More Efficient Instruction/Same Time Frame

[rstofer]

Why does this topic (worded just a bit different) keep coming up? For the past two or three weeks there have been continuous threads dealing with the same issue. All bemoaning falling standards...

All of the threads make the erroneous assumption that the training is inadequate. Yet there isn't a single fact to prove it. Sure, new divers crash into reefs and that's not good but Mother Nature is pretty tough. She'll get even!

The only thing you can possibly prove from diver fatalities is that they could be reduced by 82% by eliminating divers over 40. The next big chunk could be eliminated by prohibiting any type of diving beyond recreational limits. No caves, no deep, no wrecks, no deco... But all that is just common sense. Diving isn't for old people and penetration dives are dangerous. No big mystery there!

So what if new divers look like new divers. They'll either sink or swim and it doesn't matter which. If they only want training to the level of a tourist, so what? If they want more training, it's available. But there is no reason for the tourist diver to spend any more time than absolutely necessary just to dive at resorts.

Resort diving is the market. Everything else is a niche. The problem with SB is that the experienced divers here are in the top 1 or 2% of all divers and are clearly beyond the 'resort' mentality. The vast majority of divers just want to swim around a bit; follow a DM and see some fishes.

On one recent thread, the most vocal critic of the current training finally conceded that it wasn't an issue with the written standards. It was a problem with the instructors no requiring (or even understanding) 'mastery'. If there is a problem with training, it is all the fault of the instructors. Nobody at any agency ever said "Don't worry about 'mastery', they'll get it eventually." Yet the instructors just push the students through. Why? Because the LDS won't have much of an opportunity to sell gear until the students are certified. And if the LDS doesn't sell stuff, the instructors won't have a job. Yes, I know there are 2 or 3 independent instructors. But try instructing if there aren't any LDSs. It's all about selling...

So, if there is a problem, and I'm not suggesting that there is, it rests with the instructors and the LDSs. Perhaps a small bit of the issue, if there is one, rests with the students for not understanding that diving is dangerous. They will have to discover this outside the training context where the hobby is presented as this cute, cuddly, pastime that anyone can enjoy with little or no effort.

It would be good to go back to the early '60s style of training. If you can't jog a mile or two while humping your gear, you are simply unfit for diving. With these prerequisites , we could spend 6 or 8 weeks in training and come out pretty well prepared. All 3 of us. We could each have our own coast! Well, not me, I'm too old to do push-ups while wearing my rig. You other guys can divy up the oceans.

The training program is what it is and it will not change. If it does change, it will not improve. So what? Get rid of the old divers and everything will be fine. Fatalities will decrease by 82%. Amazing!

Richard

 

[OldNSalty]

Wouldn’t the importance of some of these things be relative to where you dive? The compass would be the one I am thinking about here. I know we went over it in OW and the instruction we got was, IMO, enough for the conditions we dive. Down here, that’s clear water and on a wreck for a lot of us which means no great need for a compass. Now if you are teaching in a location where vis is terrible then yes, I think there should be more time spent with the compass. So I guess all I am saying really is that the classes should be tailored to the local conditions and maybe we should be hesitant to make broad general statements about where the concentration should be in teaching.

 

[TSandM]

Get rid of fin pivots and Buddha neutral buoyancy tests and just simply introduce what you really want the student to be able to do and don't have students sitting on the bottom while waiting for their turn.

First off, thanks, Gray, for trying to start a positive thread on this topic (even if it didn't stay positive).

What I quoted above is something I think is key. Watching Peter and other instructors teach over this summer, this was a big difference. When Peter's students aren't working directly with him, they are swimming under the supervision of the DMs. We can ask them to do any skills they have already done with the instructor, and we can also give them feedback on their kick, trim, buoyancy, etc. You can almost double the effective experience time in the pool by not having people sit on the bottom, waiting their turn to clear their mask or whatever. As people so often say here, diving is learned by diving, and the more time the student in the pool can be doing something approaching diving, the better they do, I think.

I think another really important thing is to have instructors and assistants modeling what they want the students to be able to do. I've been stunned by how carefully students watch me, and how hard they try to do what I do -- and I've had them come up to me after pool sessions, asking questions about what they saw. Showing good buoyancy and trim, no hand-swimming, and good kicking technique, will go a long way toward "teaching" those things.

Students are really amazing sponges -- a lot of them simply soak up whatever they see, so it's up to us to make sure what they're seeing is something they should learn!

 

[Gombessa]

The OW class that I took does not prepare.

Neither did mine. But if I can make lemonade for a minute, it was coming out of OW *knowing* that I had no idea what I was doing that led me to really read up and learn more about diving, including here on SB (yes, learning to dive over the internet). I think I'm a much better diver today because I recognized the inadequacy of my OW training and sought to move beyond it. Mind you, I'm not saying I recommend this as an acceptable training procedure for anyone!

 

[Protist]

Neither did mine. But if I can make lemonade for a minute, it was coming out of OW *knowing* that I had no idea what I was doing that led me to really read up and learn more about diving, including here on SB (yes, learning to dive over the internet). I think I'm a much better diver today because I recognized the inadequacy of my OW training and sought to move beyond it. Mind you, I'm not saying I recommend this as an acceptable training procedure for anyone!

Yeah, I agree. I took the AOW class because I did not feel comfortable just diving with myself and a buddy.:ermm:

 

[elmer fudd]

Resort diving is the market. Everything else is a niche. The problem with SB is that the experienced divers here are in the top 1 or 2% of all divers and are clearly beyond the 'resort' mentality. The vast majority of divers just want to swim around a bit; follow a DM and see some fishes.

I'd be willing to bet that resort diving ISN'T the market. Sure there are more of them, but in terms of spending money, resort divers are small potatoes. Someone who rents some gear and goes on a chartered dive once every couple of years doesn't come close to the recreational diver with $4000 worth of scuba gear and a wish list as long as your arm. When one of us buys a drysuit we've probably spent more money on diving than a resort diver will spend in a lifetime.

 

[elmer fudd]

To get back to the OP's question, one way to get more training without more class time might be to do most of the bookwork online. Spend two or three weeks before the class doing more thorough reviews of the academic material with the instructor responding and critiquing the student electronically. Once both the student and the instructor were satisfied with the students knowledge, the student could come in and take a test, (just in case someone was doing his work for him).

The internet could also be used to expand the training materials. Links to articles concerning buoyancy, trim and other topics could also be included.

That way, most of the four days a typical OW class consists of could be more thoroughly devoted to diving instead of bookwork.

 

[gcbryan]

Good points EF, I think that's the creative way to make learning more efficient. I think all of us on Scubaboard have learned a lot about various aspects of diving here.

At least it exposes one to concepts that may not have been covered in class. Once you know about something you can learn the concepts online and get mentoring/experience in person of course.

Lynne, I'm sure it is interesting seeing Peter instruct and being able to help. I don't really understand why any instructor has to resort to having students sit on the bottom. I guess the point is they don't have too.