy some tanks and just use the shop for fills if need be.

 

[tursiops]

As the saying goes.. (those that can, do those that can't, teach.)

There are a lot of old sayings that are pure BS. This might be one of them.

 

[scrane]

Well, I always thought of AOW training as a way to get more supervised dives in and a card. To expect to be proficient at the specialties in a single group dive is wishful thinking.

 

[Jafo19D]

There are a lot of old sayings that are pure BS. This might be one of them.

I don't know. When I was a Scout Platoon leader I got a new NCO who could quote the Scout Platoon field manual down to the page number. I thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread and made him an instructor for lots of our training. I liked him so much that some of my other NCOs got jealous.

Then we went to the field. Complete disaster, couldn't read a map. Nice guy though and he gave me the nickname of LT Poptart because that's what I liked to take to the field.

 

[tursiops]

Well, I always thought of AOW training as a way to get more supervised dives in and a card. To expect to be proficient at the specialties in a single group dive is wishful thinking.

The AOW is NOT intended to make you proficient in any specialty. It is intended to let you sample 5 specialties and see if something appeals to you enough to invest the time, money, and effort into doing the full specialty.

 

[tursiops]

I don't know. When I was a Scout Platoon leader I got a new NCO who could quote the Scout Platoon field manual down to the page number. I thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread and made him an instructor for lots of our training. I liked him so much that some of my other NCOs got jealous.

Then we went to the field. Complete disaster, couldn't read a map. Nice guy though and he gave me the nickname of LT Poptart because that's what I liked to take to the field.

So you knew one guy who was a good teacher but a terrible doer. Did you ever meet anybody who was a good teacher and ALSO a good doer?

 

[Arkman]

As for his "attitude", that is your speculation. It may have been just lack of experience, knowledge, confidence, etc which could have been greatly helped by having someone mentor him.

Yeah, you're right. I think he's been an instructor for a little while, a couple years maybe. But he told us he was a first time advanced instructor. So it was probably some of the lack of experience and so on. That said, throughout the weekend he made a handful of comments that led me to believe he either - 1. Thought the advanced class was kind of a waste of time or 2. Wanted to be a cool guy that was more concerned about image rather than teaching. Either way, your point is valid. He would benefit from mentorship.

I wouldn’t retake AOW, all that is is just an intro to specialties that you might take later. You had your intro, even though it was somewhat lame, now find better instructors and do the actual specialties you’re interested in, the full class.

Agreed. I guess what I meant is that I took two specialties through SSI so maybe I'll do my deep and Nitrox (or another) with them and I'll check off the "Advanced" with SSI.

This is usually how I do Knowledge Reviews, I feel the students learn from the discussion.

I think this is a great way to do them, it helps your class get to know each other a bit and personally I learn better through that kind of interaction that I would a lecture. My complaint is that he was using his 20 year old book and didn't have the answers.

Well, I always thought of AOW training as a way to get more supervised dives in and a card. To expect to be proficient at the specialties in a single dive is wishful thinking.

Agreed. The extra supervised dives was my reason. I just wanted to get a little better before my trip to Lake Superior in a few weeks. I also wanted to get a deep dive so I had a little experience if we did a deeper dive on this trip. The only thing that I really hoped for (not expected) was to really get better at boyancy. I asked questions and tried to work on that throughout my dives. Not doing a weight check was a big dissapointment but whatever. I can do that on my own. I tried to do any and all skills neutrally boyant but was told to kneel on the platfor a few times. When we had to do the knots for search and recovery I was hanging neutral but wasn't given my rope until I knelt on the platform.


I really want to get better at diving. I enjoy it for lots of reasons but one of the big ones is learning and perfecting different skills. Honestly around my area, there isn't a ton to look at so its more about the techincal aspects of diving for me (I don't mean tech diving). I think going forward when I really want to do a class I'm going to travel to a good instructor. Unfortunatly that just means less training for me. Since I can't afford travel and training as much.